I thought I would try to express an opinion without getting vilified by the fanatics that seem to have taken over the threads on FN... if that's possible anymore. I have to say, for the last two months or so, FN has been as bad as I can recall since joining last year. Gangs of haters are trolling the threads more and more and making the site almost unsuitable for decent people to visit. There were enough haters on the site when I first joined. But the FN mods were responsive to our complaints about unruly or offensive behavior and would take action to resolve them.
The alternative to dealing with the unbalanced views of the hater gangs was to create a Friends Group. A safe haven where friends could meet in private and avoid having to deal with the constant and annoying intrusion of the haters. For the last year I was a member of one of the best groups that FN had to offer. We had about 50 members and the conversation was always entertaining and uplifting. I looked forward to logging on and starting the day with the rest of the group members.
One of the reasons I enjoyed my group so much was, regardless of whether the threads were interesting or not, at least I could look forward to talking with a bunch of people that were good sports and who could make chatting fun. The topic could be anything that we wanted and 2000 posts were not uncommon if it was a particulaily good one. Alas, that seems to no longer be true. I have a good group come to a bad end and can't help think about how silly things have become.
Like most groups, we occasionally had differences between the members but things always worked out and we stayed on track. Then, in a fit of anger that I still feel was way overblown, some of the lead members... founding members... had a major disagreement. Most of the critical members, those that made the group what it was, split from the group. What followed was a few weeks of adolescent behavior, most of which was funny in a juvenille way and some that was outright nasty. In the end the conduct between former friends had gotten as bad as that of the haters we encounter on the open threads.
My group has been largely depleted and most of those who were a great part of my day no longer seem to be around as much. It's a sad story all around as far as FN is concerned. I try to go out to the threads and occasionally have some fun... but it's not as much fun as it was when I joined. Each member seems to have a dozen different aliases and take to hiding behind them in order to make fun or... in some cases... make sport of others. The mods seem to be ignorant to it all and nowhere in sight for most of what goes on when it comes to insulting and offensive behavior by some members.
The act of turning every thread into a racial diatribe by some members has gotten to the point of insanity. Listening to some of the members defend defenseless behavior is positively scary and makes me doubt their mental stabilty. Acts such as Plaxico Burress' shooting himself in the leg like a total idiot are defended with racist arguments as though everyone thinks he's stupid just because he's a black man carrying a gun and we would all feel differently if he was right... How stupid can people be?
The threads have got to the point where people are just talking about the same rehashed drivel that the FN writers put out day after day. It seems the FN world is driven by stupid, redundant stories about guys like TO and Pacman. Haters seem to swarm around stories about idiots in the sports world and all things Dallas. Any attempt to get involved with a topic results in the ubiqutous and savage haters attacking in force and having insults heaped on you.
This whole site... not just my group... has been a lot less entertaining lately. It's has gotten to where, at my job, I am actually looking for work to do rather than log on and debate once again whether Pacman is some demented evil creature or if TO is going to stop doing whatever it is he does that gets so many people pisssed off. I enjoy talking sports and all... but a lot of the freaks on FN get seriously bent out of shape when you disagree with them. And getting them to stop is virtually impossible... any comments directed at them, no matter by how many people and no matter how insulting, just seems to spur them on.
It's as though, regardless of how stupid they are... anyone can still be a sports genius.
What was once a great site has quickly lost it's luster. My group provided a daily forum where I could go and chat with people that I liked... as much as you can like any person that you've never met and have no idea who they are in real life. Now I am left to once again cruise the threads and hope to find a spirited and entertaining conversation with good sports about good sports.
But that's getting harder everyday. Without the group to call home at the start of the day FanNation has become a wasteland with many days offering no reason to hang around and hope for a good day of fun and sports chatter. The threads aren't good enough to make you stay, and the idiot haters, who can't start a post without a personal insult, just drive the good people away.
But I'm going to try and find something fun to discuss. Maybe find some people who have command of the english language to the point where they can carry on a decent conversation... the way my group once did. But it won't be easy. I expect it to be another long and lonely day.
BTW... If anyone sees Santa... please tell him I'm sorry about all those nasty things I said about him and tell him I would like my group back for Christmas
Have a good day if that is possible anymore on FN
Chelsey Buhler
Julie Henderson
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College Football Top 25 Review
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"Have a good day if that is possible anymore on FN"
Have been wondering if that's possible myself...Nice blog Epoch.
RedSoxBabe
Total Comments (14467)
You are right on target. Most blogs I have looked at (sports and politics) were dominated by ignorant, mean postings. It's too bad.
TimZ
Total Comments (5)
Good blog Epoch. There is no question the quality of members has seemed to deteriorate over the last several months. Or maybe it has more to do with the drastic site overhaul combined with a huge influx of new members that just makes it seem that way. Anywhere you go on the internet you will find those whose sole mission is to cause as much mischief and disruption as they possibly can. Sadly, it's been that way since the days of Usenet, long before the world wide web was conceived.
Any time you have a group of people together, the people in it will usually adopt a group mentality. The slightest disturbance to that mentality often will result in anger, hard feelings, and a general resentment pitting group members against each other in the blink of an eye before anyone realizes it or damage control can be done. Sides are take, the group splits into factions and/or separate groups. Before you know it a simple disagreement or misunderstanding turns into the cyberspace equivalent of WWIII. In the end, everyone gets their two cents in, many react out of emotion rather than rational though, and everyone loses.
The gamut of emotions and strength of relationships one can experience with little more than a keyboard and monitor is truly fascinating.
C-C-C
Total Comments (23635)
Outstanding blog Epoch. I agree with CCC, I think it is a combination of the "new site", new users etc.
I'm pretty much on here just for Day Walkers and the occasional TD now and then...Day Walkers is still a good group that hasn't splintered like most other groups.
I'm just glad I can go to the Rusty Nut now (no more being blocked at work from the firewall).
But I couldn't agree more...TDs, blogs, groups all have gone downhill and the drunk monkeys...I mean mods that run this place have no clue or don't care.
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (47606)
I was never sent the new password....Anywho, I'm avoiding groups and threads for the most part right now...Have too much going on in my real life to deal with the bs that's been going on lately...Ask me again in a week or so when I work through some things and maybe I'll take you up on it ;)
RedSoxBabe
Total Comments (14467)
at the nut, on the home page, in the middle of the bottom, you will see a section called Hey Barkeep...these are the most recent comments made (user and blog it is in), that is normally the best way to find where everyone is at. We normally stay within 1 blog each day (different blog).
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (47606)
Very eloquent and relevant post Epoch.
LoveItHateIt
Portland, OR
Total Comments (3163)
Excellent post, Epoch. Really shocking, yet refreshing, to hear.
Redwing19: retired
Halifax, NS
Total Comments (35151)
Same to you....I'll be around, just probably not overly vocal ;)
RedSoxBabe
Total Comments (14467)
That was a great blog and every word is so true. When I joined last year, there were so many users that kept discussions lively and interesting. This site has regressed quite a bit since then and it's really kinda sad. Like RSB, I have had a lot going on in my real life the past few months but I always looked forward to perusing the threads and finding a good convo or blog (like this one). Hard to believe how much this site has changed.
ATLfan15
Total Comments (889)
Would I have a new one cut for me, if I said "WELCOME BACK, THUG!!!"?? Cause it happens to be the TRUTH...
But this blog covered everything I wanted to say. Any change comes from Time Warner, not US (sadly).
DC Sports Nut: Nats,…
Total Comments (2558)
So where does a guy like me fall...I think I know!!
Urnze
Total Comments (4803)
So instead of watching it fall, rise up. Take the power back. Just follow me. I'm hilarious.
Weapon X
Total Comments (28497)
The community, alas, has always had these struggles. Think about real life, after all... when you can only see your friends and family every so often, you try to pack each moment with as much happiness as you can. But it isn't so if you are always in close proximity. Familiarity breeds contempt, and the masses retreat into the comfort of blissful ignorance. Regurgitated inanity is as bland and potentially harmful as every fast-food burger churned off the line...
Yet we still DO have choices in how we use this or, in the end, any website through which we might choose to make our voyage into the cerebral vortex. Just as in our physical lives we can either give into or refuse to the basest of human temptations and pettiness. FanNation, in all its incarnations, is nothing more than a tool -- a tool for debate, a tool for gossip, a tool for writing and community-building. And we can either choose to utilize that tool and define for ourselves how it is going to be used, or we can be tooled around by that which we ostensibly should have control.
I completely understand your grievances -- hell, you can go back through my old blogs and comments over the past year and see their progressive formulation in myself over time -- but at the same time we must guide the site ourselves. Moderators, be they existent or gone in an existential way, can only do so much. Here's to hoping you find yourself a happier day, and rediscover what precisely it was that drew you to the site in the first place... whether it ends up happening at FanNation or another portal...
Bigalke
Springfield, OR
Total Comments (22305)
Nice blog Epoch1. I love Walkers ,The Mill and occasionally Night Owls. Without them I would work a lot more. Constant harmony is not possible but it always worth an attempt.
Agrippa GODSON
Total Comments (27653)
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