Internet Forums

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a big proponent of internet forums. I maintain that when properly leveraged by a discourse community they can be an excellent tool to disseminate information, dispel rumors, and arrive at a general consensus on topics that are generally too subjective or unwieldy to be tackled elsewhere. Forums, as many internet users know, run the gamut in subject matter, format, and generally accepted etiquette and, as a result, the better of these forums seem to develop their own unique identity and character.

As you can imagine, while I visit and post on forums of all types I spend the greatest deal of my time surfing outdoor sports forums. Some of them are regional, others national, and some even international. While their subjects and geography may differ, they all suffer from similar forms of abuse from internet tough guys, trolls (a role which even I have admittedly taken up on rare occasion), and those who are simply too lazy or ignorant to demonstrate common decency and respect.

I (already having admitted my own complicity in some of the shabby behavior that takes place here on these forums) have grown dispirited by the devolution that allot of my favorite digital stomping grounds have suffered. After a point the same questions have been asked time and again, the same scenarios belabored to the point of absurdity, and the same members banned, slandered, readmitted, and again ejected shortly thereafter. It’s become rather irksome that a resource that was totally unavailable in the not-so-distant past is now taken for granted to a degree so great as to almost render it useless due to the redundancy of the trespasses made against it.

One would think that such a pooling of knowledge would only help to foster a self-sustaining growth of that knowledge, and perhaps even evolve to tackle greater questions and arrive at even greater conclusions. But you’d be wrong if you’d assume that to be the case. Rather, the lazy and ignorant (most often amongst the forums’ newly initiated) fail to recognize the value of the forum as the self-sustained entity that it is and consequently are oblivious to the fact that they may draw from the already existing deep pools of knowledge it’s home to. Rather, they degrade the forum by posting on some of the most academic subjects possible and re-trod ground that’s been covered, ad nauseum, by past similarly self-indulgently negligent queries.

It’s at this point that the greater powers that be, whether it moderators or more senior members, should bear the burden of preserving their past endeavors and excise this redundant extranium from their collective and point the inquisitor to their answer among the past stores of knowledge assembled long ago. However, this is where the greatest offense is often made when the question is treated with integrity it does not deserve, lending it credence, and thereby cementing right alongside the very same knowledge that had already once been shared in the past. The lazy and ignorant have received their justification, and the senior contributors have squandered time and cognitive resources that would have been best spend developing the forum past its status quo.

Why can’t we just delete this rubbish or let it fall to the back page? Why beat the same dead horse again and again? Don’t respond with smarmy remarks, suggestive emoticons, or repetitive advise (as immediately helpful though it may seem to the impatient and lazy). Ignore it and treat it as the non-contributory work that it is. Have more respect for what it is you built and keep your focus fixed on elevating the general level of discussion beyond what it already is. Our internet forums can remain a rich resource for us all if we just let all the detritus sink to the bottom, thereby keeping those topics with potential for development buoyant and lively.