Why does it always have to go that way?
In general, I am a lurker. I don’t really comment in forums much simply because I always inadvertently start fights. Instead, I just sit on my office furniture and write or focus on my own projects. I check into forums to know more about the various companies I work for, then I leave. I’ve noticed a pattern with most forums. It can even be about something harmless like knitting, but it’s especially true in the work from home world. Please keep in mind that I’m not talking about knitting here just forums at large.
Phase 1: Knitting is the greatest & everyone is so excited to have all of their new knitting friends. The knitting forum will change the world.
Phase 2: The knitting forum gets a lot of press & many people start joining because they’ve heard that knitting is the greatest.
Phase 3: Older veterans on the forum start to complain about all of the newbies. They regularly use lines of defense such as “Well, I’ve been a member of the forum since…”
Phase 4: A vigilante group is formed in the names of quality control & then things get out of hand.
Phase 5: Sarakastic screams at the computer.
I’ve always been more centered on working for myself than for other companies. This usually meant that I was a blogger instead of writing for someone else at $XX an article. I like being able to write what I want to write. I didn’t like that someone else could be in control of my content or my income. However, it was time to diversify so I tried writing & putting my articles on other sites. It was going well & I still think there is potential there.
I’m just so burnt out on all of the forum fighting. I know, it would be best just not to read the forums, but I feel like I need to because that’s where the moderators set forth quality guidelines. In general there are lots of tips to be found there. Yes, I’m at phase 5.