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LadyEllen -> RE: Can you live without a forum? (2/10/2007 7:03:00 AM)
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Fora like these I believe, fulfill a valuable role for all, in that they allow us the sort of opportunity we might usually only get from a confessor, doctor, lawyer or therapist; to discuss and disclose things that in real life, we are not able to discuss and disclose with family, friends and so on. Its not truly anonymous in that most of us do have our photos and locations in our profiles, but then are any of the other anonymous situations previously mentioned truly anonymous either? We have only the trust that our confessor, doctor, lawyer or therapist wont reveal us either, after all, and they have much more identifying information about us than anyone sane would post to a forum.
We can discuss and disclose things here that we might not reveal to any professional even. And since in the main no one here has any interest, in the sense of being affected by, in the life and doings of the rest, we can do so freely. It is not going to affect me in any way, if x reveals that he likes nylons, nor if y reveals that she has a thing for scat, for instance - I dont know these people or their families and so can comment more neutrally than any professional who after all, may well know the spouse, family and friends and more of x and y. That neutrality also means I dont have to worry too much about sugar coating responses - not that that means its OK to be hostile and nasty to anyone, but that I can comment with true neutrality in a way that even friends cannot, because a friend will always be worried about how the friendship will be affected when responding.
The added bonus of these particular boards, given the membership, is that we have a massive resource of knowledge, experience and information on the one thing that brings the membership together. This is invaluable to all of us, as none of us have seen it all! As well as being a learning resource though, the fora also give us the opportunity to educate others, which is one of those inner reward sort of things, but I believe is what plays just as important a part in keeping us all here.
And on top of that, we also become like friends, in a world where there is so much individuation and consequent isolation. We have had the net for less than two decades now, so this internet friendship is very new in the field of human friendship models, and its something that is still evolving. We have friends all over the world, whom we have never met, and in all likelihood will never meet. Its similar to the old pen pals thing, but with the net, we can have hundreds of pen pals, even thousands. This also makes the fora invaluable, even with the downsides of possible misinterpretation of what we say in what is a text only format, and the possibility of some being less than honest, playing us all for fools and worse.
Can I live without a forum? Yes, as thats what I did once before. Would I like to live without a forum? No, because of all the above.
E
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