Antisocial media

People on the internet act toward each other in ways that most of us never would act toward anyone in person. There's a good side to this, in that the forced politeness of personal interactions with strangers is artificial and on the internet we get to express all the frustration we have to suppress in daily life. But BC could be a more welcoming and supportive place than it is, and we all need to be reminded how important that is. The slogan "you are not alone" is there for a reason. What is really needed is a way for us to actually come together in person and interact. NAMBLA in the 1980s was able to provide that to some extent, hosting monthly chapter meetings in several large US cities and annual gatherings. As more and more activities that are normal for most people were criminalized for us, this became too risky, though I think Mu has hopes of reviving it through something like a "MAP Camp." Free debate is good, and we get that on BC. We don't have to give that up. And sure there are people here with no other agenda than stirring shit. They aren't going to go away or change their behavior. But we can give each other the benefit of an assumption of good faith and good intentions maybe a bit more often than we do. Shotacon is right that posters here with differing opinions are not the source of our problems -- too often our behavior here is like the guy whose boss gave him shit at work so he comes home, yells at the kids, and kicks the dog. I don't think the internet was originally designed to push people apart. But it has evolved a capacity for doing that, and this capacity is being exploited by those who stand to gain when opposition to how things are is kept fragmented and divided. That tendency toward fragmentation and division is now built in, so a certain amount of conscious effort and attention is going to be needed if we want to counter it. I think we all want BC to be a weapon against the aloneness, not a contributor to it. hugzu ;-p