In terms of my status I suppose I am kind of in the middle . I’ve been here long enough to not be a newbie anymore ( I think ) and not long enough to be classed as a reg. I don’t really get involved in the social side of the board , except for IRL (I love meeting other dopers) but I read a very large portion of this board.
I’ve seen the term elite clique used at least 4 times in the last 24hrs by 4 different posters.
As far as I can see for every newbie that gets a bit of a bad time ( usually deserved IMO ) there are 10+ that have had no problems , remember we where all newbies once and I never had any hassle .
So people what do you think are there a group of Reg.'s here that are an Elite Clique am I just naive .
Please try to keep this civil . I’d like a discussion/debate not a argument .
*Note to slythe . I realise this is also ATMB material so feel free to move it . But it is a poll / IMHO subject aswell. I really hope you don’t have to “Pit” it .
I think you can say there is an ‘Elite Clique’ if you flame or harras posters for being new. When a newbie gets slacked of for posting something, whereas someone who is around for longer is ‘forgiven’ for the transgression, then yes, I s’pose you have something like that. Taking the reason why you probably post this message:
Now, it could be that this was meant in good fun, and in that case, I apologise for my outburst, but this sounded like slacking off a new member just because he was new.
Well, I too am new to the board, although I’ve known about it for some time, just never registered. Anyway, everyone seems pretty amiable.
Obviously though, there will be those that ridicule “newbies”, simply because they are ignorant to the generally accepted rules of the board. They will use the person’s ignorance against them, and it’s not very nice. But, I suppose you can’t really expect people to be nice all the time
Even if evilbeth is newbie bashing . How does this point to there being a clique ? She is one person with her own viewpoint . Her point is that she thinks the Skinnyguy is getting too easy of a time . There are 6 posters in that thread with reg. dates of 1999 . I do not see any hostility from them .
This was one of the incidents I was refering to but a discussion about a particular thread is probably best kept within that thread .
There’s not an elite clique. Certainly the regulars are more familiar with each other and their habits and likes are well-documented, but most ‘newbies’ are welcomed warmly. In fact even those who receive ambiguous welcomes usually come to realise it was usually done in jest.
Yes there are some who receive less than complimentary greetings and some of thos are undeserved. But personal opinions should always be stated honestly. I’m a believer in speaking my mind regardless of whether I’m speaking to someone with 5 posts or 2500 posts and I know a lot of people here share that opinion.
It’s just that with the 2500 poster I probably know them well enough to distinguish humour, dry sarcasm and stupidity.
What? What’s that? There IS an elite clique? And I’m not in it?!?!
I suppose you’re right. I did take this one example as grounds for calling it the Elite Clique, but that was the only expression I could come up with at the time. I have been lurking around the board for a while as well, and I have not really seen any hostility either.
It’s just that most boards I’ve been to were quite hostile to newbies and were ostracised for making one error and I thought I saw it happening this time as well. Apologies to anyone offended.
Awright, there is one thing that I have been dying to ask–If there is a (real or imagined) elite clique…
WHO IS IN THE CLIQUE ? ? ?
I’ve heard the clique thing bandied about too. I don’t think that there is one, either. But I would love to know who these people think is in the clique.
In the last thread that I remember where this came up, the poster in question objected to the fact that he was left out of the “over whom do you wet your pants?” threads. Apparently, he perceived that there was a clique of flirters that he was left out of. But he, too, neglected to name names.
Usually the newbies that get roundly flamed come in here and post a lot of stupid crap becuase they haven’t spent the time to get to know the board, or just don’t give a hoot about board standards.
(yojimbo and Osip: I’d invite you to join my clique, but you’re newbies! :p)
Oh please. Some posters know each other better because they’ve been around longer. Often they have gotten the chance to meet each other. They’ve formed friendships and relationships and they have also weeded out the people they don’t want friendships with. There is nothing elite or malicious about it. It’s the normal progression of human contact. People who gripe about cliques are those who are pissed off because they have popularity issues. Get a life. :rolleyes:
No. I don’t believe so. However, I do understand why people might think so.
(1) Threads that give people the opportunity to list their favorite other posters (for various reasons, such as creative name, most like to meet, etc.). I think what emerges here are old loyalties (naturally) and people who have been around longer. It’s partly because they’ve developed relationships, and partly because longevity means certain names are more likely to be on the tip of the tongue when people go to fill their list out.
(2) Bandwagon argument interference. I’ve seen this happen before: a long-time poster is in a debate, holding his or her own, against a newer member. Just when it starts to get interesting, other older members flood in, picking apart the newbie’s posts, mocking them, jeering them for tangling with the long-respected poster. I understand why this happens–hey, that’s your FRIEND in there, and don’t they deserve to know you’re cheering for them? But I have occasionally seen the same people be completely unwilling to concede logical points made by the newbie on the other side, presumably because they just can’t stand to seem “unloyal” to their good friend. It looks a little bewildering to an outsider.
I think, as someone else has said, what we have on the boards are friendships forged over time spent reading, writing and responding, something that newer posters can’t experience for a while. That’s not a clique. But the things I mention above might lead newer members to think there is one. Not being judgemental here, just sharing observations.
It doesn’t really matter if there is an elite clique on the boards. There is obviously one percieved to be on the boards, or this thread wouldn’t even exist.
However, I would venture to say that the longer you hang around the less this is even a consideration.
I must admit, when I was a fresh faced newbie, lo those three months ago, I was hesitant to respond to, especially in disagreement or even light-hearted ribbing, to established posters. But if you say what you mean, hold the high-ground, and not be a complete asshole, you can pretend to be in the elite clique, and nobody can stop you.
Free advice for total newbies - the next time you address an established poster, remember to bring an offering of respect.
LOL! You know what? I can almost feel the superiority washing over me. We’re so much better than everyone else here, Trion. Why don’t we just leave and open our own message board?
No really, it has never occurred to me that I shouldn’t just jump in and start talking. I didn’t think about how long others have been here. I realize that there are long time regulars here, though. And of course, I respect that there are close friendships here. That’s very obvious. But no one has been cliquey or rude to me. I haven’t noticed anything like that.
Heck, I don’t think I even introduced myself when I first came here last week! Was that rude?
