He did amuse me today 
Truth be told, I’m more annoyed with BigBaby for dragging me in to this.
He was clearly being disingenuous in the rape thread. Unless you think he actually wondered whether people are just referring to groping and fondling when they use the word “rape.”
That doesn’t necessarily make him a troll though. He is acting as a character. Is Sascha Baron Cohen a troll?
“in Kazakhstan the favorite hobbies are disco dancing, archery, rape, and table tennis”
I like anyone who reminds me of Lewis Black. Therefore, VCO3, you are alright in my book. Look me up if ever in Lansing.
Come on down, motherfucker, yes, that’s you VC03!
Last Activity: 08-16-2007 09:38 AM
You. Are. So. Going. To. Hell. 
I didn’t notice before, but that thread ended with exactly the right post. featherlou, if you’re reading this: my hat is off to you.
To the extent that by treating the people you like “better” than others you *de facto * exclude those you don’t like or simply don’t even recognize (generally by simply ignoring them, but sometimes by even being hostile toward them), it is exactly what a clique is.
Here’s what the good folks at M-W.com have to say:
clique
Function: noun
Etymology: French
a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially : one held together by common interests, views, or purposes
What did you think it meant?
missed the edit window:
Yep
Not “every other aspect of human interaction” but many, at least where groups are large enough for cliques to form. I can think of several clique free environments I have been in, but theose are certainly outnumbered in my experience by the cliquish ones.
I agree. I didn’t note it. I was simply replying to someone who claimed that cliques were not present at the SDMB. I think it’s more noteworthy when a group dynamic is clique-free.
To the extent that your common interest binds you and your familiarity with one another acts to exclude others from joining in (whether such exclusion is necessarily intended) I’d say you’ve got a little Giants clique. Congratulations.
Is he excluding others? I would bet that if I expressed an interest in the Giants, I’d be more than welcome to join in the discussion.
I think this whole exclusionary thing is largely in your imagination.
Oh, just don’t listen to him!
Seriously, I don’t get this whole “clique” notion. To me, the very definition of a “clique” is that they *consciously *use social pressure to make other people feel unwelcome in their discussion or activities. I’ve NEVER, with the logical exception of “Mafia X: Do not read if you’re playing a banana slug” type threads, seen a group of Dopers consciously do such a thing. Even trolls and proselytizers are given enough of a welcome wagon to run over their own feet.
ETA: Then again, I never could figure out which clique I was a part of in high school, either. Maybe I’m not in any. Or maybe I’m so thick in it I can’t see it.
I don’t know. That’s why I prefaced my comments with “[t]o the extent.” Still, the absence a Giants clique does not mean the absence of cliques. The Dian Fossey line was throwaway, am I really going to have to document one before you’ll accept a cliques existence on the SDMB.
Gimme a break, dude. I’m not croutched in a corner rocking and sucking my thumb cause no one wants to play with me. I was making a comment.
Is he really talking about exclusion though? I know we enjoy getting wrapped up in specific definitions here, but I believe he was speaking about the spirit of internet message board type cliques. Perhaps I just need to update my definition of what having an internet clique is. I don’t exclude anyone’s discussion or opinions, but I do feel drawn to read and respond to some members more than others. For example, I might now have replied to this post at all, but having met you in person I feel a certain kind of “Boston Doper” clique which I wanted to explain in regards to how I see it.
Another reason why I tried to make it clear that by starting this Pit, I was not trying to argue that lorene, another Doper I’ve met in person, is not out of bounds by bringing up discussion on** VCO3’s** rape question. I simply did not like the reflexive demands that he must be a troll for bringing up the subject.
I also feel this way about medical-field Dopers, especially laboratory related. (Pulling a name out of a hat) If Liberal started a thread regarding a book I was interested in reading I would be even more interested in opening it if it was started by Qadgop, or Antigen. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy reading Liberal’s stuff, or maybe even especially a thread started on a different subject (whether he thinks I’m a bitch or not). I just happen to be drawn to some Dopers on some subjects more than others.
Aren’t you one of those who swore that you’ve never seen the board time out?
So if I like Steven, Jane and Tina while dispising Karl and Joe; Joe likes Steven and Angie but hates Tina; Jane enjoys reading Karl and my posts but skips over Tina and Hayden’s; Karl won’t meantion Angie or my name but has a laught at every post by Tina and Jane; where’s the clique(s)?
You sure you’re not an Eagles fan? 
Well, some other poster, at least. 
Is that another one of these cliques? “Those who have not experienced a timeout”
whole bean, as one of the **Giants **fans, I do not see how posting enough about the **Giants ** to be recognized by some posters as a **Giants ** along with several other posters makes us a clique. It seems by your definition and group that commonly posts on a specific subject is a clique instead of just an inexact group that shares a common interest.
I can almost see the MMP’ers as a clique, but rather than being exclusionary, they are the most welcoming of groups and so do not seem to meet the definition of clique I have used in the past.
As far as VCO3, sometimes I like his posts and sometimes he appears to be a raging idiot. I don’t want to see him banned and the monthly pittings seem to be effective enough. Kind of the same way I feel about **Liberal ** in fact. They both tend to earn the pittings they get. They both seem to contribute to the board at other times.
Jim
ETA: Merriam Webster’s
Main Entry: **clique **
Pronunciation: 'klEk, 'klik Function: noun Etymology: French
: a narrow **exclusive ** circle or group of persons; especially : one held together by common interests, views, or purposes
Well, yeah, and he’s the one that brought it up.
Sure, me too, but I don’t see that as a clique. That’s just the nature of human relations.
If I had to keep egalitarian relationships with everyone in the world, I’d never have time to do my laundry. I have to limit my contact to people with whom I share common interests. If someone wants to say that that’s cliquish of me, they are certainly welcome to, but they’ve then robbed the word of any meaning.
Snort No. I’m just as plagued by timeouts as anyone. I just don’t whine about it.