Soon I shall change my password to a random string of characters, and delete the email account it links to, rendering it unrecoverable.
The reason for this is simple. When I look at my 3,700-odd posts, I can’t honestly say it was a good investment in time. Far from a waste, to be sure, but not a good investment - there are are more important things I should be doing. I do intend to check the forum from-time-to-time as a non member. There are a significant number of posters here who bring real value to the board, the signal-to-noise ratio is generally higher than the internet-at-large. Although the board could, I think, be better.
GQ often often masquerades as the “I reckon” forum: there are quite a number of posters who don’t seem to recognise the difference between expertise and opinion. The sub-forum might be better suited to the Stack Exchange format, where answers can be edited by other posters, and chit-chat can be put in comments rather than posts, de-cluttering the actual answers. Despite problems, GQ is of genuine worth - the time and effort that posters put in to answer difficult, interesting questions is very much appreciated.
I wonder if Great Debates should be subtitled dick-waving. Again, genuine value there, but probably too many posters who think winning the debate is more important than dialogue.
Finally, the BBQ pit… It has its place, but just because you can behave like a cunt there doesn’t mean you should. And a 31 page thread about refusing to move seat in an un-crowded cinema? Epic fail.
Of course, I’ve been guilty of all of the above to a greater or lesser degree in my time here; my posting history bears witness to my sins. Looking back, I see some good posts, some tripe, a lot of quips, and the occasional minor spat with another poster. Probably a small fraction of my posts elicited genuine interest, but I believe some did.
Anyway, adiós, and best wishes to all(-ish) of you.
