Well as a community and to strive as a family we need to at least be respectful towards each other.
But... we're not family. You know me as nothing but text on a computer screen. The same is true of me to you as well. There is not a living soul on this board who has met me face-to-face. Only a few people here even know what I look like. A handful of people know my name, and even fewer than that know my
real name.
When you get right down to it, online I am a depersonalized "it." I have no face, and no name outside of my screenname. I have no voice beyond what people imagine it to sound like, and as far as most are concerned, my very existence begins and ends online. Hell, for all you know I'm not even a real person. Given how little you know about me, it's not impossible from your perspective that I could be a fake identity created by some troll looking to get a rise out of you.
Personally I find that liberating. But it does however mean that we are not family. I am as dehumanized here as the rest of you.
I know this is a cliche but if you treat others with respect it's likely to come around back to you. Even if you don't care what other people think about you, whether it be a bad way in this case, whatever you say will travel through one ear and out the other. If you want others to listen to you, you have to be polite, respectful, and courteous. Whether it pains you inside to do it, what you say will be worthwhile to the receiver of the advice and to yourself as well; you feel glad that this person took your advice.
John Ford was the nicest guy in Hollywood, but he didn't show it on set. He was tough with people because he had to be. He actually got into fist fights with his actors if they had tantrums. But actors loved working with Ford because he got **** done.
I can smile through my teeth when I need to. When it's useful to me to do so. But I don't appreciate being told that I have to excuse bull**** from others for the sake of an imagined peace.
It can be if people want to take the initiative and make it an even better community. This week and last week has been a wake up call and I think if people started acting more professional and courteous it would keep members more active.
Sounds more to me like the inevitable backlash of trying to be happy all the time. Nobody can be one emotion all the time. A lot of the backlash comes from interacting with people who don't wish to participate in the status quo. Whether that be individuals like myself who see the unwritten rules of niceness as a hindrance to real discussion, or wannabes who exploit your helpfulness to whore for attention and validation, the community is going to lash out with all the repressed aggression at someone.