Withdrawal symptoms

Withdrawal symptoms

2006 for me will be characterized as the year when I practically shunned participating in online forum websites. Some of them are just too slow and heavy on my humble connection to access. I quit one forum (Honda Club of the Philippines) because I felt it was the correct thing to do. Others I've pretty much outgrown, such as Otakuboard, a.k.a. Otaku Fridge. And then, there are others whose "culture" have simply become too much for me to stand.

Once upon a time I thought the Internet was a fantastic place for meeting new people. I've learned my lesson. For someone as reclusive and unsocial as I am, I would rather meet new people offline at this point in time.

And for those fora that drove me away...it's your loss, not mine. I will take my contributions with me and I expressly forbid you to re-post them.

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I've been a moderator as well as a participant in fora, and from my experience there are a few lessons to be learned here, people.

Praise in public, discipline in private. This is the stuff of countless leadership books.

Never belittle your members; you never know what contribution they can give...and take away.

Exercise consistency in enforcing the forum rules. Admins and mods should not single out certain people repeatedly, nor should they be continual or intermittent in enforcement.

Study why people come into and leave from your forum.

RELAX. It's a place where people are supposed to meet, not where you practice how a power-tripping gestapo policeman should act.