I used to dabble in horse racing...owned a few racehorses...and there were two fantastic forums, much like this one in content, but more of a list-serv format. Neither required members to reveal their true identity, even to the list owner. After a while, both became havens for the prognosticators of pessimism that plague our society. One closed down, the owner just throwing up her hands in an 'enough is enough' surrender to the nabobs of negativism. The other started to require members giving their full identification to the owner while still allowing screen names. It continues to limp along.
People thrive on negativity and conflict and the 'wow' factor. Anyone see yesterday's Portsmouth Herald? Plastered atop the front page was a giant headline about a faulty grease trap closing down a local eatery. Was this the most important news in that region yesterday? Nope. Did it get people's attention? Yup.
We are lucky that we have this forum, and that Don allows us to play in this anonymous virtual sandbox.
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