[Chuck]

Originally Posted by TheBarrett

Generally most of online internet forums, or something involving a virtual social contact between three or more people, are of the "abuse, sarcasm..." and generally something that can make a few or many people uncomfortable.

Although the idea of identity masking in order to conceal the physical but unleash the mental is fine with me. As certain people who reveal too much online may have received many consequences, or are just plain annoying.

Originally Posted by Junkmale

You are right, Barrett.
But there are certain individuals who simply go online with the deliberate intention to abuse, i think.
It shows that there is something seriously lacking in their personal lives that the only 'pleasure' they get is from abusing a complete stranger on a Internet forum?
I'm guilty of revealing too much from time to time. It's something i'm trying to stop, but i do think that it shows how comfortable one can feel in the presence of other like minded individuals? Is that such a bad thing, i wonder?

Hey guys: Jess, Barrett, Junkmale - Three of my favorite online correspondents here - how could I not jump in and opine?

Anyway, yes, what we say online does matter. Even if we're "anonymous" while posting, somebody will recognize you, somehow. And even if they don't, I believe in karma and holistics (and all that bs), meaning: if you're an a-hole online, you're probably a sad, lonely a-hole in the real world, too.

Whoahhh. Weird. Sorry, I just got back from a party.

Anyway, vocabulary, speech, and diction in real life say a lot about all of us. Right? No arguments there. But when it's online, and faceless and even (sometimes) nameless, it's easy to think that those things don't matter. Well, surprise, they do, and even more. Even more because A) now spelling counts, too; and B) now it's written down, it's public, and it's going to be lasting there for years.

In other words, if we're ignorant (or even totally illiterate) in the real world, we can still get by. It's easy to pass, especially here in the U.S. But you start trying to write things down here on the internet, and it's really easy to look really stupid. (Like this post, for example!) (no, what I mean is, I've posted some really stupid things, with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever.) (no, that's not what I --- oh, never mind )

But here's what I've really found: If people are writing, and spelling, and contributing, that's WAAYYY beter than if they're not. At least we're all keeping in practice. Use it or you lose it, right? That actually applies to everything, even language skills! I've said how my French has been coming back since joining this forum. I haven't said this here before, but the truth is that even my English has been getting better in recent months. Thanks, everyone!

As far as what Jess was saying about people getting fired or divorced because of their Facebook or Myspace posts - I hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me at all. Like I said above, if someone's an a-whole online, they're almost always an a-whole in real life. Only now they're leaving their own written trails of evidence for all the online communities to see.

But that brings me around to what I really wanted to say: having recently joined facebook, I now appreciate this forum even more than ever. Even the youngest of us here on AAm seems to be at least twice as smart as the average Facebooker, and even the rudest of us here is ten times as courteous. Yes, AlizéeduSiècle, Barrett, Jalen, Jung, Rachel, Deep, Junk, Karla, Lefty, Jess -- ALL OF YOU IN HERE -- you guys and gals IMPRESS ME. YOU IMPRESS MY SOCKS RIGHT OFF.

Wasabi, Fall0, Alex, Beaner, Roman, nahhh, sorry. (JUST KIDDING!!!! YOU GUYS IMPRESS ME, TOO.)

Ben, good goin. Rawdg, never quit. Scruff, Edcog, F.R.A., Edguy, C4, and everyone- THANKS FOR MAKING THIS FORUM SO SPECIAL. (Jung, don`t be so spooky, we still need you here, dudester!) And I wish I could go on and on.... but dammit - GOB LESS THISH FORUM. (hic)

Okay. I was saying it's better that we write than not to write? I may have just proven that wrong already. Ahhh, what th' hell.

Love to all o' y'all. Hugely. (In a late-Saturday-night kinda way.) Just thankful to have found this place, and its intelligence, its wisdom, its sanity, and its incredibly beautiful, talented, and smokin'-hot source of inspiration.