Avoided this thread because I never felt I had the time to post what I wanted.
Finally posting anyway because I'm never going to have all the time I want.
@
Dave if this forum
ever becomes a financial burden, say so. I'm sure my financial problems border on legend around here, but even *I* can spare $20/yr (in 12 easy payments of $1.67) without too much trouble, which is an easy grand when repeated by at least 50 active users. Cost should not be an issue.
Post count may be falling, population may be declining...but I just don't see it. I routinely have more fresh threads than I can keep up with (checking 3-6x/day) and don't see this as a problem.
What is our identity? Our "brand?" We don't have one. Get used to it. We do not need to hitch our wagon to anyone else's notoriety to survive, we are our own entity.
I am often asked at work, "What forum is that? What's it about?" I reply that we have no particular focus, and people just look at me strangely, as though the idea of a forum without focus were foreign somehow, an affront before God, or whatever. Actually, what has happened is that we formed an online society. We're a bit ahead of our time, though. Even Facebook is more of a BBS when compared to our virtual township. To give you some idea of how *I* view this board, I made some serious effort (even beyond privately asking the advice of other forum members) to discover whether it would be feasible to create a Halforums credit union. We share a common bond, no question there, but it quickly became obvious that the regulations and requirements would be too high of a hurdle even if we were to seriously pursue it via the proper agencies. Not
impossible, mind you, just extremely unlikely.
Now, for the wall of text.
=================
I joined this forum a long time ago to talk about a webcomic, no doubt moved to comment by some awful pun or grammatical error which pushed me far enough over the edge that I absolutely
had to create an account and tell someone about it.
When the webcomic's "sponsorship" was pulled, we were left with no clear theme, so we just ended up talking amongst ourselves. I saw myself as a member, nothing more. Over quite a bit of time, I built a reputation of sorts. I interjected a comment or two. I substantiated someone else's comment with a handy link. I got an avatar (and even that took a loooong time before I finally did so), and I'm sure that's probably when I went from being a faceless lurker dude to some sort of semi-recognizeable individual. As in real life, when someone tried to cut me down for something (real or imagined), I either refuted their claim with research and facts, or else ignored/redirected it if I thought it was spurious. I tried hard not to be an idiot or a jackass (made easier since I'm neither in real life), but I was still in awe of other Halforum members who were obvious pillars of the community such as @
Dave, @
JCM, @
GasBandit, @
Gusto, and others. I was surrounded by people who have better jobs, more artistic talent, a deeper understanding of mathematics, a heroic lifestyle, an idyllic home life, or whatever, while I was just a guy sitting on the floor of my living room in front of a 5yr-old computer propped up on milk crates, eating microwaved brown-n-serve sausages off a salad plate while skimming through the new threads. But I stuck around. I'm stubborn like that.
And I got accepted (or at least any attempts to drive me away petered out). And then I started to build a
real reputation. I often tell people, "Only people who don't know me think that I'm boring." As time went on, I got more bold about sharing my opinions, and got to feel more comfortable, more belong-y. At some point, someone made the mistake of asking for advice in some topic where I'm proficient, and I caught fire and got noticed for it. Much like
the heap paradox, there's no clear division as to where it happened, but at some point I became a part of "us." Valued. Integral.
Here's the thing, though. I don't feel like I'm some sort of Inner Circle poobah, some sort of forum linchpin. In fact, I feel apprehensive even typing the previous sentence suggesting that I
might be one, since I feel like if *I* were to die tomorrow, the forum would probably notice me missing, and some people might talk about it for a bit, but after a brief period, business would resume as usual. This is not some attempt to solicit affirmation, either. Rather it is a statement of how I feel my place is when compared against someone who really
is one of those linchpins. I mean, I'm no @
North_Ranger (nor do I feel I ever
will be, either). No,
that guy was a f*ckin' Corinthian column carved from stacked red granite blocks quarried
straight out of Lieto, and I doubt anyone here would disagree.
Have any of you ever been on vacation, and went into a bar recommended by the locals? You walk in, everyone looks up at you, the bar pauses for a split second...and then everyone goes back to what they were doing. Your first thought is probably, "The bar has evaluated me, and found me wanting," but you gotta remember: Everyone probably has their own reason. Some were merely curious and returned to whatever they were doing once they were satisfied. Some probably checked you out and either dismissed you
or else made plans to get a closer look when the opportunity presents itself. If you buy your drink, keep to yourself, and then leave, then you'll never know which people are the regulars, the drunks, the sports fans, the car nuts, etc. I imagine that's what it's like for outsiders here. You generally don't come in here unless you
stumble across it somehow or
get recommended by someone. You might get turned off and leave. You might get challenged and allow yourself to be chased off. Honestly, we probably don't want those folks anyway.
Or you might stay, either to lurk for a while and take our measure or because you saw something that elicited an emotional response from you
so strong that you felt compelled to register an account right away in order to tell someone about it.
It happens. Let it.
--Patrick
God bless us, every one.
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