response 54 of 155:

Feb 12 18:37 UTC 2004

I think slynne is missing the fact that to some people here, there are
real friends of theirs that are involved, maybe even people they see in
person on a regular basis.  Not everyone here thinks of other BBS'ers as
just text on the screen with no real person behind it.  Saying "it's
just a BBS, it shouldn't be that important to them" shortchanges the
real friendships and real people that are involved.

I really do think that this is a cultural difference between Grex and
M-Net, and what we're seeing now may be a wrenching change where Grex's
culture is going to be forced to become more impersonal, like M-Net's.

response 60 of 155:

Feb 12 20:10 UTC 2004

Lynne, when you get rude tech support calls are you allowed to be as rude in
return?

response 62 of 155:

Feb 12 20:39 UTC 2004

resp:60 - nope. And as it turns out, since they dont bother me, I find 
it very easy to be pleasant. I am also very very good at directing 
conversations in the way I want them to go. In my case at work, I can 
have people laughing by the end of the call. 

But, I have to admit that the main reason I am not rude back to those 
people is because my employer wouldnt like it and my employer *pays* 
me. 

resp:61 - I have to disagree. While I dont know who is leaving, I'll 
bet it is some of our more interesting people. 

Just so you all know, I dont think there is anything wrong with wanting 
an online community filled mostly with people who kind of know you and 
who are willing to be there to support you. I also understand that 
people want an open community where folks can wander in and be made to 
feel welcome. The problem though, is that if you have an open system, 
folks you might not want to feel welcome will come in too. 

If that part of it really bothers people, they very well may want to 
leave. I like the open system feel of this place, personally. I also 
like the sense of community. In fact, it means so much to me that I am 
not willing to leave here right now because doing so would just harm 
the community. 

I hope that anyone else who values that sense of community tries to 
stick it out with me. Ignore the folks who bother you. Use a twit 
filter if you must. But please please keep contributing here because 
*being here* is more important than even sending in money. (although 
naturally, I hope people will continue to be willing to do that too) 

response 64 of 155:

Feb 12 20:50 UTC 2004

I dont know. I would kind of like people to learn how to 
ignore "trouble makers". I would like people to realize that *they* are 
valuable to grex. Not because of any potential money they might send it 
either. Because each person here contributes something to someone. I 
would like to convince people to ignore the people whom they dont think 
contribute and focus on everyone else. I admit too that this is all a 
totally selfish desire of mine. I want people to stay because it makes 
my grex experience better. 

response 72 of 155:

Feb 12 23:08 UTC 2004

Hey, the GreX public did a pretty god job of kicking out two troublemakers:
jep and valerie.

response 74 of 155:

Feb 13 01:08 UTC 2004

Gawd; better call in some more m-netters to fill in the empty seats!