In the earliest days of this forum, there was a shared sense of community and trust, a willingness to engage one another, to invest the time and emotional energy required to foster good discussion and mutual understanding. It's been hard for many to keep that trust… more often than not, for good reason. I'm as guilty as anyone else (if not moreso) of helping to encourage and enable a rise in particular posting habits and approaches to discussion which have, in turn, helped to make ResetEra a less welcoming and positive community than it once may have been.
I don't know how to undo that damage, and I've helped to push away members of the community who tried. All I can do is try to self-moderate, to be kind to others here and to express myself and my opinions in ways that don't ostracize people over minor things… and it's hard, because I spent years posting like an asshole. After all, it's easier, it's safer (in the sense that I wasn't extending trust and investment that wasn't being reciprocated), and the dopamine hits come more quickly. Hard habit to break, but I think it's important for all of us to try, because it's becoming a defining aspect of discussion here - the sniping, the quipping, the hit-and-run posting, and the lack of baseline respect for one another's emotions and personhood that seems to underpin it all.
It is absolutely worth acknowledging that this community still plays host to a lot of fine people. People who take it upon themselves to shoulder the burden of keeping that sense of community alive. It's a good place to be, a lot of the time, and I appreciate that, and I appreciate you. Particularly those of you who stay cognizant of others, and the emotional impact that their time here and their interactions with you many have on them. I think that is exactly the thing we need more of, if we want to deal with the creeping negativity.
