VaudevillianVeteran said:
By God, seconded, seconded, seconded! ... I'm sure it's tough being a [insert ethnicity/sexuality/gender/career choice] here. But really, has anyone genuinely thought to themselves "Geez, this is a hard question, I wonder what a Inuit Transvestite thinks about this..."?
This is a neat point I left out before: a great deal of these people seem to believe that they are somehow misunderstood or even persecuted, and that they can somehow set the record straight by holding some sort of online press conference with random nerds.
VaudevillianVeteran said:
I'm sure there were a few people who made these threads, genuinely trying to educate, express some interesting opinions/experiences and answer questions but the majority of them boil down to: "Hey. Hey. LOOK AT ME. GIVE ME ATTENTION."
Just_A_Glitch said:
For the most part, I agree with you. But there are a few, genuinely interesting threads in the vein. I recall BonsaiK's "Ask someone in the music industry" thread to be very enjoyable and enlightening.
And that's the last, and honestly the biggest problem I have with these threads: even when the poster honestly does have something meaningful to contribute,
this is not the appropriate venue for it. Imagine if you were at a restaurant or a gym and someone had picked out a visible spot for a card table and a big sign that just said 'MUSIC INDUSTRY' on it. Yeah, he might actually have something worthwhile to say, but before he does everyone is just going to ask him if he's lost.
A forum is essentially a place to ask a question or make a statement to a crowd. The ensuing discussion is granted depth and value by the variety and number of different viewpoints that make it up. The system is set up around the idea that
every contributor has some sort of unique perspective, and, when it is relevant and timely, that perspective will enrich the conversation.
These kinds of threads effectively invert this system by declaring,
"My viewpoint is here now. Now
you give
me content, and
I'll make it interesting and special in a way
you can't." That's what a blog is for. Or a column. Or getting stuck next to someone on a bus.
I can say with confidence that I have one of the most interesting jobs out of everyone on the Escapist. And yes, it does give me a unique perspective on many things, often important things. But I don't bring it up a lot because this is a
public forum, not my Facebook page. And I certainly don't make a whole new thread to brag about it and haughtily deign to enlighten everybody.
Duuuh.
