Actually McGrath, I did read Mark's post. I just don't think his analogies fit. First, too many people's behavior on-line is too different from their off-line behavior for the analogies he used in the first part of his post, to ring true. There are so many people who hurl abuse and insults at other posters on-line. It is my perception that Mudcat is becoming a magnet for people who use their internet access in just that way--to vent at people they will never have to account to.

As to the parts of Mark's post about relationships, I hope I clarified my position on that in my above post. I'm really not here to develop relationships, and I've said in the past I prefer to maintain distance on-line.

Finally, as to credibility, what Mark says is true. One can only gain credibility on-line when one's contributions/accomplishments can verified in some way, either through the reputation attached to a name, or through personal experience. The thing is, I'm not interested in gaining personal credibility either.

I'm not interested in developing personal relationships or credibility on-line. I'm just a curious person, who enjoys lurking and posting occassionally on-line. I have relationships I'm quite content with in the real world, along with credibility, and a personal reputation. In my view, it is too damn much work to create all that on-line, largely because of the amount of time and effort it takes to do it in real life. I'm much more into my real life than my cyber life anyway.

I much prefer the idea of Mudcat as a cafe, rather than a community. My coming here is done for my own personal enjoyment. Coming here, for me, is the cyber equivalent of sitting at a sidewalk cafe, where I enjoy watching and listening to those around me. I'm not going to walk over and introduce myself to the other folks at nearby tables, but then again, I'm also not going to holler abuse across the street at people either. And when the traffic is too much, or the people are too much to bear, I leave. I don't demand that people stop it, or act this way, or whatever. However, if there seems to be a change in clientele, and I perceive the new clientele negatively because of their obnoxious behavior, I may well complain about them spoiling my enjoyment of the place. That's all I'm doing here.

I pay the same amount to use this site as the members do, so I figure I've just as much right to bitch about the lousy clientele as they do. And at least I've tried to make a few useful suggestions while doing it.