GUEST, "the other house" penned: "I find Mudcat and uk.music.folk to be the most unwelcoming of strangers of all the unmoderated folk music forums on the internet."

There was a time not so long ago when I was new to the Mudcat. I became a member almost immediately, but I was complete stranger to all but 2 people who were already here, regardless of membership.

The only people who were outright rude, unfriendly and unwelcoming when I was new here were unnamed Guests. The members, while I may not have agreed with them on numerous occasions, or they with me, expressed their disagreement in mainly polite terms. This trend has continued to the present.