Nerd- if it is difficult to tell what really lies behind each screen persona, it is equally difficult to imagine how the 'banter' affects some of them who are trying to learn to find their way in the online forum world. Saying that fragile people should avoid this world is a cop-out...it's like saying that fair-skinned people should avoid going outside when the sun is shining. To operate in this new system, sometimes they have little choice.

Or...maybe a better example...when students are teased, hassled and otherwise bothered by school bullies, the usual reply of the bully, is "awww...I was just havin' a little fun. He needs to learn to take it, or get some backbone..."...various forms of that....

Why is the answer NOT that "bullies need to be re-educated and reigned in" ?

Why are some posters here totally open about who and where they really are? (You could find out who Bill D is in 2 minutes of searching and drive right to my fron door....but I don't think I have ever seen anything which tells me ANY details about Nerd. I know it is intelligent and can spell and usually has reasonable things to say...but I am not even sure about gender) Is this important?...No, as Nerd doesn't seem to cause the polarization that some here do.

This internet business is pretty new in the human experience. Many of our ways of communicating are being altered more rapidly than our psyches find comfortable...and some adapt more slowly, and 'maybe' some shouldn't try online forums at all....and perhaps some are borderline. That's what bell-shaped curves are about! I STILL see no need to make the online experience akin to a college fraternity hazing ritual, as Martin Gibson seems to take delight in. In many ways, he is a bigger problem than old .gargoyle, who gets so weird that it becomes a joke. Marin Gibson does not sound like he is joking, and if his 'projection' is merely an elaborate put-on, pardon me if I don't laugh at its wit.

Like I say....I tend to aim towards MEETING as many nice people thru Mudcat as possible and enjoying music & talk with them...but I have my reservations about some.