Gerry: Yes, thanks, that does explain it very clearly. I was thinking of Mudcat from the Vulcan point of view, as just a storehouse for information about folk music. Human emotions often surprise and confuse me. They seem to pervade everything, even when the only physical connection is the movement of electrons through wires and microprocessors.

Perhaps that perception of a virtual community explains the many reactions against the theme of this thread as compared with, for example, the "I am sick of the Beatles" thread. Is Keillor thought of as a member of this community?

Would you say that the problems I touched on earlier, such as responding to an idea with an ad hominem attack or insult against the person who presented the idea rather than responding to the idea itself, don't happen among people who think of themselves as part of the Mudcat virtual community? I think that would be the case in a real-world community. Are the people who do that either outsiders themselves or else replying to someone they think of as an outsider?