The Challenge of BiPolar Forums # 2

Perhaps the biggest problem facing any online forum community is the existence of Flame Warriors. (Certainly this was true of my experience at www.theicarusproject.net ). I came across an excellent site recently maintained by Mike Reed which caricatures chief forum antagonists. My two favourites, based on my experience at TIP are the following (Pics and descriptions courtesy of Mike Reed's excellent site http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/index.htm):

JERK: (readers familiar with this blog might even recognise this one)

Jerk is sarcastic, mean, unforgiving and never misses an opportunity to make a cutting remark. Jerk's repulsive personality quickly alienates other Warriors, and after some initial skirmishing he is usually ostracized. Still, Jerk is very happy to participate in electronic forums because in cyberspace he is free to be himself...without the risk of getting a real-time punch in the mouth.

REBEL WITHOUT A CLUE: (certainly a couple of these at TIP)

Rebel Without a Clue's deep seated and infantile hostility to authority motivates his random and seemingly gratuitous attacks on list owners, Admins, Nannies or anyone else who attempts to maintain order and civility in discussion forums. Differing markedly from Rebel Leader, he is unattached to any cause other than petulance for its own sake, and will therefore seldom inspire general insurrection. In his frequent and ineffectual attacks on the established order he will often cite the Bible, or the US Constitution to support incoherent arguments. Rebel Without a Clue NEVER reads forum FAQs , and loudly decries as fascism any enforcement whatsoever of forum rules.

Mike's site has loadsa other interesting characters, many who, in my opinion, correlate very closely with forum participants. I'm not excluding myself here - I saw a couple that seemed very close to home (can you spot them?).

***
Moodwise I'm on an even keel today, which I'm very pleased with as the whole custody issue with Miss L looks like I'm gonna be forced to consult an attorney, and BP Guy HATES ATTORNEYS! Lots of old demons jumping out the closet right now. Not looking pretty...