Maybe we should stop the witch hunt on trolls.
Catherder isn't witch hunting.
Several of us have been here a long time, and the posts he is referring to are very typical to those of use who are familiar with seeing them before.
We've seen them several times in waves over the years we've been here, and it's always the same kinds of accusations, as well as several personal attacks against Aimee that were unwarranted. We don't want to see that happen again, and are trying to nip it in the bud. I've seen people tear the hee haw out of Aimee just for sharing her background (without even listening to what she had to say), and that's why I'm protective of her. I should have stood up for her then but I didn't, so I'm not going to make the same mistake again this time, too.
I understand that people are going to complain that it's a big clique here but please understand, when you've been on CC 6 or 7 years, you come to realize a few things:
1. The mods know what they're doing, and they're doing what they can. If they intervene, it's for a reason. When I first came to CC I was a bit of a troll myself, but over time, I learned I had good reason to trust the mods, and I hold to that.
2. You come to recognize a lot of patterns in people's postings, and many users come back under different names. Sometimes it's by their choice and they're usually honest about who they used to be; sometimes they're banned and are working around the rules of their banning.
3. Some people come and go, and they can be gone for a long time, but who they are remains true. Sometimes it's for the good, and sometimes... it's for the trolling. When a person is gone or doesn't make an appearance for a long time, the new generation of CC'ers will, of course, see them as a new person and treat their posts as such.
But the people who are already familiar with their posts know the history behind it, and that's why you see some people responding the way they do. They already know what the person is about and whether they're here to voice a sincere testimony or are here to tear someone else apart.
4. There may be inside things going on you haven't heard of, but that's normal and you'll probably hear about it if you spend a lot of time here. It's not about exclusion, it's just the fact that the threads can obviously move very quickly and it's easy to miss something, especially if you have a life outside of CC, such as going to work.
Shoot, you know the "contest" where people are trying to get "landmark" posts? (Like the 50,000th post in Streams?) I never even heard of that game until a few months ago when someone explained it.
For me, it wasn't a matter of, "Everyone here knows about all these inside games and rules I don't know about," but rather, "Wow. That sounds fun... How do I get in on this?" And even if I try, and don't quite fit in, I just keep trying.
Sometimes I don't fit in with the current CC crowds either. But it's a lot like surfing--sometimes there are waves you can grab onto and soar through, and others... Well, sometimes you have to just let them go and crash with the tide... and keep watching for that next great wave.
