Hello, Mindchild.
If you don't mind, I'd like to quote a previous poster. That one said:
A lot of us ex-jw's... realize it's who we are and we like to talk to ppl who share our perspective. All of us aren't looking for a savior post, that clears up something we've struggled with due to the WTS. We just realize what happened to us, and we have decided to move on... some may not be for the constant rehashing of WTS failings... However, I'm not saying that this work doesn't have it's place. A lot of ppl benefit from it.
and
I happen to feel that there is more than enough room here for the silly and the serious. I see no reason why the two categories of posts/posters can't co-exist.
In these posts, the poster is stating the obvious fact that for some reason eludes the understanding of some on a regular basis. What is that obvious fact? We are all different and even within a single individual, over time NEEDS CHANGE.
Therfore u should post what u want and what u feel. Two posters that do that imo, are Fredhall and Englishman. Sure they are at two different ends of the spectrum, but they both have managed to carve their own little niches in JW.com and don't need any validation from anyone.
Another sublime kernel of truth, known to all most. If you don't like fluff, don't post it and don't answer to it. If you want a particular type of post, lead the way and others who are interested will follow.
Secondly, JW.com would not be quite the place it is without the comments of E-man and the clever lunacy of our beloved Fred. We all have our place here.
To that same poster you said:
This wasn't a going away post. More like is there really any point in trying to change the growing trend towards noise.
To that I can say "yes."
When I got here there were a handful of arrogant, cocksure posters who did not hesitate to blatantly disparage -- often with the most vulgar of terms -- the comments and ideas of other posters that did not meet their 'standard.' A handful of other posters, unwilling to sit back and be satisfied with the status quo, undertook the task of calling these ones on their boorish behavior. The net result is todays JW.com, a better forum than it was back then, were all ideas, even fluff, not only sees the light of day but thrives. So, you can and SHOULD use what talents you have to effect change for the better.
Also to help answer this question of yours, you might want to consult lilacs' thread May I Have Your Attention Please thread (gotta love that title) and see the abundant wisdom on display there, attendant to this exact same topic, btw.
Last, in your initial post, you asked:
Do you get discouraged when you put a few hours into researching and putting up a thread or replying to a post and it doesn't do much of anything but waste your time?
Sometimes, but you never know who reads it or how they may be helped. Still... what is the appropriate response when one becomes discouraged that their "work" is not hailed by the masses as the most wonderful thing they've ever read? Leave?
tj
