For some reason, poking around on the SG hopefuls group usually gets me a little annoyed. Not that I think the people applying are not worthy (far from, there is a lot of potential out there), but it seems like the group is pretty anal about what is said.
The sad thing is that in the gorup (mesage board content, not the actual members) there is a lot of disappointment mixed with positivity. And it sucks when people go on and post a question and then the wording of the question is attacked, rather than the substance of the post. And every misstep is treated as some sort of treason. I hate to say it, but SG is not sacred. Its fucking awesome as hell, but it's also about a freedom of expression that should be allowed to be negative when people want to be. That's not to say that people should be OK with members acting like pricks. But it does mean that, in order to maintain the open and overall vibrant nature of the site, you need a certain amount of debate and dissagreement.
And that's why I'm writing this in my own journal and not putting it within the "view" of that specific message board. I don't want a bunch of people who are so dreadfully afraid of their own allegiance being challenged to start censuring me. I'm not saying that SG sucks, i'm not saying that anyone on it is not worth being here. I'm just saying that there is a small culture of enforced optimism that seems to deny people voicing their frustrations with the system- in this case the SG application system.
You need people to say what's not good or what needs improving. And you need people to at least come out and either complain about not being accepted, or at least to come to grips with the fact that SG staff felt it wasn't up to their standards. Anyone who is a member has already established a certain amount of support for the site, since they paid to join (and those who are getting the free memberships have at least ventured to support the site with their naked bodies). I just want the Hopefuls group to lighten the hell up, the air of false positivity and denial that people can stick to a preference or opinion seems to be creating the opposite result you want.
The sad thing is that in the gorup (mesage board content, not the actual members) there is a lot of disappointment mixed with positivity. And it sucks when people go on and post a question and then the wording of the question is attacked, rather than the substance of the post. And every misstep is treated as some sort of treason. I hate to say it, but SG is not sacred. Its fucking awesome as hell, but it's also about a freedom of expression that should be allowed to be negative when people want to be. That's not to say that people should be OK with members acting like pricks. But it does mean that, in order to maintain the open and overall vibrant nature of the site, you need a certain amount of debate and dissagreement.
And that's why I'm writing this in my own journal and not putting it within the "view" of that specific message board. I don't want a bunch of people who are so dreadfully afraid of their own allegiance being challenged to start censuring me. I'm not saying that SG sucks, i'm not saying that anyone on it is not worth being here. I'm just saying that there is a small culture of enforced optimism that seems to deny people voicing their frustrations with the system- in this case the SG application system.
You need people to say what's not good or what needs improving. And you need people to at least come out and either complain about not being accepted, or at least to come to grips with the fact that SG staff felt it wasn't up to their standards. Anyone who is a member has already established a certain amount of support for the site, since they paid to join (and those who are getting the free memberships have at least ventured to support the site with their naked bodies). I just want the Hopefuls group to lighten the hell up, the air of false positivity and denial that people can stick to a preference or opinion seems to be creating the opposite result you want.
By the way, I love your ink in your profile picture.