The Stephen Fry forum
A long while back, I spent quite a bit of time on the Stephen Fry forum. It was a fun place, full of terrific people, but then the powers-that-be changed it so much that it became annoying to navigate. So I gave it up. Websites should be a useful tools, not annoyances.
I just went back there to see what's been going on and came across a thread called Annoying Little Things. I read a few pages of it and I have to say I was a bit shocked. It used to be rare for me to see forum members get on each other or for forum members to go off on the world at large. But that thread is full of most mean-spirited bullshit that I've ever seen. Their vitriol, set loose against everything from women who drink pints to obese people, was disgusting. And worse, one of the moderators was getting in on the act.
One could argue that the name of the thread should have tipped me off, but still - is there really any reason to behave that way? Ah, the beauty of the anonymous internet. It allows arseholes to be even more arseholish than they are in real life.
There are some happy places, though, like the Fry-A-Day pictures and the things people do for his birthday and such. But even those happy places can't quite overshadow the nasty bits on there.
Though Stephen's name is attached to the place, I can't really blame him for any of it. He's said before that he has almost nothing to do with the site.
I imagine a lot of people would disagree with this assessment of the forum. Well, that's OK. But if you disagree, please be nice about it. I'll be nice back, I promise.
I just went back there to see what's been going on and came across a thread called Annoying Little Things. I read a few pages of it and I have to say I was a bit shocked. It used to be rare for me to see forum members get on each other or for forum members to go off on the world at large. But that thread is full of most mean-spirited bullshit that I've ever seen. Their vitriol, set loose against everything from women who drink pints to obese people, was disgusting. And worse, one of the moderators was getting in on the act.
One could argue that the name of the thread should have tipped me off, but still - is there really any reason to behave that way? Ah, the beauty of the anonymous internet. It allows arseholes to be even more arseholish than they are in real life.
There are some happy places, though, like the Fry-A-Day pictures and the things people do for his birthday and such. But even those happy places can't quite overshadow the nasty bits on there.
Though Stephen's name is attached to the place, I can't really blame him for any of it. He's said before that he has almost nothing to do with the site.
I imagine a lot of people would disagree with this assessment of the forum. Well, that's OK. But if you disagree, please be nice about it. I'll be nice back, I promise.