Ah, the good old days, before speed was introduced to the Internet. In the mid 1970's, we had personal computers able to talk to each other at the amazing speed of 300 baud. You would dial up the required phone number, and send your message to "the bulletin board". Due to the speed involved (or more accurately, lack of speed) it took a long time to send a message of any length, thus topics were short and typically involved with technical matters. Sending pictures or emojis was not possible.
Enter the technology gods! With more speed, we have the ability to send long messages, even book length features. You typically are in communications with a person or group of people you do not know. It is really rather impersonal, and so you may not feel that you need to respect yourself or anyone else for that matter. That is up to you.
A person can gain a reputation on a forum, and that may be a good thing or not. Again, it is up to the individual. Comments have consequences. As I have belonged to several forums over the years - most technical, I have noticed certain types of personalities. When forums begin discussions on specific topics not related to the "mission of the forum", problems are likely to occur.
Another type of personality on some forums is one that for some strange reason is truly "our of control". With great patience, I have asked such individuals why they said something out of line. Typically, the answer is they were very drunk at the time. Then there are those who have super egos and put everyone down.
Being a member of a forum can be a problem. You never know when you will be a target or when you will be the bullet to destroy a forum. Good luck to all of us! In the mean time, be yourself, so we will know who you are!
Tom
