I'll confess first (raises hand in solemn oath): I drink up BBS posts like nectar from the gods.
We pretty much all use it. Our good, old, faithful BBS.
Sure, the filters drive us straight into the asylums, and we all grumble about off-topic posts, but even though we complain like old men, when the BBS goes down for a few days, we can't help but become frantic. The BBS has survived huge wars, and 100 of the "This article was fab!" posts. It's survived the harshest criticism, and the kindest words.
For an author, the BBS is addicting. No matter how tough the posts are, we keep checking back . . . maybe, somewhere hidden in those, "When did your grammar teacher die?" comments there will be one soft word. It only takes one word to give an inspiration to write another article. And hey, 59 posts on how much you blow as a writer can just give more fuel to your fire to show them. The BBS is an amazing place to post your thoughts, ideas, and even those very few kind words.
But lately all there has been in the BBS are arguments. Hey, I'm not saying that's bad, it just shows how much a change there has been since a few years ago.
There are many common posts that really start up our engines. Comments like. "I haven't seen you writing any articles, you shouldn't be posting," have been around since for-eeeever, and they can really get annoying. Here is your logic, simply: I haven't seen you writing any articles, therefore you give up your freedom of speech and are not allowed to post in my BBS." Pffffttt. Even the strictest posters have to admit that that makes no sense, not to mention unfair.
Other things have become very common in the BBS, also. That word, oh that word . . . "bash." When we think of that word, we think of unapologetic, harsh words that only bring us down instead of make us better. An example:
"The article was horrible. You need to stop writing right now, otherwise I'm going to throw something. You are such a bad writer, why did the editor even let you in? Go take some writing classes ASAP."
Okay. That's just crossing the line, you see? There was no advice to help the author, or now facts or examples to back the poster up. (By the way, that post is made up. No one really said that. Although there have been some close.)
If you really didn't like the article, then here is a nicer, more helpful way to say the thought above.
"I think this article needs a lot of work. It would be a lot easier to read if you made your sentences flow. Right now they are pretty choppy. Spell check is helpful, too. Take that advice and try again. See how it turns out."
If I was the author receiving that last comment, I'd take their advice, instead of becoming belligerent and stubborn like the first post. Ah! We see how words can make a huge impact on how the author takes you.
Now, I'm not saying you have to reincarnate Mary Poppins and add half a pound of sugar to every word, but trying to put some usefulness in your post instead of being so blunt can really make all the difference.
What really makes me angry is that most BBS posters, even though they don't really realize it, is that they don't really give new writers in the Times a chance. I don't mean to be categorizing, it's just a small trend I've noticed. When I first started writing, I got a bunch of criticism about my mistakes. The other day, I looked back at one of my first articles, and a latest one, and I realized there were similar flaws in the first article and the one I had written recently. "Odd." I thought. "No one points them out to me anymore." Sure, my writing has changed a lot, but when I gave the two articles to one of my friends and professors, Carly, through email, she also noticed similar things that need improvement.
Even if a legendary Times Writer writes an article that is not so fabulous, I promise you it won't get as much critiquing as an article written by a first Times Writer's article of the same quality. What do you think of this?
Not everybody is doing it, no one specifically, just a general trend.
The BBS is an amazing asset of Whyville. I know many people who come on just for the BBS. And even though it seems to be going through more rough posts than candy coated, the BBS is still a place of debates, advice, and those . . . those kind words.
Glitsygrl.
