But take a look at this.
This is your gateway into the internet. This is what also seems to upset a good deal of people. Heaven knows I've been bothered in one way or another from events through the internet.
If every single person on Byond came together in a giant building and could recognize everybody else, would all of you still be fighting over your disagreements and squabbles?
Absolutely.
But that's the problem. None of us are face to face with each other. We're seperated by walls, streets, towns, states, countries, oceans. Why do we still let words cut us so deeply? Why do we pound away at our keyboards in retaliation of the latest wrong that has been pressed upon us?
Is it anonymity? I wouldn't be so quick to agree. All of us are on Byond, and we identify each other with our keynames. This is different from verbally slugging it out with a total stranger you'd never see again on the street, because 9 times out of 10 we have the ability to go back and reread what has been said. We can remember who our opponents are, and can recognize them when they come around again.
The Byond journals are starting to approach their one year anniversary, right? (Edit: Elation says 6 months. Oops) Honestly, I don't remember. Already this place has had a baptism of flames. From the most personal of fights to the spammiest of wars, I think the journals have already seen it all.
You see this every once in a blue moon on the Byond forums, and while arguments do occur it's mostly a civil place of conversation. Is it because of the moderation?
Mostly.
Go scan a number of threads in the forums. Ignore the threads that are locked solely due to chatter and length. You may find a few flamefests but the majority of the threads seem tame enough, without any apparant moderation required with them. Yet the people you'd expect to blow up in the journals can remain relatively serene.
Just as there are rules you must abide by in society, there are those imposed on the forums to keep the place feeling open and welcoming.
The journals are an obvious exception. While posts can be automatically filtered due to coarse language, it is generally the anarchist side to Byond, where people are free to blow up and put their rage for all to see.
And that's why I think that the journals function so differently from the rest of Byond. Freedom.
But just because you have the freedom to do something, it doesn't mean that it is the best course of action. Moderate yourselves. Nobody in this part of Byond really has the authority to shut someone up (excluding the obvious stuff, like illegal activities and the like). However, I think it's in places like this where it is most important to self-moderate your behavior, for the sole reason that there are little to no consequences. That will speak volumes about your character.
Of course, some of you will feel that you don't need to care what anybody else thinks, because this is the internet. The problem I have with this mindset is that when you don't care about anybody's feelings, are you inadvertantly including yourself? Do your best to maintain your respect, even on the internet.
"But I don't care if anyone else respects me online. They don't matter"
Then do it for your own self-respect. These are still real people that you interact with on the internet. You're one of them. No matter how differently you may try to act online, you're still the same person at the keyboard whether you call yourself John Dandy or Suki_Chan_69. Try to be a good person online. Who knows? It may help you maintain being a good person offline as well, because in the end the offline you and online you probably aren't as seperate as you think they may be.
Regardless of how much or how little you talk here, as long as you use the Byond software you're still a part of this community. Let's make it the best it can be.
I haven't read your whole post yet- but one correction, the member blogs are only about 6 months old.