it is interesting to see how much of an impact these forums had especially in a pretty critical period of development (pretty much all of middle school for me). looking back, exposure to all the toxic garbage being spewed on here really was not normal. hard to be surprised considering the complete lack of moderation and acceptance/glorification of badspot's laziness and apathy for this community. harassment and abuse was pretty much entertainment for people as we all just accepted it as "it is what it is" pretty much. my hope is that most people who were avid members here for a while were not heavily effected by their experiences on here. i sometimes wonder if engaging on these forums has ever been a detriment to my development in any way, i hope not but i could definitely see that being the case for some
absolutely
i definitely agree with all that. while i can look back and laugh at these things
now because it's so absurd (and everyone was so loving edgy), i will admit that some of the crap on here affected me for a long time. i don't think it stunted my development, per say, some of things on here definitely negatively impacted me as a teen. i had an awful lot of self confidence issues and even felt insecure about my own disability when everyone just referred to me as a cripple.
however, i eventually learned how to find worth within my self and no longer require validation from people on the internet if i'm pretty or if it's okay for me to be who i am. the only persons' opinion i care about is mine and my husbands'. he thinks highly of my looks, i also can look in the mirror and say i look good.
i also dont hold it against people who just went along with it because they wanted validation or to fit in themselves, especially if they were within my age group.
hell, I even forgive some of the people who really messed with me or had drama with me because it's the past and furthermore, a lot of the people doing that stuff were probably damaged or mistreated at some point in their life.
people like lord tony probably had been their mom's ashtray and that's what led to them constantly loving with people as some kind of way to cry out.
badspot's apathy and laziness might even be a result of some sort of mental illness for all we know, he does not act like a normal person. i'm not a psychologist at all, but it does not take an expert to know that a lot of people on here are crazy forgeted up
of course this isn't really me trying to justify it or excuse some of the more extreme behavior (such as the private investigating and harassment people such as my husband had gone through).... just saying this place is like an unstaffed mental asylum and i went from hating most of the people on here, to just feeling sorry for a lot of them.
i once was the one crying over stuff on here like a little bitch but now i just think "what the forget happened in your life to make you put down little kids?" and through a screen at that. as a 25 year old woman, i certainly don't feel the need to stuff on 12 year olds to make myself feel better or to find entertainment
the more extreme headcases who were like 20s-30s cussing out, private investigating and harassing little kids (that's not even touching on the ones that wanna go inside them) probably wouldn't have the balls to approach some kid at the park and say "Hey kid you're ugly and stupid and everything you make is gay!" so they attacked people smaller than themselves over the internet. just makes me pity them to be honest.
i can kind of already predict people will say i'm victimizing myself or say i want attention but it is what it is, i'm just being honest \_(ツ)_/
