I'm one of those who thinks this place is more than just a place of entertainment, more than just another internet place where people with a common interest (here, Packer football).
I don't know why. I'm not going to go into an extended discussion now, simply because I'm too tired and worn out from usual shit in the non-virtual world I live and work in. But I do think this place is a real community.
Of course like all communities, real or virtual, not everyone sees or needs to see it that way. But I do think that it is the kind of community that Tocqueville said made America different and that was the real source of its greatness, the kind of community made up of over-lapping and intertwined associations, the kind of community where passions sometimes get out of hand and where sometimes everything seems ennui, the kind of community where people share the traumas and their successes of their lives, and where they spend a lot of time bitching about and gossiping with and getting pissed off at their neighbors. The kind of community where people keep grudges for months or years, and the kind of community where newcomers can find they don't have to "fit" with everyone.
It doesn't bother me that uffda sees it as only a place of entertainment. I've never been in a community where I want to be close to everyone, and I've been in one where I want everyone to approach me on everything.
And, despite getting pissed off and frustrated and annoyed regularly by various assholes people here, this is my favorite community online OR offline. And I know that some will find this last sad. But I don't.
Because the people here are real. And that makes it real.
Originally Posted by: Wade