Originally Posted by AN2 Driver
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The shouts for a strictly moderated and seregated forum with only "qualified" people were to have access, to restrict this by paying access, e.t.c. tend to become very loud at times like this. In some instances loud enough for some enterprising soul to go ahead and do exactly that. Restricted access, paid forum, open to people with credentials only, strictly moderated. The result in 2 of the experiments I saw happen over the last years was sobering to say the very least.
- Of those "elite" specialist screamers who went bonkers on who they perceived as trolls (and had helped to sustain them by feeding them), not a fraction joined the new place. Why? Part reason they had nobody there to shout at and to let out their frustrations and prove how clever they really were when amongst "peers".
- The new place became a totally sterile environment, there was no life to speak of, because everyone became scared to appear "unprofessional" to those who decided what professionalism was. While the old places lost some members, it kept going at the usual rate, the trolling actually decreased and it's still around today. The new places either become a 10 member closed society or shut down within a few months out of pure boredom.
I've seen some of the same, not the same extent, happen in AVSIG, the old compuserve community. It still exists to my knowledge, it's paid access and most of the classic members are gone.
Good post and I agree in total.
Regarding the bolded sections, yes I was an active member of Avsig, but dropped out when it became too sterile and at the same time I had to pay to express an opinion in my field of expertise.. In the grand scheme of things I charge a good deal for my credible opinions (listed against my good name and reputation) so I have no interest in paying somebody to read what I write.
At least with Pprune, as it currently is, I don't pay a cent and I don't risk my reputation when I post opinions under my handle.