Editorial

Something nasty in the woodshed?

The last couple of weeks I have had a number of e-mails and messages, some from people I don’t know including someone claiming to be a ‘chat room monitor’ asking why the Blog is declining to pass comment on the alleged ‘difficulties’ in a certain chatroom . I have taken the view that this Blog, of which I am solely the editor, is owned by its members and does not have any view or position. Consequently I have chosen not to pass comment. However, as someone has now written to suggest there is a ‘conspiracy of silence’ I now feel constrained to pass comment

I trust such people will find the following comments helpful. This Blog was originally founded by a group of people who once had in common the membership of a particular chatroom. In the early days we used to comment on the day-to-day happenings there. Since then I understand that fewer and fewer Blog members choose to patronise that particular website. Either because of difficulties of access, or they have simply moved on. Certainly the Blog has now developed in other directions. The ‘difficulties’ as I understand it refer to a spate of bannings. As it is now some considerable time since I chose to patronise any chatroom, I feel that I am in no position to comment. I would simply say that if anyone thinks that the gossip, and half truths that frequently masquerades as fact in that august establishment has anything but a tenuous relationship to reality they are deluding themselves.

If only ten percent of the rumours are true, then clearly it is something I would wish to entirely disassociate myself from. It is tempting to examine the past through rose tinted spectacles, and yes there was a time when a handful of people brought a spark of life, fun and integrity to this particular place, but those days are long gone. The reality is often quite different. Good people of course brush aside some of the more disturbing aspects of chat, but the danger, certainly for career chatters is that familiarity can breed contempt and what was once thought to be ‘gross’ rapidly becomes the norm. Certainly the day the music died I felt the time had come for me to leave chat. I had some great times there with wonderful friends, but I am under no delusions as to the reality. If there is a move to clean up chat then one can only applaud it; being banned from a chat room that condones ‘family issues’ is not something any sane person would want on their curriculum vitae. Meanwhile I re-iterate, one really shouldn’t pay too much attention to what is said in that place.