The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Now, before we begin this discussion, I'd like to add the following disclaimers: One, this is not meant to offend anyone, pick on anyone, or point anyone out. Two, if it does offend you, step away from your computer, and fix yourself. And three, before you start, this is the right section, it's about VR, and it's comparison.


So, I'm only a regular contributing member of three on-line communities: VR, a social networking site (not MySpace or Facebook, it's smaller and much more personal), and a knife community called BladeForums.

These three communities are vastly different from each other in who they attract. Obviously VR attracts those with a Vampire draw. The social site draws a good mix, but mostly it's late-teen/early-twenties "everyday folks", and the blade site draws in a crowd that's a little bit older for the most part (obviously excluding some, I'm not quite an old man).

What I've found, is that when it comes to typing intelligably, BladeForums far and away surpasses both other sites. Please note, I'm not saying you guys are slathering idiots, allow me to explain.

I'm talking about the posts that you really have to stretch and really have to try to understand. For example, pulled straight from the social network site: "so what i smok weed i lik it an the polese just want 2 start shit with kids that skate they shuld do ther jobs enstead of givin us hard times!!"

I could pull a hundred off of here in a heartbeat, but I don't want to point anyone out. The point for discussion is: Why, out of the three, do you think it is so much more prevailant on this site than the other two? Angsty rebellion? "I don't need to learn anything, teachers don't know the real world".

One last thing. I understand people born in a foreign country who don't do well with English. It happens, can't expect them to be great at it all the time. I also, to an extent, can understand mental handicaps. But don't come at me with that ADHD crap, or you can eat a plate full of stink.

well.. you partially answered your own question ... or rather you partially answered it in my opinion lol ..

its the maturity level ... the age level ..
you said that the blade site tends to appeal to older members .. and thats where you see the least of it ...

the social group and VR here ... though both mixed as far as ages goes .. do tend to be filled with MORE of the younger crew than the older...

its thier generation .. its how they are.. my generation had thier own lil quirks lol and it drove my Dads generation crazy ...

personally .. and i wanna add my own lil disclaimer here lol . I DONT MEAN to offend anyone either but i KNOW i am gonna .. personally... i cant handle reading some of it either ... most of it actually... but i HAVE found a solution .. i just skip over it ... usually you can tell within the first couple of words if a post is gonna reek with it .. and i can just keep on scrollin...

and i always keep in mind.. i was young and dumb once too .. and wouldnt listen to a WORD that anyone with more years under thier belt .. tried to tell me ..
All those things that i thought were sooooo important when i was younger .. most dont mean SQUAT when you grow up and move on...

AND WHOA . did i take that all the way off topic or what?? lol sorry ...

simply.. my answer to your question was simply .. its the age group .. and its just thier way :)

i no how everyone feels.. im only 16 and people get mad because we dont spell a word right or we dont have meaning to what we say.. but in reality we do. its just you have to be able to think like us to understand what we are saying. things are abreviated on purpose (most of the time) and sometimes you dont even no what it means lol ive heard it for years.

if you go to myspace its pretty bad.. but here not so much. you gotta few.. but its just because they are lazy i guess you can say.. im not trying to offend any one im just telling the truth. its the younger ones who do it the most.

So are you comparing the forums of these three sites? (sorry if that sounded stupid I just had to clarify that before I started my post).
I think that most of the posts made here are intelligible ones, with little mistakes, but sometimes I think that people are just not paying attention to the things that they type because most of the errors that they make are ones that can be avoided just by paying more attention to your posts. And the mistakes that new people some times make, putting threads in wrong sections, can be avoided simply by reading the faqs. If none of this pertains to your original questions then I will post again once I see what others have to say.

i know what you mean - and it's not just the young ones. there are times when i need to read some posts I need a wall handy so i have something to bang my head against.

The majority of threads on VR are from people asking questions, and usually they get their answers from asking them, some of the aqnswers are garbage and some of them are good, but i really do not think age has anything to do with it because i have seen yourger people answer question better than some of the older members and vise versa...

Age has nothing to do with it. I can count a high number of amazingly articulate young people here, and a high number of lazy 30s and up people who find spelling and written communication a waste of time.

People focus on different things. It's too bad they don't all put a focus on the one thing that is your first shot at a good impression online.

one of the wisest and intelligent people i have met on this site is also one of the youngest.

I can say the same, karnstein. And I am not one of the young ones.

The forums here were not always in this state. Personally I think it is laziness, or a lack of respect for the material that is being discussed. When I first joined, several of my posts were deleted because I was not familiar with the rules.

Instead of getting upset, I read the rules and continued to read the forums to learn the posting standard. From my experiences, there are many individuals that view this as a playground instead of an area for discussion. I'm not saying that all discussions have to be "serious" but there is a point of respect for the poster and the site by attempting to put your best voice forward.

I have to agree that it seems as though some of the folk (generally speaking) here don't take the time to proofread their posts as much as some at other more maturely-oriented forums do. By maturely-oriented, I mean those that have a very specific nature and discussion in mind, and won't allow any deviance from it.

I myself rarely post in the forums anymore, because half of the posts written, I cannot understand. I also don't wish to just post for the sake of posting. If I can't contribute something intelligent to the conversation, I will most likely not say anything at all.

I'd rather have some think I am an idiot than open my mouth, or in this case, type, and remove all doubt.

Lately though, I've seen a re-emergence of more well-thought-out posts and discussions in the main forums, so I'm hopeful that we may end up coming close to the original level of discussion there was when I first joined VR.

ok ok i see that i can say something, i dont want to afend any one eithor when i say this, Im BORED with the forums, we need new ones, i do believe we need a mix of um, so can we get some new ones made up here.. i try thinking of some to make but i cant think... and oh by the way im not a youngster eithor and not a good speller, i spell crappy because its the way it is, not lazy or stupid because i want to..thank you for reading..

Well Rick if you are bored perhaps you should read and come up with questions you wish to ask.

Seems many people want to do the forums for status, or because they are bored. Then they bitch about them.

Here's a hint- the forums are what YOU make them.

Or, if you're that bored, you could take the time to improve your spelling. Not trying to be a dick, you said yourself it's not good. And you gave examples.

I am a young person and I understand that my generation have a serious problem with spelling and grammer. We are so used to slang and what not that we don't even look at what we say. And Older people do have a better understanding of things that we don't.

Given that I am also dyslexic, I have to agree with the lazy statement- use spell check, or download newest form of firefox that has spell check built in.

There are several options for people who have difficulties with words, the key thing is, you have to try.

Sometimes it's hard to read stuff like that. Mind you I use it on messaging and texting but on here I don't. Because sometimes you don't want to sound like a child or something lesser of a growing person.