Reply #813: There is some residual edginess

[salin]

particularly in the aftermath of the CubanLiberal thing... and that does relate, imo, to the 'edginess' in tone, and the group response in the immediate aftermath (as was the case in the elections forum when bev was kicked out - that there was a period of edginess in the primary forum that she had been involved with.)

I think the edginess combined with the combativeness spurred on by the Princess thing... led to more personal attacks followed by verbal high fives... which sorta egged on more of the same - but sorta got diffuse (that is would lash out, at times unpredictably, at unsuspecting duers who might just honestly hold out differing views on differing topics). And that last thing - loops back to your point... and an underlying edginess per who is legit and who is trolling.

These have been some hard times - and I guess some residual edginess should have been predictable. I am finally at a point, however, where I am starting to view this last dustup - and the ensuing conversations... as actually healthy. There does need to be more discussion about our dynamics. And a little more openness about some decisions - or the rationale behind them - per admin/mods might alleviate some of the edginess that builds up. While I recognize the ATA forum must have been a pain to keep up with (it was rather repetitive) - it did at least provide a steam/pressure valve - and a place to get, at times, a little more insight into what goes into certain decisions - which, imo, built a little more trust. Not necessarily a trust or not trust for the admins.... but for the overall community - as they do the shepherding, so to speak, of the community.