Phoenix32890 wrote:edgar- My point is, IMO, if we want this forum to flourish, and not languish, we need to put on our best smiles and trot out the lemonade and cookies.
I'm not sure I agree with this. While I'm trying to be civil to everyone, and think I'm doing an acceptable job at it, I reserve lemonade and cookies for people I actually like. Sadly, not everyone in the world is my friend. That being the case, I see no value in pretending otherwise.
Apart from that, I think your perception is much older than A2K. A somewhat stronger form of it is known among old internet veterans under the phrase
Imminent Death of the Net Predicted. Here is how the Jargon File, an encyclopedia of net lore,
describes the phenomenon:
An anonymous author in the Jargon File wrote:Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted!: prov.
[Usenet] Since Usenet first got off the ground in 1980--81, it has grown exponentially, approximately doubling in size every year. On the other hand, most people feel the signal-to-noise ratio of Usenet has dropped steadily. These trends led, as far back as mid-1983, to predictions of the imminent collapse (or death) of the net. Ten years and numerous doublings later, enough of these gloomy prognostications have been confounded that the phrase "Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted!" has become a running joke, hauled out any time someone grumbles about the S/N ratio or the huge and steadily increasing volume, or the possible loss of a key node or link, or the potential for lawsuits when ignoramuses post copyrighted material, etc., etc., etc.
Sound familiar? (Historical note:
Usenet was the first worldwide online community.)
