I keep going to A2k for a few reasons...
I used to have my own forum that was centered around a certain interest (gothic culture). The forum had been passed to me by someone else, and in that process I had become very attached.
However, as the months passed, the 'Gothic Forum', which was originally concerned with the history of the Gothic movement, romantic literature, architecture, et al, was quickly becoming a 'Hot Topic' and 'R U Goth?' place for people 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 etc, to hang out. I myself am only 16, yes, but that doesn't count because I despise teenagers. All of the original members grew restless of the teenie-goth parade and soon left. I couldn't though, seeing as I was an administrator and I was extremely attached to the few good members we had. In short, the place crashed and burned. The old owner of the forum deleted the entire thing, all the members and extensive topics.
The unexpected relief I felt after he deleted that forum proved to me once and for all that
I hate forums!!! So I promised myself that if I ever were to join another forum, it would be under the conditions that a.) there was not a specific topic or interest so that people wouldn't be excluded if they "weren't goth enough," or "had absolutely no grasp on the cultural impact of Power Rangers." b.) there were no cliques c.) the age group consisted of mostly those older than me, considering from experience that most teenagers and pre-teens can't be mature and respectable even online and d.) that the atmosphere was open enough to let me find my niche, but tense enough to find differences with one another.
This place was perfect! I lurked for about 6 months, then joined. Didn't post regularly until a few months ago, and I haven't regretted it since. No matter how much opposition I've gotten on this forum, it has never (and I doubt it will) reached the type of immature, brattish, catty, pseudo-intellectual punches that were thrown at my old forum. And can I get an "Amen" for that!
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