Jiff Lemon

The internet is a funny old place; It can bring us together, it can drive us apart. Take Forums, seems an obvious place to start doesn't it?

You'll never find a single forum that encompasses ALL your needs. Take me for example; I'm currently a member on several car forums, several technical forums, a couple of DIY forums and a photography one. Now my life would be SO much easier to have a single forum so that I didn't have to have all these different places to check in at. But that, dear folks, is life. Not just life on the Net, but life itself. Just as you'll never find that elusive pub that serves everything you want, with a perfect menu, never to crowded, never to empty and always easy on the pocket, you're never going to find a single forum that deals with your interests.

Now, in theory, there should be a single car forum. Its a single subject matter and after all, we all like cars in one way or another don't we? But once again, life isn't that simple. I like car X, you like car Y. I like them standard, you like them pimped up with bodykits, 26" chrome rims and the suspension replaced with chunks of wood. And so, our happy single car forum concept splinters. And those splinters, splinter. Before you know it there's hundreds of car forums.

If you’re lucky, you'll find a group of like minded people, all heading roughly in the same direction. That way the forum can prosper and grow. Otherwise you can find yourself sat in a forum with one other bloke, posting threads about what you had for your tea last night, in the hope of sparking up some decent conversation. It grows into a community, more people join, more ideas are shared and you hopefully find more people like yourself.

So is it a crime to be a member of another forum? I certainly don't think so. But judging by some of the posts on here in the last week or so, it'd appear I could be wrong. What I struggle to understand are the double standards employed by some people. Yes, there was a new forum setup recently. Yes, some members from TB have joined. Some, even had the audacity to keep their same forum names! Disgraceful!

I wonder, if there would be the same hoo har, for example, if they'd wandered over to say, IMOC, and discovered that they were members there too? Let’s face it, I'd say most of the MR2 crowd are probably members of the many forums that cater for us. Sure, you may not post there regularly, but you’re a member. Now what if these members had all buggered off to say, the SXOC? A car club that caters for Nissan's S13/S14/S15's. Clearly there'd be some sort of conspiracy drummed up and bantered about for months to come. Or perhaps it was just people simply exercising a choice? People, you have a choice. We don't dictate which forums you can join, which you can't. However, the thing we can dictate, is the manner that it's discussed in. TB has rules; if you've never read them before, and I know they're hidden away, then please, click the link and spend 2 minutes reading them now: Those rules apply to all of us.

There are those, who'll choose to vote with their feet. To march off to one of the newly created forums and spit venom at TB. Well, to me that's fine - Heck, at least I'm not going to have to moderate their posts. If they wish to return here from time to time, that's also fine - TB has ALWAYS been known for its hospitality, but once again, I'll remind you all of the rules.

What happened behind the scenes at TB shouldn't really be of a concern; As a member of the community, I'd be more concerned that TB was staying around and moving forward. If you're REALLY concerned, rather than trying to pick up on a bit gossip, then you might want to stick around as several new moderator roles are being planned, to ensure that the community, rather than single admin, has a say in the direction of the club.