I notice, and I like very much, that people here on EC are really nice. Why is this? I'd like to see your answers. I already have my own ideas on this. I wish I'd grown up and lived around people like you all.
Well, we're all like-minded individuals. We offer support to others with our own lives and experiences in mind. We can relate to so much on here, and it all just comes together and we can talk about hardships, heartaches, victories and everything in-between. This is a very understanding and sympathetic community and like you, I also wish I had grown up knowing supportive people like there are on here. EC strives to offer just that to its members and the members feel at ease here, which just adds to wanting to help someone else, by means of basing it off our own experiences and try to view things from their perspective. Not sure if this helps, but that's how I feel about stuff on here, and I'm sure many will agree with me
It's because this is an LGBT-friendly community where homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia are strictly prohibited. We should be thankful for that because not all places are.
It's because you found the right people in life. Not just that, this is a website where everyone is accepting and loving.
All of the above and a stricter set of rules than a lot of forums. I was on two more "adult" themed forums and they were ran leaps and bounds better than any of the automotive forums I have been on.
Sanctuaries are few and far between for many of us. It's nice to find a community of like-minded people on a similar wavelength where you don't get the extremes of people either trying to hit on you for a hook-up, or judging and condemning you for what you are...
I think that one big reason is that we all have something in common. We're here because we're either part of the LGBTQ+ community, or we're supporters of it. We all know what it's like to be different, to be told we're not good enough, many of us have experienced hate directed at us. As a result, we know what the other people here are going through, and we're not going to contribute to the negativity. We already know what it's like to be the target of such negativity, and we're not about to inflict that on others.
More than anything, it's a happy accident. The strict rules we have about off-site contact came as a result of poor legal advice by a sky-is-falling attorney back in 2008, which came about after a creepy older guy tried to meet up with a teen he met here at EC. All of our security came about because of that incident. So the byproduct of that was... nearly all of the creepers that would otherwise join the community are turned off by the strict requirements and lack of offsite contact. Those that remain are pretty quickly identified by staff (and other members) and politely booted out the door. And because the community as a whole works together to report inappropriate behavior, aggression, judgment, and the like, the staff is able to pretty quickly address those issues, sometimes through discussion and education with the offending members, sometimes with temporary or permanent bans. A big part of what makes EC what it is is the people who participate here. And another big part of it is our very hard-working staff, all of whom are volunteers. Together, it's created a rather magical community. I don't think there's another one like it.
You are so right, Chip. The Monitors do a great job here. Things here are about things other than chatting up and trying to pick up.
Because we are all decent human beings and we are all here for the same reason and given the fact most people here arent as judgemental as real people because they know what it's like to be judged.
I think it's probably because all people around here have something in common (gayness and the need to feel accepted). And it's something pretty big, not just sharing a hobby. When things go out of this context though (say general topics that touch political matters, ethics, etc.), you can see that conversations can often get a little intense. Not nearly as bad as I have seen in other fora, but still.
This is both a nice and a good perspective. I will say that things can get a little heated at times and it has been because some members don't understand the nature of a thread or a post, or because some members don't relate well to another member or that member's slant on things. There has been and is some of that. There are too many members for it to be all that cozy, but it is civil! It's true that this a nonjudgmental forum. People give advice and ask questions but you can't put someone down for being different from you. The moderation team would not allow it and it's the safe place factor that brought members here in the first place.
It's more some are and others are artificially nice. I've met a good deal of those who are but there are many who seem fake and answer generically almost as if they are forcing it, but also come off cold and unfeeling at the same time somehow
Because we are all out of realitive punching range. Everyone feels safer talking to people they don't know who are far away.
