Triond Forums: A Cesspool

Not so long ago, I was requesting that Triond add some forums to the website. It featured in one of my articles, Three Suggestions for Triond. At the time, I believed that it would add a lot to the community, helping to nurture new writers, while allowing the more experienced writers to discuss their talents, methods of improvements and how they grow their audience. What the forum has brought though, it something far more what I envisioned.

From the offset, the Triond forums were un-moderated. They provided a place for all the writers to discuss their articles, their writing technique and the tricks for getting better exposure. Yet, none of those topics were discussed anywhere near as often as people started topics begging for views or referrals for other sites or programs. There were also some small little political and religious discussions which allowed people to give their insights on important matters.

Over time though, the forums deteriorated into something resembling a dump. Entire threads were started that were being used for nothing more than insulting or attacking somebody. Sometimes, dedicated forum users were being driven to leave the forums by immature people who were just looking to annoy anyone and everyone else on the forums. They seemed to take it upon themselves to make the forum a hell for anyone who didn’t take part in their childish games.

It seems that the only topics now that don’t result in mass-insulting now are threads complaining about a problem with Triond or topics designed to help new people. Which leads me to my great question: These people, who are so accepting of new members, why are they so insulting to people who no longer need help, but are only looking for a discussion?