Farkel, I don't know you, nor have I really gone back and read many of your posts (I don't have enough hours in the day to be online on message boards...). I highly doubt though, that you have not really impacted anyone. Yours was one of the first names I heard around here (for good or bad reason, I can't remember...hehe).
If you feel you need to move on, then all the best to you for your journey. And the lovely thing about message boards is that, for the most part, they're easy enough to come back and visit.
Shamus, I wish you the best for your life's path as well.
Now, my following comments are not directed at either of you, and are simply thrown out there because I have been on many many message boards, and have also left message boards when they ceased to fulfill my needs. It's merely food for thought for others (and in my elevated self-importance, I feel I have something to share...*grin*).
When a board goes through evolution and change (and they all do), it's quite common for longterm posters to feel the difference and lament 'how it was.' I have done the same on different boards where I was the longterm member. Eventually I felt the need to leave, and it was for similar reasons...the 'meat' of the topics just wasn't there as it had been and I couldn't stand the lack of focus. However, those were boards that didn't have separated sections for 'chat and babble' and serious topics. Having to wade through 15,000 posts a day (okay, an exaggeration) to find 3 on the subject matter of the board was frustrating. When I felt like posting "are you stupid?" on every post, I knew it was time to go. *evil grin*
While this does seem to happen commonly as regular board evolution, I do agree with what some of the other posters here have said about the levels of socialization of ex-JWs. Some people here have never sat around and talked about the things that get spoken of here; it was either taboo, or there was just never enough time to be involved in 'average' or 'everyday' things that weren't revolving around the KH/JW lifestyle. Some people here don't *have* the social skills yet. From that standpoint, I offer that this place is a little like kindergarten socially...remember going to school and being excited and scared all at once? Mommy and Daddy weren't there and you could do what you wanted but the classroom was big and you didn't really know anyone, even if they seemed nice. And sometimes you made good friends and sometimes you thought you had and they turned out to be mean (not sharing their snack!). Longterm posters who find this trivial or childish are missing that it's a necessary step. Can you imagine being plunked into grade 3, without any build up?
Yes, lots of posts in the Friends category have absolutely nothing to do with JWs, their doctrine, etc. That's why there are areas on the board dedicated solely to picking apart doctrine and bible info. It doesn't get so much traffic maybe because the majority of people here right now need friendship and to feel 'normal' more than they do to prove that JWs are full of crap.
And the bottom line is, if you don't want to read it, you don't have to. And when you find you're not reading so much, then maybe it's time to find another niche here or elsewhere. However, I don't think that just because your needs aren't being personally fulfilled, that what is 'lacking' to some doesn't serve a very important purpose to others. I also feel that you never know what you say, even casually, that will make a difference to someone else. Just because they don't tell you, doesn't mean that it doesn't add to their personal 'information bank' and help them in some way. Oddly enough, lots of time it's simply having someone to listen when they speak of trivialities etc. that does the most help.
Personally, I have social anxiety. I've tried to socialize 'in person,' for most of my life, and in recent years it's become unbearable to do so in any great measure. The physical and emotional cost is so great it shuts me down, sometimes for days. Here I can 'be myself' (and I realize not everyone is on a message board as themself) and re-learn how to talk to people about the trivialities that are common to all humanity, at almost no cost to myself or my mental state. It's wonderful to be in school and be able to talk on the scholastic level, or to go to the bible discussion area here and read the incredible and deep posts (not that I ever have much to say, because I don't have time to do my own research, but I do read most of them). It's also nice to be able to just chat, as if I were sitting in my living room with friends, about all the little things that make up our day.
Just my 2 cents.
