Topic for Conversation : Why are members leaving VLJ?

[Southoftheborder]

I may be wrong but I thought Platon was banned friom VLJ too,? Please correct me if I'm wrong

Personal angle on the FL/VLJ "Wars"? They are very juvenile and calling FL, "The Hat Place" doesn't do the poster any favours and I can't recall any reciprocal posts on FL, again, correct mer if I'm wrong

And.......No, I've never been a member of FL, I was one of the founder members of The Classic 20th Century Forum, Idon't recall any negativity towards other forums.
Turn the other cheek

The hat place is just a fairly innocuous expression. A bit like members of the House of Commons referring to the Lords as the other place. I think someone would have to be a pretty sensitive flower to take offence at it. And I don't know that many members of that forum are.

 

[Smithy]

"The Hat Place"

Ken, I make no bones about calling it the Hat Place. I was an active member for 9 or 10 years up until I left so I'd been there a long time and wasn't just some flash in the pan new chap who got the pip once and packed a sad and mooched off in a huff. My departure was after a long term experience of the place.

When I first joined it was a really fun and inclusive forum and with a focus on the 20s to 50s in relation to popular culture, clothing, history, etc. Sadly over the decade I was a member there was a distinct change especially in the Outerwear section (so the bit that dealt with jackets and coats and all the fun stuff) to a loss of focus on the actual Golden Era the forum is supposed to be about, but most worryingly a rise of certain "fan factions" in relation to jackets and leather. It had gotten to the point where these groups would applaud certain makers and then go hammer and tongs at bad mouthing or making disparaging comments about makers or jackets which didn't fit their definition of acceptable makers. The kicker for me was to see several new members post their new jackets and be basically "run out of town" and ridiculed because of their choice of jackets and who had made them. I know quite a few guys who left around the same time as me because of it.

When I first came on VLJ in 2008 and the few years afterwards there was some snobbishness about jackets which were non military but those attitudes have definitely disappeared now and over the last 2 or 3 years that I've been seriously contributing here there's been nobody flinging shit at anyone posting non military jackets. They might not get as many comments as something like an original A-2 but that's due to the core of the membership probably having a primary interest in military jackets.

 

[Southoftheborder]

Ken, I make no bones about calling it the Hat Place. I was an active member for 9 or 10 years up until I left so I'd been there a long time and wasn't just some flash in the pan new chap who got the pip once and packed a sad and mooched off in a huff. My departure was after a long term experience of the place.

When I first joined it was a really fun and inclusive forum and with a focus on the 20s to 50s in relation to popular culture, clothing, history, etc. Sadly over the decade I was a member there was a distinct change especially in the Outerwear section (so the bit that dealt with jackets and coats and all the fun stuff) to a loss of focus on the actual Golden Era the forum is supposed to be about, but most worryingly a rise of certain "fan factions" in relation to jackets and leather. It had gotten to the point where these groups would applaud certain makers and then go hammer and tongs at bad mouthing or making disparaging comments about makers or jackets which didn't fit their definition of acceptable makers. The kicker for me was to see several new members post their new jackets and be basically "run out of town" and ridiculed because of their choice of jackets and who had made them. I know quite a few guys who left around the same time as me because of it.

When I first came on VLJ in 2008 and the few years afterwards there was some snobbishness about jackets which were non military but those attitudes have definitely disappeared now and over the last 2 or 3 years that I've been seriously contributing here there's been nobody flinging shit at anyone posting non military jackets. They might not get as many comments as something like an original A-2 but that's due to the core of the membership probably having a primary interest in military jackets.

Pretty much my experience too and I was a member there for the best part of a decade. In fact we exchanged PMs about the goings on there at the time. I had a different handle though. I never use the same one on more than one forum.

 

[Smithy]

Pretty much my experience too and I was a member there for the best part of a decade. In fact we exchanged PMs about the goings on there at the time. I had a different handle though. I never use the same one on more than one forum.

Good Lord I never would have known, you're like one of those chaps out of a John le Carré novel, you'll have to PM me Southy and let me know who you are!

I can remember back when I decided to pack it in there that there were a lot of members less than impressed with how things were being done over there as I had a lot of PMs and emails about it.

Can't say I miss the place at all.

 

[Micawber]

Pretty much my experience too and I was a member there for the best part of a decade. In fact we exchanged PMs about the goings on there at the time. I had a different handle though. I never use the same one on more than one forum.

I do, but I've had a couple on FL and more than one here over the years but damned if I can remember what they were [and there's a legit reason for that].

All forums have ups and downs. All have spats. All have inter forum rivalries, all develop cliques, all develop those that believe they are the font of all knowledge and that most others outside the clique are lesser mortals. Was the same situation in the old newsgroups, Yahoo Groups and all the other old formats. No matter what the subject. Unless forums are strictly moderated then human nature will out. We are basically still animals with animal instincts and the written word can so often be misconstrued.

I've administrated and moderated some very big forums on a number of subjects and they all follow a pattern of behaviour - no matter what the subject matter. Some people have strong opinions, while some manage to curb that with a good grasp of the written word and grammar others are less fortunate. Add to that language barriers and it's no wonder misunderstandings occur - and often for the most banal reasons.

Chill, it's all good and it will all come out in the wash. All forums and groups go through occasional bouts of navel gazing and soul searching, it's a cathartic and good thing

Just remember "scientia potentia est" or "knowledge is power". That knowledge should be tempered with courtesy, a degree of humility and above all respect for everyone. Unfortunately that has not always been the case in many, many places on the 'net.

I probably said all that before....