Brian,
I think this goes way beyond what I at first assumed you were referring to. So I have to admit that I'm struggling with how to reply.
A couple of things stand out for me, if I think about this in a very general way. One of the great things about a community like this is that we have the opportunity to connect with people from all over the world, and people just next door - people that we would have never connected with, otherwise. We all have something in common - a love of writing. But we all come to WDC with our
stuff . . . and our
stuff affects how we interact with others. It affects how we trust, how much of the truth we're willing to tell, whether we're looking out for number one or working to support others . . . .
I think that we're fairly representative of what a community looks like . . . and every community has its cliques. I’m not saying it’s fair, I’m not saying it’s right . . . it’s just what it is. We all must choose, as you said.
This is nothing that will be news to you, of course. Many people come to online communities to escape. An escape for some would also be an escape from the stressors that they must deal with on a daily basis. If that includes drama, then yes . . . they may choose to simply ignore it when they find it invading their escape space. So we choose how seriously we want to take the things that happen here. It may vary from day to day, from moment to moment, depending upon our mood or what we are presented with.
This world works because we are all different . . . never change who you are, because you’re just who you need to be!
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