Which are You? 20 Characters on Neighborhood Message Boards
Decatur Metro | February 28, 2012 | 11:59 amAlright, so DM isn’t technically a message board, but our comments section sure comes close! (As any half-decent hyper-local blog should.)
So I thought you might all get a kick out of this recent list from Atlantic Cities detailing “The 20 Characters You’ll Meet on Every Neighborhood Message Board”. Not every single one applies – e.g. we don’t have any #18s (Reply All Guys) or #20s (Accidental Reply All Ladies), since there’s no reply all function on DM. But I’m sure you’ll notice as you go down the list, there will be more than one…or five…occasions when you’ll say to yourself…”That’s totally…so-and-so.”
So which are you?
I’ll post the 20 names for the characters below, but you’ll have to click over to Atlantic Cities to read the excellent and often hilarious descriptions. (Sorry, I still like to show my fellow blogs some link love.)
- 1. The moderator.
- 2. The comic.
- 3. The loose cannon.
- 4. The longtime resident.
- 5. The doubter.
- 6. The local business owner who is tasteful with his advertising.
- 7. The local-ish business owner who is not.
- 8. The armchair urban planner.
- 9. The lady who always puts awesome stuff out on the curb.
- 10. The guy who wants you to pay for his crappy stuff.
- 11. The ‘I have no shame’ guy.
- 12. The dog-poop vigilante.
- 13. The neighborhood patrol nut.
- 14. The entitled mom.
- 15. The entitled pet owner.
- 16. The do-gooder.
- 17. The lurker.
- 18. The “reply all” guy.
- 19. The “I agree” guy.
- 20. The accidental “reply all” lady.
My nom de plume says it all …
And yes, I do know more about this neighborhood …..
I’ve got to say that you’ve become disappointingly less cranky over the years.
And whatever happened to the “Vote Cranky” campaign? I miss that almost as much as I miss the person who posted as their dog. Or Newbie. Or end conversations about 315 West Ponce and parking variances.
Well, just say the word “westchester’ or get me riled up about those whippersnappers at the round and round park (who have been behaving lately, so no complaints) … I guess I’m getting soft in my dottage ..(dottage? that is a word, right)
.
dotage: : a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness
Looks like you’re right on the money. (I’m right there with you.)
I’m the moderating comic doubter who puts awesome women out on the curb to sell my crappy stuff
Hmmm…I’d say more people here seem to fall within one of the “don’t” categories, rather than one of the types on the list. BUT:
If I gotta choose, I’d have to go with a hybrid of the comic & the “I agree” guy/person (because there are so many smart people on this blog with whom I do agree– frequently– and who say stuff better than I can).
That true too. I did notice that there are certain “types” on that list who just don’t exist here. Which is sort of interesting in and of itself.
I think it’s a good thing– kinda gives support to my often-stated belief that we’re a lot more civil here than other blogs this size are! Well, except for Junderscore, our own resident huggy-bear-loose cannon! 😉
“huggy-bear-loose cannon”? I can live with that. Never been called a huggy bear before and I’d much rather my cannon be loose than my morals, marbles or stool 😉
“8. The armchair urban planner.” <—- me!
I’m just me.
I’d have to say I’m #17.
Oh crap.
I cannot tell a lie. I am #20. Thank goodness “reply all” is not relevant here.
Interesting. Actually, I see closer representation of those types–some of them, anyway–on a local neighborhood listserv that will remain nameless, than here at DM.
I don’t belong to any listservs so maybe I just don’t have the context.
The one I subscribe to is un-moderated, so there’s an occasional debate that may or may not get a little warm. But it’s mostly pretty mundane — because life is made up of a lot of itty-bitty mundanities — yet there is definitely a cast of characters/roles that are evident in the everyday as well as when a fracas breaks out.
Loose cannon. And proud of it. Or maybe loose canon. Or maybe just loose.
I think they are missing one. The post hijacker. A post is about ‘x’ and they start talking about ‘y’.
By the way, what’s the latest on Walmart?
Yes. While there is overlap, the characters on a neighborhood listserv do not completely cover those on a neighborhood blog like DM. Besides
21. The post hijacker
there’s also:
22. The person who changes their anonymous Name to match the subject of the post
23. The person who uses their full real name and is annoyed that others don’t
24. The nasty poster
25. The peacemaker
26. The spoiler who tried to identify anonymous posters
27. The city or school official who jumps in to clarify
I’m sure DM posters could identify a lot more but I’ll end with
28. The list maker
I call #22 of At Home’s post the “multiple personality disorder” poster.
Hmmmm… who am I?
#29: One of the founders
An occasional dog poop vigilante. And I so have your back on that.
So totally!
11! 😉