I’m not looking for dates, coffee meetups, or social gatherings. I'm just searching for someone I can talk to online so I don't have to show people IRL just how much of a mess I actually am. I’ve tried seeing therapists, but nobody I've met seems to have the right approach—it’s either a strictly clinical client-patient dynamic, or I end up with total eccentrics who subtly try to convince me to join a religion or go buy a dog.
To be honest, I’m grumpy, cynical, I don't particularly like most people, and I’ve felt a little nauseous just sitting here typing this out. On the flip side, I can't offer much besides my word that I will genuinely try to listen to and process whatever you have to say.
Yours, truly, and most affectionately, rapidnomad7
I’d love to hear a more detailed breakdown on this, Chloe Booth72. If you don't mind. I was actually just getting ready to jump in there myself. I ended up crying a river of tears once they moved it to "locked."
The Moderators don't really have total autonomy; they essentially carry out the vision set by the main Administrator or the owner of the site. If we’re being honest, their role is mostly acting as digital janitors—cleaning up spam and keeping the peace. 😁
I don't want to get too deep into the psychology of whether people use online handles to work through some repressed childhood issues, but I am convinced this community would be a much messier place without any moderators at all. Since they aren't getting paid a dime for the work they do, I genuinely believe they should be granted certain perks. However, those benefits need to be clearly defined and laid out in the official Forum Rules. Basically, there should be a clear list of what a Moderator is allowed to do. And if someone oversteps or gets removed from their position, losing those privileges should be an automatic and obvious consequence.
As far as I'm concerned, if "Gotspođa" wants to set their nickname to something totally outrageous, I honestly don't see the issue. But at the end of the day, the Forum Rules are the Forum Rules, and they ought to apply to everyone equally.
If anyone felt slighted by my previous comments, please accept my apologies. It was a deliberate misstep on my part, intended only to argue that American Literature also deserves its own dedicated space here. Using Formula 1 as an analogy was just the first thing that popped into my head; I could have easily used any other subforum as a comparison. 😁
*fadedsailor932 has already covered all the bases in the meantime
General topics, questions, and miscellaneous info should stay right where they are. Essentially, the only real change would be separating actual literary works from threads like "how to become a writer?", "how to publish a book?", or "what did you read last?".
Look, here’s my take. Nobody is asking for a scientific breakdown of everything within the literature subforums. It’s really just about organization—making it easier to actually find what we're looking for. I don't think the literature section needs to turn into some intense academic seminar where everyone obsessively studies specific eras or goes wild reading Walt Whitman, but we could definitely make it more navigable.
For example:
American Literature (prose, poetry) Foreign Literature (prose, poetry) Book Club. Literary Corner.
So, I'm not suggesting we change any of the actual content. It's purely about clarity. Right now, the Literature section is a total mess. Also, I agree with what Rachel Young3 suggested: we should implement a rule for naming threads using the "Author - Work" format.
I honestly don't see why that wouldn't be doable. I’m pretty sure we could find at least a dozen people willing to jump in, stay active, and keep a subforum alive. Personally, I’d definitely step up to help get it off the ground if it were opened.
The logic behind what you wrote can be applied to just about anything. For instance, who else actually cares about Formula 1? I’m fairly certain more people are interested in American linguistics and literature than some group of helmet-wearing maniacs driving in circles on asphalt. What is there to even look at or discuss there? That topic probably interests ten people on the entire planet, yet it gets its own dedicated subforum under the sports section. A whole subforum, seriously.
I'm not entirely sure why, but I think people would find much more value in a subforum dedicated to American linguistics and literature than they would in Formula 1. Even if it only attracts high schoolers and hardcore Americanists clutching the latest grammar guides. If psychology has its own space, and cosmetics does too, and even jokes have a subforum—why shouldn't American linguistics and literature have one, perhaps tucked within the current literature section?
Actually, my ambitions have grown a bit now. I'd like to officially propose opening a subforum for American linguistics and literature, if that's an option. 😁
So, as the title suggests, I have an "idea" for a new sub-forum within our Literature section. Honestly, I’ve probably lost half of you by the time I finished that first sentence—somewhere around the word "literature." I'll likely lose the other half because this post is longer than two sentences, but since I'm not exactly dropping life-changing news here, I'll be generous and forgive you all.
The concept would be a dedicated space focused exclusively on American literature. We could dive into everything from Romanticism and Realism to Modernism and Postmodernism. It’s such a massive topic that I imagine there'd be plenty of interest. To keep things organized, we could split it into prose and poetry. It could serve as a hub for news on new releases, book signings, author readings, and poetry slams, while also providing a spot for reviews, deep dives into specific works, or even discussions about the lives, philosophies, and influences of various American authors. We could host literary recommendations, analyze poetic motifs, or... well, maybe just debate the price of groceries and household essentials.
In any case, I am more than willing to put in the work to make this happen, working alongside the moderators and any fellow members who might want to jump in and help. I don't really see why anyone would be against this; it’s a constructive, practical idea that doesn't cost anyone anything.
**please, let's skip the questions about how this would differ from the existing literature sub-forums