I have been on this board for I don't even know how many years, since TT for sure. I'm not the most active poster because Real Life just flat out gets in the way. But, I do lurk on a very regular basis (don't tell my boss, but it's every day!).

That being said, I sit here floored that people are upset by the in-jokeyness of sockpuppets. I can't even count the number of in-jokes on this board. Are people upset because they're not in on the sockpuppet joke? There are so many jokes on this board that go over my head that if I got upset by all of them, I'd have been gone long ago. Just because I don't get the joke doesn't mean that the joke is ultimately on me. And, that's what it seems like people are upset about. I don't mean that's the only thing they're upset about, but that seems to be the crux of the in-joke argument.

I'm also floored by the idea that we don't have to be careful about what we say on this board. Often, I don't post because I don't have the time for a carefully thought out post over the course of a busy day. And, I know that I need time to think about what I'm going to write so that I won't piss people off. Also, many of the discussions around here of late have been precisely because someone posted something that pissed off someone else.

I don't remember who posted this upthread, but it was something about not wanting posters to feel as if they had to walk on eggshells around here. I think that's precisely the culture we already have.

Frankly, I thought about this post for a good hour before writing it and am still trepidatious about actually hitting the Post message button. If I've just used up what limited social capital I have, then so be it, but this was just too much for me to ignore.

I am tired of the term "social capital," and the fact that people have to care how much they have, and how much they will lose by expressing their opinions.

ChiKat, thanks for sharing your opinion. Sorry you were trepidatious.

I am tired of cilantro. And yet, it exists.

I am tired of the term "social capital," and the fact that people have to care how much they have, and how much they will lose by expressing their opinions.

The internet didn't invent social capital. The internet didn't invent biting your tongue, or knowing you're shooting yourself socially in the foot. The internet didn't invent knowing people well enough to take things on trust. The internet didn't invent being wary of strangers.

And neither did we.

You can excise the term from your vocab if you like. Like cilantro, it'll still exist. You trade in it every day, just by being around. And sometimes by not being around.

The internet didn't invent social capital. The internet didn't invent biting your tongue, or knowing you're shooting yourself socially in the foot. The internet didn't invent knowing people well enough to take things on trust. The internet didn't invent being wary of strangers.

And neither did we.

You can excise the term from your vocab if you like. Like cilantro, it'll still exist. You trade in it every day, just by being around. And sometimes by not being around.

swoon

Who did invent the term "social capital"? I only started using it IRL after hearing it applied in B'cy by memfault.

I don't know, Wolfram, but here's an interesting place to start reading.

Though it would be cute if the World Bank were stealing from us.

It first got used during/shortly after the Great Gang of Fourteen discussion, didn't it? (Or however many it was.)

Maybe the thing with rafmun. We like to pretend we're egalitarian, but social networks just aren't. Social capital came up as a way to explain why it was ok to treat some people differently from others.