Just a quick question, and only to satisfy my curiosity. If you do not like forum enthusiasts, why do you frequent dog forums?.
Because I'm a forum person and have been on the Internet since the beginning. I'm a member of dozens of forums on various topics.
The dog forums I would say have the most 'extreme' viewpoints and groups of bullies who will ask moderators to ban you if you dont' agree with your own personal viewpoints (like declawing).
Coming here is like going to a forum on Window renovations and having the majority of posters being environmentalists so the viewpoint is always slanted to one side.
This is a big problem on this forum (and the other) and probably scares a lot of people from joining. 30% of all households in the US have a dog if I remember correctly. This forum should be BOOMING and worth millions of dollars of advertising revenue. But it's honestly like a 'windows' forum being hijacked by environmentalists so people will not use it.
Yeah Environmentalists all have windows in their homes, but you will surely get a slanted viewpoint that does not represent the mainstream buying public.
Forum hijacking is common and any forum can be hijacked. A group of bullies who are usually the most loyal to the forum will have an extreme viewpoint. Like environmentalists giving advice on windows. People in order to 'fit in' will support the senior group of posters. When someone obects or disagrees, eventually the senior posters will pm the moderators asking them to bad and censor those who don't agree. This is where the bullying starts. And the bullying is actually on the moderators and site owners. So the group of bullies take over the forum with their minority viewpoint, and thus, the forum fails in posts and numbers.
This is not a problem only on the dog forums, but many other forums where if you don't believe in what the bullies want you to, you will be ridiculed, insulted, and then banned.
That is what is happening on all the pet forums unfortunately. Lurkers will not join becuase they know when both sides are not being properly represented and it is a turn off for most mainstreme audience.
I just represent the other side of the argument. The mainstream pet owner who is the majority. The guy who will get his cat declawed. The normal person with no special interest.