I've seen it before, and I'm hoping that it doesn't happen here.
Internet communities- they exist primarily because people want to be there. In this instance, the community exists because people want a place to talk about gaming and, occasionally, Darwin issues which relate to them. That's why the "General" thread is labelled "General" rather then "General Gaming".
But, then, it all goes to shit. The good users, who just want to use the forum and have fun, leave. The remainder fight, bicker, spam, cuss and flame amongst themselves- then they too leave, after a while, because it's not fun anymore. Suddenly, the place is deserted, shut down even, and no-one can say why.
GU hasn't gotten anywhere near that, yet, but we're slipping towards that direction. But why? How come this happends? Well, it all goes back to how both RL and Internet communities evolve.
In the beginning, the community is generally small- everything has to start somewhere. Everyone knows everyone else, IRL in the case of Internet communities, inside jokes pop up, events are organized, a basic pecking order is established and a Bitch is nominated (Korny?), and above all else, everyone has a great time, because everyone who's here is here with a benevolent outlook and wants to be here.
However, as the community grows and becomes popular, as more and more people come- suddenly, it is a large community, as this one is, with many many uses. Many users attract, for lack of a better word, "attention seekers". On the surface they believe that, by posting offensive posts, insulting other forum users, spamming, etc the works, but underneath it all it all falls back to insecurity. The people who post this sort of crap- and I use the term loosely to describe the above negative actions- are almost exclusively people who don't have much control in their own lives.
This leads to other negative personal traints. Generally, the 'problem posters' don't fit in very well socially, especially within their own 'circle' of friends. They are generally the 'bitch' in the social environment, but not always. They are lazy. They are destructive. They would rather destroy then create. They would much rather type 'fcuk n00b ' then 'To plant the bomb, press and hold the trigger with the bomb selected.'. They have almost certainly done this kind of stuff before, spammed forums, spammed MUD's, online games or e-mail addresses. But the source of all these problems- the reason they occur- is that they do not have much control in their lives. Examples; their father may be or have been a drunken alcoholic, leading to an early divorce in the family. They could have been born into a large family, with many siblings. They could be doing extremely poorly financially, or with their school. They may have dropped out of high school, or be experiencing serious troubles there. They could be working 9 hours a day every day in a job they hate simply so they can pay the damn rent, with no hope of promotion or advancement, and they can't quit because they live hand to mouth. They may be heavy drinkers or smokers, or be addicted to something they can't give up.
That said, those are simply examples. I know a lot of people who don't fit those stereotypes- everyone who leaves school does so for different reasons, parents divorce sometimes because it's the best for them both, people from large families are not all neglected. Yet, predominantly, this seems to be the case. Often, it's a small thing, rather then being something larger, with the large events simply being symptoms rather then causes. But never-the-less, whatever the cause, they are people who feel that they must have some kind of order and control in their lives- they resort to abusing forum users. Why? Because, when they pointlessly flame simply to fish for a reaction, they are controlling you. They want a reaction, and you are giving it to them- you are telling them that *that* they are in control of the situation now, that it is *them* calling the shots, that you simply do as *they* predict. They enjoy the rush that comes with the belief that they are in power, in control, in command. Yet, underneath it all, they know that they are simply in a worse position then they started. So they come back. They try to prove, to themselves, that THEY are in control. The flames get nastier, the spam worse, and the 'problem users' seem to multiply as impressionables observe the 'power' exercised by the 'problem users'. 'Problem users' who must control everything in their current surroundings, or else they get angry at it. Flames erupt. They get personal. Users quit in frustartion.
Suddenly, the forum is no longer a fun place anymore.
How can GU and other places avoid this? I don't know. I don't have the answer to that question. There is only ONE way that I have seen stop this kind of degredation- and that is stopping people creating accounts on the fly. That's right. You want to join GU- then you send an e-mail to, say, [email]accounts@gamersunderground.com.au[/email]. You give your preferred username, your preferred password, your RL age, your DOB, your interests gaming wise, all the relevant information, and then you wait until a moderator approves the application. Best if this takes a day or two. But why does this work? Because of two reasons. One, the people who are generally designated as 'problem players' enjoy power, as I said. When they are forced to wait- when they are not in control of the situation- they get discouraged. They move away. Two, the urge to preform this kind of immature 'crap' is generally passing, and is gone after a night's sleep. Thus, the person wakes up in the morning, has an e-mail that states their account has been activated, and often doesn't use it. This is how communities which have 500+ people online at ONCE can survive. A stringent character/user creation system, which takes time for users/characters to be created. Other then that, I see no solution. The problem is simply human nature, and there is no way to work around that.
I have a lot of pity for 'problem users', for the above reasons. Most people get angry when a problem user is presented to the community- cries of 'Ban him!' 'Kick him out!' reign, but they do not address the problem at it's source, which must be done, else there will simply be another. And another. And another. And another. Until, everyone leaves, usually to a smaller forum. Repeat process.
Agreed, some of this may seem farfetched- but if you think about it, it is true.
On a lighter note... At least I didn't claim it was all due to World War II this time. <grin>