Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

This is a theory I've been thinking and I want to share with you guys.

The superior veteran effect is an effect mostly present in fandoms, forums and professions although it could be in others group activities, basically the longer the person is exposed to certain activity the more prone he is to develop a superior complex and to dislike certain activity, to better explain myself I'm going to make a example of an anime forum site.

When a new member joins the site he is mostly positive and very active, he start commenting about his favorites animes, probably entry mainstream animes like naruto or bleach (sorry if this example is a little outdated) as time passes he start to become more experienced and he can distinguish the good anime from the bad ones he is now a "veteran".

A veteran can go for different paths, some becomes less and less active others try to be helpful and contribute with the community other just only talks with friends about random stuff and others develops this effect.

The thing with these ones is that their complaints make valid points but they are party poopers for example:

user: So the new season of X is released next week what are your predictions.
veteran user: Meh this show has become in total fan pandering so I dont expect anything good.

We even see this effect right here on the forum

New user: "Alright, I'm going to document memes and make funny threads and be all around awesome!"

Veteran user: "This forum is shit, the mods are shit, memes are shit, nobody makes good threads and I wont even try. Everything is cancer"

You just summed up the entire forum in a nutshell.

B-but talking about how shit this website is still funny and not overdone yet? I-it's funny too, right?

Maybe it is that people don't believe a new person at first because they are mad that they put no effort in any thing…

Guess what guys???

Hate to break it to you but you will NEVER be that cool guy on kym. This goes for anyone.

You don't want to be that guy, you want to be that really extra top secret guy who is much brone and is a mod and stuff.

Yah that works.

Also you have to get over your damn self first.

But once you are a part of the community you can enjoy the "privileges" cause they are made up!!!

Edit: also you can be a part of #teamDonKYM

Ohh..

…oh

And also you could be sUpR yaoi

Plus!!!!

Robofuckers are cool guys, fuck… We all are breddy gud doncha know?

Please don't be that fucking Jake and Amir douche kind of guy with his iPhone 6

actually I found south park has done something similar they call cynicism (have a hard time understanding that word).

(Just using my alt because this is a subject that interests me, and I want to talk about)

This is a kind of attitude that I've always found kind of interesting. I've always found the attitude of "The more you are around something, the more you will grow to hate it". This is really just a parallel of backlash as I see it, where if you hang around a place too much, it will eventually start to grate on you. I think these past few weeks on the site are a good example of this, a lot of the older users who are starting to get tired of the direction the site is going are starting to leave. The term 'oldfag' exists for a reason, used to describe the older users who often hate the younger users and want a return of their old ideals. Newer users are still getting used to the site, they have yet to really be worn down through all the inevitable problems they will encounter. They haven't really adjusted to the norms of the site, so they are still trying to form an identity among the userbase.

I was discussing with another user in the irc this morning about how a lot of new users are starting to feel the same. He suggested that new users are starting to feel more like replacements of old users, suggesting that maybe newer users aren't really forming an identity of their own. Really I feel that this is just site norms taking hold of them. As a site, are most valued users are the older ones, the ones that have been there since when we joined and often since early in the site's life. They're the ones who dictated what the site would be like, installing the current norms. So when these older users succumb to the backlash style effect that you mentioned, since they're the ones that help to dictate the site's norms and direction in the first place, wouldn't it be fair to suggest that it's these feelings of superiority and negativity that start to become the userbase's new norms? If they start to turn negative, wouldn't other, newer users start to follow suit so that they can fit in?

This is the reason I feel userbases get more negative, because rather than newer users finding their own posting style, they are instead forced to succumb to the style of the older users. This is especially true of this site, where forum goers who don't fit into the regular posting style are openly mocked through irc and Riff Raff, and users who don't share the same attitudes in the comment section are downvoted and attacked to scare them off.

But that's just how I see it

I'mm kinda worried now. I feel like I might eventually "succumb to oldfaggotry" if I stay around this site for too long. Oh well, nothing worth losing sleep over or anything. Not really a big deal, I just hope I can stay how I am. I may act like a raging cynical asshole on Riff Raff since that's the place to do it, but it's mostly for show and for comedy. I don't really think most of the stuff I say on there. I may insult people and make snide remarks about other users but I never really mean it. Overall I like this site and enjoy it a lot. I just sort of borrow the older users' senses of humor like Random explained.

@OP

I think it really has to do with being exposed to the similar thing over and over again and the thing getting old& being less and less fun after each consecutive times (I know its some psychological theory but I don't remember the details).

Say, there is a youtube video, first time you watch it cracks you up, second time its still funny, third time, not as much and so on. I think any fandom or forums is just like this, when you first enter it seems like its the best thing ever, but overtime you get used to it and feels less and less glorious.

@Random22
Well the site is ran by oldfags so the newfags have to follow the rules and guidelines. Of course the said rules are made by old users but from what I've been reading, I don't think it forces the new users to act in a certain way (except no porn, gore, etc). but personally I havn't been getting much of a backlash for being a newfag and neither am I trying to imitate an oldfag and I don't certainly feel like a replacement. I think its really depends on the individual, a newfag can get hated if if s/he does stupid crap and gets on people's nerves (coughpizzacough). And if a new user wants to follow in a footstep of an older user, I don't see anything wrong with that.

on a side note, is Karma worth anything?

@OTL
This isn't about rules, this is about norms, two different things. Norms are the unspoken rules that people just know. Like it isn't a law to be polite, but it's what we expect from people, because that's a norm of society. Just like on here, there's no rule to say "You have to be negative about everything", but that's a norm that became more of a thing because that's the attitude perpetuated by our more respected users, who are the older ones. Younger users adapt to these norms, because they'd be viewed negatively otherwise, just like how society looks down on those who deviate from the regular norms. Just sociology in effect here really.

@OTL

It's probably similar to seeing the same video over and over again for some, but not exactly. Websites are very dynamic experiences full of new things that change often. If it really worked that way I would've been bored of KYM ages ago, but the constant changes and new people coming and going and all that makes it almost new every time. Personally, I just grow closer to the site and not farther away. I think it depends on the personality of the person in question.

The longer you do something, the more you realize certain ways of doing things are really annoying, so you stop doing them. Then other people continue to do them because they're new, causing you to get bitter. Then you look back on your early activity and feel deep abiding shame, and lament that the rest of people in aforementioned activity will not improve enough to make the activity as good as you realize it could be.

I think that's really what it comes down to. Some people get bored of it all while others never get tired of hanging around here. It's a very individual experience.

Captain Blubber Simulator 2014

Not really. I'm sure Blubber actually likes the site. If we're being serious that sounds more like Taryn or Cale or Sandstone than Blubber.

^This

To Blubs credit, he puts in reasonable effort to keep this forum alive and wants to see it thrive.

Taryn and Cale meet the description better

@MDF

That's a good summary of how disillusion works which could be applied to pretty much most things.

The frustration of having to watch idly by as things go in directions that you don't approve of.

At least there's no conceit or arrogance from longterm internet users.

      ∆
    ∆  ∆
  ∆      ∆
∆  ∆  ∆  ∆

None at all.

@Sam and BSoD

True, but it's more fun to poke fun at Capt. Blubber.

I don't know about you guys, but I just come here to dick around, have a little fun, and maybe help out with the whole "meme documentation" thing during the once in a blue moon that it coincides with an area that I have knowledge in. The only time I find myself truly taking this place seriously is when someone leaves- that's only because I assume it's because of something negative, and I honestly feel like shit when someone I sort-of know about (and don't hate) feels like shit.
But that's only my side. I would just advise the "oldfags" of pretty much anything to try and understand that there's something that will always be the case

: