I Feel Like I'm In Middle School Again...

[ChoroChii 284]

People are more likely to respond to stuff by others they know better. 

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

Honestly, who gives a shit if someone is popular on here or not?

First off, of course popular people get more attention. What do you think "popular" means?

 

Second, just go out and make a group of friends. That's all you need. You don't need be popular, you just need to make a few friends you enjoy being around.

 

I also highly doubt most of the popular kids on here are popular past here, honestly. I don't see too many quarterbacks on the football team wearing Rainbow Dash shirts, or any head cheerleaders wearing Rarity necklaces. We're all geeky. Also, the popular kids often do nothing but sit at their computer and hang around on here or on Skype. That's all we do.

 

So, yeahh; doesn't matter if you're popular. It doesn't matter if anyone's popular.

 

It also isn't something you're going to accomplish if you strive for it.

 

Alright, hoped this help, and I hope I didn't come across as hostile; it certainly wasn't intended if I did, even though I sorta fear I may have.

Alright, peace
 

 

 

[Twilight Circuits 603]

I remember making a long hearfelt blog post only to have no comments and few views. To see someone else make a blog post with 4 sentances about the kind of pancakes they had in the morning with 100's of views and many comments. I'm not even going to begin what that tells me...  other then maybe simple minds... simple pleasures... then to watch the same kinds turn around and whine about something or say they are bored or procrastinating something or they're failing school. I simply can't help but shake my head sometimes...

  I'm a constuction site foreman and even with adults I feel like i'm baby sitting a bunch of kids. Why? Because so many think they can come right out into the world knowing everything when the truth is they don't know jack and their behavior spells it all without many words even being need to said if any. I watch and observe and sometimes I do nothing because every time I do in fact do something. It doesn't matter what I say or even how i say it, in one ear and out the other. I've watched from a distance and seen how the truth can be right in front of a person and them not be aware of it all. Whatever, I just roll my own way. You can be pretty much be throwing your life away and not even knowing that your doing that. Saddest things in my whole life has been having to let go of people that simply don't get it and refuse to. Now, if you'll excuse my, I have to talk to another employee that thinks i'm going to put up with not showing up for work and not calling in. A habit way to many people in the world have...

Edited February 4, 2014 by TwilightCircuits

[Pinkie Dust 85]

trust me I know exactly where you come from I have less views/brohoofs than most cupcakes so I feel this sometimes but its just about having fun and making friends you actually care about not just any random pony who will follow you. ( don't reject them but just make true friends)

Edited February 4, 2014 by Pinkie_dust

[Frostgage 7,975]

I'm pretty new here and I don't feel that way at all. I've met a lot of great people on this site already. Guess it depends where you look but everyone I've met on here seems very nice.

[Hyper Tumble 1,483]

Uh, no, you hit the nail on the head. There is absolutely a social hierarchy here. People like Flutter Hooves (nothing personal, I love you!) gets 3-4x as many replies to a given status than me. It's just how everything is.

[~Sugar Sprinkles~ 638]

I been on here for like a year or 2 now..I think? And I still aint the most popular pony.

 

I dunno, I guess there just is more popular people than others... I was always outranked, but I guess I just dont care really 

[UserNotFound 964]

If you look at it from the perspective of someone popular they might get loads of messages every day and to answer all of them with heartfelt and meaningful replies means they'd spend their whole life typing! They will send longer messages to the friends they have before they became "popular" because that's what you do with friends! It's just life! Try making friends with some of the members who don't have a ton of messages flooding their inbox... You might find they are easy to talk to and you could become really close...

[Envy 6,115]

I... haven't even noticed, to be honest.

 

Yes I know I'm not even close to being one of the popular ones, but I'm not bothered by it because I know it goes deeper than just being merely popular by what you post, it's also about spending hours and hours of your time here, making conversations with others - going out of your way to do so, responding to other's statuses, commenting, PMing.

 

I hardly do any of those, so my lack of popularity is understandable to me.

 

I had my time of popularity on forums in the past, but it's not a big deal in the end, you know? All that matters is that I had fun. So even if you do everything I mentioned above and don't become 'popular', big deal... Being 'popular' is not always a good thing, at least certainly not in the long run.

[)O( Scarlet )O( 1,259]

I am yet to see a real case of a staff member unjustly ostracizing members, most of the time, if not all, the staff have had solid, just, fair reasons for doing or saying what they did to other members.

 

Hell I'm probably one the least popular members on here, yet I have had moderators post pretty good responses on my blogs, brohoof posts I made, even agree with things I have said, they've given me solid support when I needed it, and when I've gone to a mod about something that was bothering me, they even listened to me and everything..

 

So, yes, while I can agree that it can sometimes be jarring and shaking to your self esteem when you see other people's blogs, posts and status updates being posted in and brohoofed, and you get barely anything, and then the thing with the cliques, just remember, that this is a world wide site with thousands of members, you cannot be friends with everyone here, as much as it would be awesome, it is just unrealistic.

 

Hell, I have a small group of friends myself, and i am quite happy with that, as I have found that having too many 'friends' can be a real hassle and trouble. You never know who is your actual friend and who is just using you. 

 

Also, if you really want to see a constant popularity contest and staff unjustly and unfairly ostracizing and belittling members, just head on over to Bronies Australia. It's there like a big red warning sign.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Raiden NightSong

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

You're right but wrong at the same time. Yes, the more popular members get more attention that is normal. But that does not mean that less known members don't get any attention. People that have been on here for longer have become more known, admins, mods and just forum staff in general have just noticed them more. From my experience forum staff pays just as much attention to newer members as they do to more known members.

 

I've talked to well known members and I have talked with less known members I always treat them the same. Because of that I don't feel like there is a popularity contest it's all about just getting to know people. So, instead of looking at it as a popular contest just PM someone you have something in common with. Reply to statuses, just be yourself and don't think about popularity.

[True Rarity 1,240]

Hey, it's okay. I come across so many different people around here, and I have a small circle of friends that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I don't feel that I need to be popular to be... me.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

You know what?  I agree.  There's tons of little cliques on here.  I don't really care at this point, but to others, it could certainly be a major problem.   There's an established pecking order on here too;  I see it everyday.   

 

20,000+ active members on a forum will make it that way.

Not that it's inherently a bad thing. All it's really harming is the goal of having a tight-knit community when this place was first launched.

Which isn't really 'harming' at all. It's more like a natural progression.

[~Asuka <3~ 867]

20,000+ active members on a forum will make it that way.

Not that it's inherently a bad thing. All it's really harming is the goal of having a tight-knit community when this place was first launched.

Which isn't really 'harming' at all. It's more like a natural progression.

 

Yeah, I find the progression to be inevitable.  I'm part of little cliques too, so I don't even have the right to complain about them popping up all over the place.   

[SCS 7,485]

Yeah but when the staff starts to join in on ostracizing people...

 

I can assure you that this sort of behavior is not at all deemed acceptable among the staff. If you see a staff member who you feel is doing this, you should send in a support ticket filed in the Moderation Disputes department describing your concerns in detail, along with specific examples of situations in which the staff member did that. While this would not necessarily exactly be a moderation dispute, to my knowledge Moderation Disputes is the only public-facing support ticket department that only administrators - the individuals in charge of the site and its staff - can view. It can always be moved to a separate internal department if necessary.

 

---

 

I am not personally bothered by this, although the issue itself is concerning. I determine what I think of people based on the content, tone, and nature of their discourse - not on how many profile views or forum posts they have. Quite frankly, disregarding someone because they have, for example, less posts than you is superficial and unreasonable. Everyone's opinions matter. Post count, join date, time online, profile views, and so on do not at all reflect the character of a person, or the nature of their discourse. It only reflects length of membership, amount of time spent on the site, and so on. As none of these things determine the character of a person, they should never be the basis for determining what you think of someone. 

 

My personal policy is to never care what someone thinks of me if it is both negative and unconstructive. This principle applies here - people should never be afraid to share their thoughts and opinions because they are new to the site, or they have less posts than others, and so on. If someone chooses to take an elitist attitude toward others, that is their choice - and while it is a choice I most certainly disagree with, it does not have to become anyone else's concern. In terms of interaction of a verbal, textual, or intuitive nature, people can only have power over you if you willingly give it to them on some level. You can choose to share your thoughts here, and speak to whomever you wish, without regard to any elitist attitude that you may encounter.

[~XCOLIDE~ 40]

I kind of agree but im not a popular member, yet they talk to me 

I think your just letting it get to you 

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

First of all, I'll less eloquently rehash some of what others have already brought up. What you're talking about isn't a middle school situation. It's part of human interaction everywhere. Middle school, high school, the workplace, families, neighborhoods, everywhere you go, there will be examples of it. According to your profile, you're only 17. You haven't had much opportunity to experience this beyond school, so your perspective is understandable. Give it a few more years and you'll grow accustomed to it and more easily figure out your own place in whatever circles you find yourself. Having cliques isn't in itself a bad thing. Like-minded people with similar interests and personalities naturally band together. That's how popularity works here, for the most part. Unlike with magnitism, likes attract rather than opposites. Exclusion isn't the goal. All people are doing is naturally gravitating towards kindred, whether that's seeking out other nerdy analytical members or those who constantly drop vacuous status updates like it's Facebook. People carve out their own niches here.

 

Also unlike a few other forums I've been on, one's post count and amount of brohooves ("Likes") means little. If you see somebody with a ton of those who has many friends and is being chatted up all the time, it's not because people are impressed by his high numbers, it's because he's given himself a lot of exposure and people have had ample opportunity to acquaint themselves with him.

 

 

The staff also don't ostracize people, cater to the regs, or stick with whoever is considered popular. My first staff appointment was that of a Community Steward (now known as Poniverse Staff) so I could help out with the Equestria.tv streams. A month later I became a section moderator for the Beyond Equestria section. I had been a member for about 8 months, my brohoof to post ratio was abysmal (if you're the kind to believe that your brohooves should outweigh your posts), and I wasn't immensely popular. Among a few members, particularly those closer to my age, I was known as insightful and helpful, but I wasn't a "household name" nor at all sociable. Artemis was the most plain, ordinary guy milling about this place. Somehow, I came to the attention of the staff at the time and was offered a position, and couldn't help but think of a number of guys who's membership time exceeded mine by nearly a year, who had thousands more posts, and were loved by many. Had the staff a habit of disregarding newer guys and only mingling with the "elite," I wouldn't be where I am now. I started as a nobody, worked my way up to admin, remain a nobody, and am overjoyed (read: astonished) that I have any friends or people who put up with my absentmindedness and social awkwardness.

 

Consequently, I enjoy mingling with anyone and everyone regardless of how long they've been here. SCS (a staff member who posted earlier) and I first met in his introduction thread after he joined. I thought he was a kind, intelligent guy and was glad to have him here. This guy has hardly any forum activity, yet he and I chat and play together regularly. Over the past several months, I've made several friends with guys who joined in the last quarter of 2013, and am only recently connecting with a few people who have been around as long or longer than I have. Sounds backwards, doesn't it? I don't care who you are, where you came from, how old you are, what gender you are, what your stats look like, or how long you've been a member. Show some kindness and behave like a civilized human, and I'll probably hang out with you to some extent should our paths cross. That's also why I stuck my Skype and Steam IDs on my profile and extended an open invitation for whoever cares to add me. You could do the same if you so desire. I only have to warn you that due to my absentmindedness and sometimes very busy schedule, I can be slow on responses. Those who have known me for a while are already accustomed to this.

[Onylex 2,837]

 

 

But, I don't care at all and for others it is a problem for them.

 

 

Holy shit.  

Scootalove is a badass who cares for no one?

A cold blooded heartless basterd?

 

You've instantly become cool. 

 

[Its Rainbow Dash 151]

I'm new here yet got a very warm welcome people chat with me and give bro-hoofs etc.

 

You just need to relax more don't let this get to you just share your thoughts and post for fun if you get bro-hoofed you do., if somepony replies to you then they do.

 

Quote-- ~You can Please Someponies some of the time but you can't Please Everypony all the time.~

 

Don't worry about if you stand out or not just be yourself and take heart that at least you know you're being you.

[Onylex 2,837]

I dont care for popularity, too much work.

[Scootalove 10,689]

 

 

Holy shit.  

Scootalove is a badass who cares for no one?

A cold blooded heartless basterd?

 

You've instantly become cool. 

 

 

I'm not exactly heartless, but whatever floats your boat. Oh well.

[Onylex 2,837]

I'm not exactly heartless, but whatever floats your boat. Oh well.

Lol that came out wrong, it was more met to be a complement.  

[hawkflame 3,310]

 

I think that a lot of this kind of thing is best handled by making an effort to reach out yourself. PM and Friend request people you find interesting. I don't have a huge number of profile views compared to my posts, because I never really felt the need to reach out. Once I did a little more, I found some more friends.

 

PM and say hi to people . Strike up friendships that way. You can do it.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Lol that came out wrong, it was more met to be a complement.  

Thanks for the compliment then, time to stay on topic.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Please, well all know I am the most alpha and popular guy here.