Allow me to rant for a bit here................
Creating this blog has been a very good thing for me. I publicly state what I am going to do, and then I do it. Prior to this blog, it would have been easy to just stop at 1 mile and say "screw it, I don't feel like it". But the thought of even 5 people reading this thing and seeing that I'm supposed to run X miles that day is enough to get me moving. Even if nobody EVER reads this blog, it's out there and it's possible for someone to read it some day, so it's just a little extra motivation for me.
So running is going well and I decided to check out the forums at Runners World to see what that community is all about. I like the blogging community, so forums might be pretty cool as well. OH EM GEE was I wrong!!!
Rather than copy and paste the 10 blog posts I had already made to that point, I decided to just put my blog link on the "beginners" forum so people could "get to know me" and read my story thus far. I figured moving forward they would know where I'm at in my training without having to re-post stuff into the forum. BIG MISTAKE! Apparently I committed a cardinal sin and they called me a "troll" and said I was just trying to direct traffic to my blog. HA! I don't care about blog traffic.........you think I get paid or something? Good gracious!
So long story short, I will not be going back to the Runners World "community", because it is not a community at all. A few people came to my defense, but at the end of the day I just don't have the time or patience to deal with all that negativity and downright rude behaviour. To those of you that do frequent the Runners World forums, especially the "beginners" forum, you might want to check your people here. Not a very warm welcome and I was turned off by it so bad that I lasted all of two whole days. I posted the same thing in two other forums on Runners World and got ZERO negativity.
I will keep on keepin' on, just wanted to share this with anyone who might be thinking about joining any type of forum. Lesson learned, DO NOT post your blog on your first go-round. Take the time to painstakingly copy and paste everything on your blog until all those nasty rude people are caught up. Then MAYBE they will welcome you and not treat you like complete SHAT. No promises though..................
Your experience there is not unique - unfortunately. Getting off on a bad footing because a few self-appointed forum police jumped to erroneous conclusions shouldn't, hopefully, be enough to drive people away, but all too often it is. The Beginners Forum has devolved into a general forum, but The Starting Line Forum, the only moderated forum on RW, is a true beginning runners forum. There are some great posters on the Beginners Forum with a wealth of information they share, but aren't always the most vocal or visible posters. The Beginners Forum isn't for everyone, but I think you'll find the support and encouragement you want on The Starting Line. I do hope you'll return and check out that forum. Jennifer, the RW staff member that moderates it, is very good at answering questions and patient with new posters and runners.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I don't believe I will be back. The taste in my mouth is far too sour. I do appreciate you taking the time to explain things a little. And the "beginners" forum is right at the top while the "starting line" link is at the very bottom. I didn't even know it existed until too many hateful comments had transpired. Appreciate ya!
ReplyDeleteThings seemed very civil in the thread I replied to...but I've certainly had my fair share of toxic forums over the years. Go for a run...you'll feel better!
ReplyDeleteI totally know what you mean about the negativity!! My first post got people hating on me so bad!!! After I realized - wow this isn't a 'supportive' place, I stuck up for myself, in fact one guy said to me "I like you better now you fight back" because I actually got so angry! - but sad to realize to gain respect on there you have to be nasty....
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