it's why i never posted in the old site, although i did lurk. i have no problem with the regulars here, they may be crazy, but they're benign. it's the lurkers that scare me. especially when the site was open to everybody. some people really take this stuff seriously, like it really mattered, and like they really could do something about it if it did. and of course, the possibility of role-playing exists too, both for good and evil.

i know i wasn't the only one here concerned about their identity being compromised. when you drop enough details about yourself eventually someone will connect the dots. and the longer you stay anywhere, the more clues leak out.

if robert decides to open up these boards to the public i will quit posting, (at least, as gothgirl) just to be safe. it won't be anything against anyone here, it will be about those who come after.

i have this theory that most of the crime and perversion you see in modern society is about anonymity. it was difficult for a serial criminal or sociopath to operate in a village, or in a close-knit city neighborhood, where everybody knew everyone elses business. people were just as screwed up in the olden days as they are today, but they couldn't get away with it indefinitely like they can now. in a society where most of the people you know also know each other, and are all in geographical proximity, it is difficult to get away with anything for long. people are naturally suspicious of strangers, and gossip about their neighbors. the social space is monitored, and change and aberrations stick out and are quickly communicated. people also depend on friends, family and neighbors for day-to-day survival. no steppenwolf can long exist in that environment.

but in modern society, where most of the people we know are strangers to each other, where people live and work with strangers, where everyone is highly mobile and communicates over long distances instantaneously, the solitary predator operates with impunity. it's why fugitives from the law always head to big cities where they get lost in the crowd. nobody hides out in a small town.

there is a down side to freedom and privacy. especially when they coincide with crowding and rootlessness.

nah...i'm not paranoid...