I don't know how other people perceive me, and that bothers me a bit but not deeply. It's more like curiosity than botherment, I suppose :P
After a bit of thinking, I don't actually know if people here see me as part of a clique. If you can call anything on IIN a clique (which you can't, really, because there's nothing exclusive about the friendships here at all) I'm solidly not a part of it no matter how many comments I make or how long I've been here. I don't go in the Chat, I don't have Gold and I don't often communicate privately with other users, and those are pretty core indicators. Perhaps I used to be more obviously part of a network of IIN friends which you could misinterpret as a clique, but times change and who you want to be as part of a community you care about shifts. I don't have the social energy at the moment to put myself at the centre of attention by making well-thought out threads (even though I'm proud at the response I used to get from threads I put a lot of effort into) or long public conversations.
I think sometimes, when newer users see "clique" users banding together against a troublemaker, they may find it difficult to know who is right and who is wrong in those situations because of the way some people play the victim when they're in the wrong. They might not necessarily have the context to see why the "cool" members behave aggressively, because it's only the "cool" members who get targeted by those trolls. As a result they stay out of arguments, but might be left with the feeling that there is a "clique" which isn't friendly to "outsiders".
A lot of the people here I count as friends to me, with varying levels of closeness ranging from the fond acquaintance to the really good friend. There are other people who are hilarious and brighten my day with their vividness. There are people who I disagree with who allow me to critically engage with my own opinions.
Is it normal Cliques and New Users
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I don't know how other people perceive me, and that bothers me a bit but not deeply. It's more like curiosity than botherment, I suppose :P
After a bit of thinking, I don't actually know if people here see me as part of a clique. If you can call anything on IIN a clique (which you can't, really, because there's nothing exclusive about the friendships here at all) I'm solidly not a part of it no matter how many comments I make or how long I've been here. I don't go in the Chat, I don't have Gold and I don't often communicate privately with other users, and those are pretty core indicators. Perhaps I used to be more obviously part of a network of IIN friends which you could misinterpret as a clique, but times change and who you want to be as part of a community you care about shifts. I don't have the social energy at the moment to put myself at the centre of attention by making well-thought out threads (even though I'm proud at the response I used to get from threads I put a lot of effort into) or long public conversations.
I think sometimes, when newer users see "clique" users banding together against a troublemaker, they may find it difficult to know who is right and who is wrong in those situations because of the way some people play the victim when they're in the wrong. They might not necessarily have the context to see why the "cool" members behave aggressively, because it's only the "cool" members who get targeted by those trolls. As a result they stay out of arguments, but might be left with the feeling that there is a "clique" which isn't friendly to "outsiders".
A lot of the people here I count as friends to me, with varying levels of closeness ranging from the fond acquaintance to the really good friend. There are other people who are hilarious and brighten my day with their vividness. There are people who I disagree with who allow me to critically engage with my own opinions.