Dealer affiliations and attitudes, assumptions and lack of respectful engagement in audio.


When I started in Audiogon 20 years ago it was a different  place. There was pretty civil discussions with fellow audiogoners. There were audio dealers on the site and there were also hobbyists and it wasn’t a big deal.  I been on the dealer side/business side the last 7 years. Here is what I find. A lot of us tend to be quickly negative and nasty to those who disagree with us. We don’t have the sharing of knowledge spirit that we used to have.  A lot of us want to show others how much smarter than we are than them. In addition to that there seems to be an attitude that if you are a dealer you gotta be shilling instead of just telling the truth. More importantly there seems to be an attitude that audio is the only thing you do. I have a firm in my professional life that I have ran for 25 years. I’m smart enough to know you never know who you are talking to. I just think audiogoners have repeatedly started to step over the line and become HABITUAL LINE STEPPERS and not engage with the necessary level of respect.  A lot of us in the hobby just want to meet and have positive audio and music experiences. Not rage debate! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS EVERYONE? 

calvinj

Showing 2 responses by mitch2

@calvinj - 25 years here for me.  What was previously a welcome escape and a place to learn stuff has too often become a disappointing waste of time, sort of like watching a train wreck on Groundhog Day.  Conflict is good when it leads to a positive resolution but a lot of what I read here lately is just scab picking. Unfortunately, spending time here needs to drop lower on my priority list.

@devinplombier - Thank you, I appreciate your comment. I am not going anywhere and I will still make contributions, but I need to stay away from the sh_t shows and negativity.  I have more valuable (to me) and positive things to invest my time on.  It is really a value proposition for me - we all vote with our time.  I will be heading out on a long bike trip soon where I can recharge and realign my priorities.