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

Public writing has always been both a shield and weapon.  A lot of people don’t know that Thomas Jefferson silently bought a newspaper just to print crap about Washington!   The challenge of most audio forums and editorials is the unknown about the writer and their agenda as well as the real conditions of the writers system and experience.  
Brad

About 25 years ago I belonged to an email community of Jefferson Airplane fans; we all loved the same band and were mostly similar in politics and culture, but my goodness the personal savagery that would sometimes go on on there!

It's an internet/anonymity thing, in my opinion, though some threads are oases of decorum.... 

Unfortunately the internet has become a place where miserable people try and spread their misery to others. When you react and tell someone off you are giving them what they want, for you to feel badly too. If you feed the trolls they will be back.  

Ha! I have a DVD of that game which I still watch-greatest 7th game ever. That series condemned me to a lifetime of Pirates fandom only because my older brother was an obnoxious Yanks fan. The Pirates organization proves that decades of experience doesn't automatically equal expertise. Brutal management.