This isn't going to be eloquent, unfortunately. All I can really say is... please don't. It may not be the same but that doesn't mean it's not valuable.

Online communication and relationships are, quite frankly, always going to be screwed up because we weren't created to deal with other human beings like that.

And while I understand what you're saying, I don't think that things are ever going to be perfect. If the community evolves, maybe it should be allowed to do that.. even if it isn't changing in a direction we would have envisioned.

I guess that what I'm saying is that it would be better to deal with the problem, or at least try to, than to get rid of the source of the problem alltogether. And even if it doesn't work out completely... well, like I said, chat is still very valuable and important.

As I was typing, a thought came to me. I know that one of the appeals of online journals for a lot of people was that it was *theirs*, so they could write about whatever they wanted without having to worry. Worry about things like.. would people want to read this? will people think it's stupid? is it worth wasting server space to post this? And in regards to chat, I think that it's just plain easier having to type something once than explain something multiple times to different people. The chat thing... well, I don't know what to do about that. But as for decreased forum participation, I think that getting rid of or greatly minimizing the "RinkWorks elitism" would go far in finding a solution.

Gahalia