Leaving WP

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Some have heard me say it before, and I've finally reached my breaking point. I'm tired of continually coming back to WP after a break from it only to face the same old bullsh*t over and over again.

I'm not the first person to leave the site for the following reasons either.

I'm leaving WP, I don't know if I'll be back or not, as it stands right now, I doubt it. The reason is I'm tired of posting something and having someone else always continue to get in my face about what I post. It's the bullsh*t that goes way beyond disagreement, and it's bullsh*t that should've ended the first time it happened, but time and time again I have had to deal with people and their penchant for arguing pointlessly with me, while making insinuations that are unfounded and untrue.
I am equally tired of being the one to blame for it, after doing no more than defending myself, and I've had enough of it.
I am not new to this site, I have been here a while now, but in all that time I have met more adversity here than fellowship, by tenfold. I expected more from this site, which is supposed to serve as a support forum, and a place where people on the spectrum, or even off the spectrum alike, can go and feel welcomed. I have never felt that here, and the only thing I have taken from the experience of being on here is that I was correct in my initial idea that I will never fit anywhere in any society, in any capacity.
This site is frankly, in shambles. The owner/administrator is almost always absent, and has the only real means of fixing problems on this site due to a lack of power allocation to the mods here. I've seen previous mods (not the current ones) take sides in an argument, one of which actually saw fit to blame me for it when I didn't even start it. I've dealt with more hostility here than one could expect from any forum, and honestly, more than I have seen on any forum previous to this one in 10 years. How this place stays running with all it's major flaws, is totally beyond my understanding, I'd go so far as describing the phenomenon as a miracle, but it's way more unexplainable than that. I thought that I might find friendship here, or at the very least, a place that I could come to talk about my condition and other topics without dealing with the mass amounts of crap that I have from everywhere else. I was wrong, and this place is more hostile than youtube. I do not say that lightly, youtube is a nightmare, so you can imagine how bad my experiences have been here.
Given my personal experiences here, I would never recommend this site to anyone. Between the forum's lack of functionality, and the members' hostility at any given moment, especially this year, someone would have to be completely desperate to want to be here and willingly put up with it, just to attempt to find the answers they are looking for, which can probably be found elsewhere in a more hospitable place than WP.
Just in the past 6 months alone, I have been reluctant to even comment because of the hostility that I have to deal with here, and now, during a time when I felt like I wanted to continue being a part of WP and post more often, I'm facing the same sh*t yet again. This is the second return I've made in the past few months, and each time, I've had to deal with it all over again, each time taking it's toll on me more than the last. So here I am, at my final breaking point, and no longer willing to remain.

The only thing I can say is this: Anyone coming onto the site for the first time, you've been forewarned about what goes on here.
I for one, have had enough, and I have no intention of posting in the foreseeable future.

Some of these comments about WP are very much on the harsh side, I'd say.

Do agree with your previously expressed view that too many threads get locked all too quickly and readily, however.

Maybe, but my experiences here have been just that. WP is good for people who aren't assertive of their own experiences, feelings, beliefs, and ideas. People like me, who are outspoken and who don't put up with people's crap, are the ones who are usually targeted and have the most issues with other members here, largely because some people here want nothing more than to argue pointlessly about something stupid.
Take This Post & Quote as the perfect example of what I'm talking about. This absatlow person is the same kind of person I run into on every thread, almost every post I make is practically attacked by these people. And this one specifically, only came after This Post, which was nothing more than me trying to tell someone that using blanket statements was a bad idea here.
It's far from the first time it's happened as well, if you look through my posts on my account page, you can see it's happening more often anymore. The only place it doesn't happen is in threads where actual discussion around a topic don't take place, such as the bump threads.

Either way, I've decided to wait and see what happens. I probably won't post in any thread aside from this one, but I think I need a break at least from it all (again, second time in the past few months).

Thanks for responding and giving your thoughts.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I've never had any issues with you, and the one person I ever did have an issue with has long since left.

Yeah you're cool to talk to. I haven't had issues with everyone, it just pops up all the time, making it seem like it's a majority thing anymore.

If it's just the same few people over and over who are annoying, I wish this site would create an Ignore feature. That shouldn't be hard to do come to think of it.

Does this situation usually happen in the Autism politics/activism section, or are you referring to the entire site?

Hey Jaden,

I do understand your feelings pertaining to those who seek to argue.

I'm not going to try to persuade you either way.

But if one looks at things objectively, one would see a Site which contains many people who have varying degrees of difficulty relating to people. They come on here to try to find a way to relate. I wouldn't call this Site purely a "support site," by any means--but I believe most people identify with each other, and commiserate with each other.

It's the "bad apples" that ruin it for everybody. Those "bad apples" are only on WP to provoke someone/vent/project their own feelings onto others. The best thing to do when someone tries to "get in your face" is to IGNORE them. You're intelligent enough to know their intentions--and that they have nothing to do with you, personally.

You should read the constructive posts in GAD, and in the creative subforums. Even some of the posts in the Philosophy section are constructive (though mixed with those who seek to provoke).

I vote for an ignore feature that will block them from seeing your posts, and block their posts so you don't have to see them.

It's a different person each time, seems like a different person for every thread, usually is. The site actually has a "friend or foe" feature that lets you ignore some people by not showing their posts, though in my case it wouldn't really help, and I don't know how functional it is.


Everywhere except in threads that have no real discussion, like the bump threads, or the game threads.
It actually all started in the PPR about a year ago, maybe more, now. But after I quit the PPR, I noticed it happening more on other threads as well, but even then it wasn't as bad as it is now. The past few months it's been almost predictable.

@kraftiekortie:
Yesterday, I had my mind made up, but today I'm not too sure. I've almost left a dozen times it seems like (though I'm exaggerating the number), and each time I've come back for more. Lately it's just been more often. Definitely going to think about staying, I mean I want this to work out, it's just hard to find a comfortable place to be and express when there's always that one person, different almost each time (not the same person every time), wanting to argue needlessly. I guess I just have to figure out a means of tuning them out somehow.


I'll write it down (going to be making a list of changes I think should happen here on WP while I'm on hiatus), I'll likely start a thread about changes to the site that we all want.

I am in full agreement with you. The only reason I'm staying here is that I've gotten confident enough so I can express my controversial pro-cure opinion and find others in agreement. I developed this confidence from arguing with "social justice warriors" on the internet 24/7.

I think WrongPlanet was a great experiment at first but people were being forced to believe no matter what that they were special, gifted and should not receive treatment whatsoever. The second biggest factor is that on the front page, the only people that get representation are Alex Plank and John Robison. The biggest factor is like you said, the site is always broken, which is odd, considering aspies are supposed to be gifted in tech.

I suggest you begin your exodus by visiting http://autismgadfly.blogspot.com

I'm sorry you feel this way, Jaden. Like Molly, I have never had any issues with you, but like many people who are regulars on here, I want to see changes to WP that I think will benefit WP as a whole.

An example should be that mods have just as much power allocation as Alex whenever Alex is not present here on the site.

Every site I've ever been on has certain undesirable elements on it and WP is no exception. It's a sad fact of the internet.

I've said the same, that the mods should have admin access when alex is absent, which tends to be a lot.

Yes, there are problems on the site which we cannot fix as we lack the tools. One example being that the profiles are messed up, showing incorrect ages and often a different avatar to the ones shown in the posts due to some or other glitch. I did hear Alex is seeking tech help with this issue. Hope it's true...

Aspies often tend to react emotionally without thinking, thus allowing themselves to get upset often over an issue they take personally before thinking it through calmly. I can't think straight when stressed or under a lot of pressure. So folk should not post "in the heat of the moment". I think there are usually one or two trolls on the site that we need to look out for (there is a thread where one can bring such things to the mods' attention) but generally, political and religious internet sites are much worse. So don't take a decision to leave WP before counting to at least 100!!

I have never encountered animosity here personally. I know there are problems here: nothing in life is perfect but we are all a community here, most of whom want support as well as to support each other, and to discuss things that interest us.

I hope you'll learn to ignore "troll" posts and ones made in emotional heat, and stick around!

As each day passes, I'm leaning more toward staying, though I probably won't post much if I do.