G.I.F

G.I.F .. what can I say.

Oh not the file tag .. G.I.F was a term that Sully coined in regards to internet message boards. G.I.F or Gay internet fighting is just that. Fighting that really doesn't mean a rats ass.

Ever run an internet bulliten board? How about taking that a step further and running a high profile 6000 registered member internet board dedicated to a brand of guitars. Then add to that a smaller board that is a subsidary of the larger with a finatical group of people who collect for either noteriety or money.

When you start dealing with collectors and especially collectors of vintage intruments you might as well be challenging every unmarried woman in your state to a competition for a wedding gown blowout sale because I honestly believe you'de do better with the sale.

In these collecting circles you quickly learn that for some it's all about posturing and power. Yeah I know the word power really sounds kind of funny relating to a message board but i swear that it is true.

I've met thousands of people online and hundreds face to face, but few I ever let into my private life. I'm simply a private person who is dealing with their own issues in life and don't need to add more icing to the cake. But every once in a while you let your guard down and someone gets in. for instance as in previous posts I've talked about my old pal Sull who is one of the positives to being involved with the internet in this manner.

The problem is that every once in a while one gets in that you assume is your friend. The problem is that once they get in it then becomes a nightmare when you learn it is all about posturing and power not friendship. This particular person was let in and made an administrator of the forum I own and without getting into nasty details I simply assumed he was a friend.

When things went south he bailed on the forum citing friendship and not wanting to ruin that. I later learned that he's started a competing board (which really is no big deal) but told people not to let me know and continues to email me still telling me we are "Bros"

I supposed even that shouldn't bother me but in this little private world I am not supposed to know of it has been brought to my attention that my good name os being dragged around by said owner and friends. This is something we would have never allowed within our board but the thing that gets me is ..this was and claims to still be a friend to me.

Maybe I'm being a bit over sensitive as I've been pretty sick for the past week, but is that the definition of what friendship is?

Webster's defines friendship as:

Main Entry: friend·ship
Pronunciation: 'fren(d)-"ship
Function: noun
1 : the state of being friends
2 : the quality or state of being friendly : FRIENDLINESS
3 obsolete : AID

I certainly don't see how that definition fits into the treament I've been given by my particualr peer. The sad part is this whole thing is that I remain a private person specifically because of things like this. I guess this means in the future I really need to be more selective about who I let in and who I don't ..

The message board? It's done with now I'll be closing it down and focusing on the larger one for the time being simply because there are people on that board that aren't about posturing and power, just learning and enjoyment ...