Are Trolls killing the Guitar forum.

Interesting points.

When I first heard GVF I instantly thought the same thing as many others, Led Zep wannabe's. And while I would never dispute LZ's massive appeal and contributions to music it's not something I gravitate to very much. So in my world GVF went into that category of "talented but not my style" for lack of a better word. There may be some truth to this article but bands with guitars don't seem to stop playing their stuff because of trolls so IMO it kind of negates it. Every generation has music from their high school days, or college days, or some other pivotal time in their life that they feel can never be bested by contemporary music.

This made me think of Nickelback too. For the life of me I will never understand how they went from a new band with some pretty good material to the scapegoats of the music world. Trolls?

I don't know the real answer, just some thoughts I guess.

 

I've been on social-media groups where REAL rock-star players showed up & they run away FAST!
The fastest was Kerry King on a B.C. Rich group, left before the first day was out.

I finally butted out on the guitar forum I'm a member of, the trolls outnumber the real players by a huge margin. Many are there just to stir the pot, every day!

The envy bit isn't just for guitar-players however, post about KISS or Mötley Crüe on here & watch the sharks come.

 

One of the best things about this forum IMHO is the quick and decisive moderation. Makes for a more pleasant environment overall.

 

Trolls are killing everything...

 

I did not read the article because honestly I couldn't care less but I do have a story about Gretta Van Fleet.
I was out one night here in LA looking for something to do and I noticed they were playing in a venue I was driving by. I pulled over up the street at a coffee shop, and I was looking at an app with resale tickets and I found one for the show. It was sold out, so I just bought the ticket ( Yes my original plan was the scalp it and make some money).
I knew nothing about the band except for that I'd heard the name. Once I walked up to the sidewalk with the intention of hawking the ticket , I just decided what the fok - I'll just go see them.

I truly regret doing that and wish i had sold the ticket. It was an unremarkable show except for how remarkable it was that people seem to be enjoying it. I had never heard of their many comparisons to led zepplin , and I honestly thought there was a woman in the band named Gretta.
I was mistaken.

 

White text on a black background? The 90's called and they want their AOL guitar-player-group-board back. I couldn't get past the first paragraph. Too bad too, it seemed like the author was trying very hard to write a well thought out post. He should join us here where civility reigns.
And, no Gretta? Really?

 

Is it possible that we bassists, devoted as we are to the supporting role, simply find it natural to support each other? If so, it's a beautiful side effect to this thing we all share a passion for here.

 

Absolutely, what a great observation. I heartily agree.

 

Guitar players still think they're relevant, now THAT's funny.

 

Could be, but could also just be about the bass itself. I would say there are a ton of guitar players who might more casually browse a guitar forum whereas bass would be a bit more niche in a sense. Could just be talking out of my rear end, too.

We also just have a pretty welcoming group here that shuts down trolling essentially outright. Despite playing in bands for years, I still don't know much technical theory, and when I ask what might be traditionally considered a basic or "dumb" question, I've always been met with helpful and kind responses.

Indeed, I've seen threads on famous bass players of all genres, styles, and skill levels, and any trolling or hate was quickly shut down or just ignored. It's really refreshing.

 

I've started a list of folks I know are just stirring the pot. They don't just drop one nasty comment & move on, they'll argue back & forth in a righteous manner.
Almost made the mistake of responding to one this morning & then I looked at my list & deleted my reply, because I knew that person will be relentless with their opinion.

On here that works fine, but on guitar-centric forums there will be 10 for every 1 on TB.

 

I used to be on a well-known drum forum (drummer of over 40 years - my "dirty little secret"), but I stopped participating because I felt that it was very cliquey and condescending. That's not for me. A forum site should be a place where like-minded people can get together and geek out on whatever their "thing" is, be it bass playing or bass fishing. I lurked for quite a while on this forum before joining, but the vibe here seems pretty good...

 

I have left forums overrun by trolls--one guitar one especially where they practically worshipped a certain late guitar player known for playing short scale Fenders.
If you had played the same guitars before that guitar player was known, it didn't matter, they expected you to bow down before him, and not discuss other aspects of the guitars, etc.

Fortunately there are some forums that aren't like that.

 

I find it much easier to read which is why I use the "DARK" theme on talkbass.

 

Ah yes, not sure why I hadn't mentioned that already, the 10 mentioned in my previous post is a clique of folks who will attack anyone with a different opinion. Not just 1, all 10 of them!
It's like a group of sharks.

Hey, here's another thing, some of them have broken free from the group to come here & attack me!

 

Trolls are ruining, or have ruined, many if not most thing online. ESPN.com removed commenting from its stories because the commenters were a-holes. Want proof? Go read the comments about the stories ESPN posts on its Facebook page. Half of us are below average, and they're all posting on the ESPN page on Facebook.

Mostly anonymous social media has turned us into a nation of vile and hateful know-it-alls.

TB is far better than most. That's why most of us are here. You can say it's good moderation; maybe it is. Bassists are also by nature not egomaniacs or virtuosos. Generally we want to get along and keep the drama to a minimum. That probably has as much to do with it as anything.

 

IMDb.com closed their forum completely, because it was a constant troll-fest.

 

I don't get it.