What I Hate About Yahoogroups Like RX-TALK
If you have been leading a very active cyber-life, you probably have come across or visited a Yahoo Group, such as RX-TALK. You might even be a member already of one of the hundreds of thousand of groups there or you probably own one already. After all, it is a piece of cake to create your own group according to your specifications & the price is right - it’s F-R-E-E!! You can use it to post messages exclusively to your friends or family members and relatives by just sending an email to the group and all members automatically get sent a copy. IOW, you don’t have to send an email to each member of the group one at a time, saving you time & effort. If you haven’t been to or visited a Yahoogroup site yet, maybe it’s time you introduce yourself to it or be accused of living under a rock. 
So many of these groups have very large memberships. The bad thing is the majority of the members do not see it necessary to participate in any ongoing discussions or other group activities. They just lurk from the time they register until the time they unsubscribe. I liken that behavior to being alive but not really living or living by proxy. Nothing could be worse than having a Yahoogroup with 1,000 or more members and out of that number, only 10 to 20 members are active participants. That is one of the things I hate most about these groups. I think members should be forced to post something about anything, except to SPAM of course, at least once a month or their membership is cancelled. That is not too much to ask. The whole concept of forming a group is to have some sense of a community and cooperation among its members. But in the absence of any form of communication, how can those goals be met? Don’t you just hate that? I freakin’ DO!
Another bummer for me with these groups is the inability of some of its members to debate without rancor or enmity and end disagreements amicably or civilly. This is way too common within Filipino Yahoo groups, specially RX-TALK, which doesn’t speak well of us. Some people hold grudges when you oppose their views (and never talk to you ever again) and some don’t like to admit they are wrong after you explain to them the errors of their arguments. It is as if they are on a perpetual pissing contest with the members they do not agree with. Some arguments escalate into name-calling and personal insults. Such behaviors are referred to by Americans as knuckleheadedness or childishness, which of course is a good sign that evolution hasn’t really caught on on this part of the globe yet, sad to say. Someone needs to tell these boys and girls that the romper room is no longer accepting applicants. Why do Filipinos get so emotional when they argue? Why is it so difficult for Pinoys to be the bigger men and act grown up? Why is it so hard to accept defeat? When you try to reason with them, they think it is personal. Some even get hysterical. Someone needs to infuse Valium and Lithium in our drinking water. Also, beware not to argue with someone who has many friends in your group or they will turn on you like a pack of wolves. It could get ugly. They just might find your carcass on some remote highway. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.
Which brings me to another complaint I have about Yahoogroups such as RX-TALK: the presence of cliques. They talk to each other, they support each other’s threads. It is almost incestuous. Rarely do they talk to newer or unpopular members to make them feel welcomed, instead of feeling alienated or snobbed. Yep, "cold shoulders" is a standard practice by veteran ("pioneers" they call them) or popular members. If you’re a newbie it almost seemed necessary to kiss their heinie to get accepted. I’m not being a drama queen. You can actually observe this in action quite frequently, specially in RX-TALK. A good mod or host would ask members to mingle among themselves, new and old members, so no one feels left out. You won’t see that in RX-TALK, sad to say. If it is an unconscious effort for mods and old members to seem distant, cold, or unwelcoming to new & not-so-new members left out in the cold without any friends, the moderators and administrators should consciously make an effort to encourage a warmer treatment to those unfortunate others. And if you have to ask how to accomplish that and you are a moderator, I think you should turn over the keys to someone else more capable. "Cliquism" also promotes a mono-culture within the group. Those who belong to the majority clique dictate which members are accepted & who should be ignored, perhaps unknowingly. But whether it is done unknowingly or not, the effect is the same. Those who get no friends, do not feel they belong to the group. Some of them are even afraid to post anything coz it might illicit negative reactions like derision from some of the "cooler" members or worse, be ignored totally. The situation worsens when an active over-zealous moderator is onboard.
Over-zealous mods is another problem that exists in big groups. He is usually a friend or an acquaintance of a senior mod. So he gets to wield power needlessly and follows the group policies to the letter and then some. He is Mr. Delete-Happy. There is one such person in RX-TALK. If you’re that dude, don’t quit your day job please. There are also some moderators who are downright a$$holes or prejudiced against certain members he doesn’t like. If you are one of those victims, find another group where you would be better appreciated.
If you want to giggle a lot, discuss mindless topics, talk about parties & EBs that you and your friends in the group attended, read blank emails (forwarded HTML attachment are not allowed so only a blank email remains. Why don’t the mods just delete them? I don’t get that?), cyber-beg to get free movie or party passes or read contents that have been circulating the internet since AL Gore invented it, well RX-TALK is for you. You can just count the number of people with your fingers worth talking to in that group.
Do you know any unpleasant Yahoogroups like the ones I described to you above? You may list them here so others do not unknowingly join and consequently suffer.
Do you know any informative, entertaining, fun and wholesome Yahoogroups peopled with welcoming mods and very friendly members? List them here, so we too can join them. Let me start:
Tagpuan Forum
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:
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In the future, I may still add to this list. Stay tuned.
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:37 pm
BFUA = British Filipina Unions at yahoogroups … unfriendly members are suspended for 3 to 6 months or outrightly banned depending on the offense….but mind you we are cordial.