A good friend of mine recently contributed this perspective on Facebook. What do you think?

Observations about Internet Bulletin Boards:

Pick a topic, any topic where people go to learn more about their passion, whatever it may be. It always starts out as people trying to help people, then the self-proclaimed experts show up and for a while, the information gets really good. The people are happy, the experts are happy and before long, some of the people become experts too and the population of experts increases as the population of the wide-eyed, decreases. Bitterness ensues as the original experts become mean-spirited and territorial and eventually drive off the new experts. Then they turn on each other, fighting over the few wide-eyed and innocent that are left. The numbers of the knowledge seekers get smaller and smaller as the information (and misinformation) age progresses. Eventually, it’s down to two experts that absolutely hate each others guts. There are no more seekers of knowledge but a few people still read to be amused. The only posts that occur now are by the experts themselves. They ask questions so that they can answer them. Expert no. 1, answers his own question to display his great knowledge and wisdom. Expert no. 2, invariably disagrees and insults and name calling ensues. The crowd roars with excitement. Makes for entertaining reading but nobody likes either expert any more. The experts have long since, typed themselves out of a job but the addiction won’t let them walk away peacefully. The two experts make a spectacle of themselves before all, again and again. The two proud experts have become nothing more than a washed up comedy team that can barely raise a smile.

They don’t know what they are fighting about any more. They just hate each other and people still read out of morbid curiosity. Boredom eventually drives off the last of the fans.

The end.