User blog:Cc71/Users and Chat

Hi guys, I haven't written a blog in a long time. Some of you may know me here, but I'm not that active here anymore, and I'm mostly on the Victorious Wiki. I've seen the drama over Z!'s blog over there and here, and I'd just like to add my two cents even if nobody reads it. This is in general about users and chat.

Some people have been complaining that this wiki's chat isn't welcoming. To an extent, I agree. But I also understand why. The whole "cliquey" effect happens in every popular chat. The reason it seems a bigger problem here is just because of how popular this wiki is and how long it's been running. Everyone who's been here for a long time and goes on chat often has become so close, almost like real life friends. For those of you who aren't as close with that group of people, you have to understand. All those months extra they spent socializing on the chat while you hadn't joined yet were not for naught. They talk to each other all the time and so obviously, they're closer and will be greeting their best friends more. Some of them even text each other and email each other and video chat all the time. You can't force them to get close with you and greet you fervidly.

Think of a situation in which you're with your group of best friends at school and a new student who seems nice comes by. Even if he/she seems nice, would you be extremely welcoming? Or would you continue talking with your friends?

Of course, we always will be more welcoming and friendly with our close friends, but we should also be welcoming to the new users. It takes time to get to know people and become close with them. How do you know that "newbie" who just joined the chat isn't fit to join your group of friends? I admit, I always greet my friends more I guess, but I always try to say hi to the new users and ask them how it's going and I hope I can meet new cool users this way.

These reasons I stated above are also why I don't think having a "chat admin" would completely solve problems either. Obviously, a chat admin could keep track of the mods and how the chat is going, but it won't solve everything. You can force people to act nice and talk to someone, but you can't force bonds to build between users without letting time and nature take its course.