Watching the train wreck...

What is it about the Duke Out Festival Board that demands your attention, even though you know it's a bad idea reading it, let alone posting to it? It's like passing the scene of an accident - you want to look away, but horrified fascination wins out. Nothing upsets/annoys/confuses me more than watching my online friends at each others' throats, but still I find myself getting involved, no matter how often I tell myself I shouldn't.

Actually, this time it's relatively civilised, notwithstanding Speedy's remarks, and Zanne's initial post. But it still bugs me. I guess it's the idea of bringing private disagreements onto an open forum, where everyone gets the chance to weigh in and put in their two cents. It allows people to take sides in something they ordinarily wouldn't even know about, perpetuates disagreements and heightens existing fueds. I know the original idea was to provide a place where grievances could be publically aired before they festered into something toxic, but the road to hell is paved with good itentions and the best laid plans of mice and men... Once you throw in a bunch of people who are a) sensitive often to the point of being overly so, and b) not always skilled in the finer social points, you end up with shit storms every few months.

*sighs and shakes head* Y'know, I should just ignore it, but it's impossible not to, if only to make a feeble attempt to clear things up. And when the dispute's between people I consider friends, it's ten times worse. I really should ignore it.

But I can't.