Is the internet killing cryptids/"research"

[Mike Williams]

The age of information has brought us some great benefits as well as some negative consequences.
How is the above truism related to Crypids.?
Simple.
The positive aspects are quick "information" and easier contact with others..
But..the negative is slowly outwaying the positives...
Any man and his dog, with a keyboard , and some spare time is now an instant "expert" on unusual claims.
I have seen one or two US boards which have "netperts" savage any claim or statement..by anyone, no matter how tame a claim might have originally been.
Or witness the attention garnered by the bleeding obvious gorilla costume in the freezer debacle in the US a few months ago..we all get tarred with that little brush in the eyes of the media.
I have witnessed defamatory comments on boards about different people, yet the majority of the people making the comments know little about the original claims/have zero knowledge of the complexity of the fields and never seem to have the guts to place their real name on the boards..and have never spoken to witnesses to unusual events...
I have witnessed the "netdetectives" out in force with "hang on , I dont want a rote response"..yet if a response differs in some minor way....the netdetectives slather in mock fury with "fake..you said you moved 4 steps and then leaned over..now your saying you jumped 2 steps to the side and yawned...we got ya....".
Here is something for the slow keyboard researchers.
If a claim is outrageous..what is the advantage to make it.?
The fame ...your kidding..the money ..what money...more visits to a site..so what..
There appears to be more ego involved in "..getting to the truth.."...as some of the mendacious clods keep repeating....than there is ego involved in making an outrageous claim...but the "attacks"..do give the "little people"...a chance to bar their fangs and vent..they have nothing else of "interest" to speak of anyway..
My favourite recent example, of something slithering out of a fetid corner and posing as an "honest" researcher..I will paraphrase its email..its logic is priceless.."admit you are a liar to me..which I will then tell the world...or I will tell the world you are a liar.."
Have people no shame...let alone ethics now days ..?
Cyberstalking...for god sake..if you dont believe something..fair enough..get over it..dont keep proving you have no life or ethics..we know that already..
It seems now days..that if you have experienced something really weird, then my advice is...simple..
DO NOT COME FORWARD AND TELL PEOPLE OR IF YOU DO..DO IT ANONYMOUSLY..

Mike

[Ruby Lang]

I'd have to agree (and not just because Mike is a friend).

I've run paranormal and crypto websites and chat groups for the past 10 years and, if anything, I think the Internet has fed the general apathy of most people.

Generally speaking, most people are more inclined to sit on their behinds in front of a computer screen rather than go out and visit sites, talk to people face-to-face or discover things for themselves.

Several years ago I ran a series of talks in the heart of Sydney's CBD and couldn't draw more than eight people a session (and they were only $5 a pop with coffee/tea and FREE TIM TAMS!).

I was also involved with running the Myths & Monsters 2001 conference which drew 60 people - a better number but still one might expect more people to attend given the popularity of these topics on the net.

The Internet has bred a general disdain among users for their fellow human beings. The kind of language used to converse with one another leaves me cringing, and sustained attacks on people's character is beyond disappointing - whatever happened to 'play the ball, not the man'?

Speaking for myself, over the years I've been verbally abused, stalked and harassed by a couple of sad sacks (no names needed!). Would this happen if I had met the people face-to-face - well, yes, for at least one of them. But most likely we could have enjoyed a robust discussion and left it at that. That's generally what adults do.

Cheers,

Ruby

[topender]

i dunno

i stay pretty well connected to the relevent web sites and thanks to satelite - thingies, i can like this week log in and stay connected whilst i am 450 kms from any where out here in the Barkly Tablelands camped at a magical bilabong called Old PoliceStation Warerhole ( and yes listening for yowies ) but i see your point......armchair contributors etc


cheers humans

[Jo Blose]

Fringe Subject Researchers need to have thick skins to survive.

The bottom line is Field Researchers don't need to worry about armchair experts. The armchair researcher will never obtain anything worthy of an analysis nor uncover or discover anything new. This is what separates the armchair researchers from the Bob Gimlins and Roger Pattersons of the world.

Another truism is we each know we have life expectancies and our clocks are ticking. Each of us knows we don't have time to be wasting on flights of fancy unless we're getting something back in return. In this field for most of us, it is an education in something real our school teachers told us can't exist. This is where emotions kick in and people want to dissect, question, criticise, and jump to conclusions. They demand to know where their time is going. The internet just allows people to do it more efficiently, effectively, viciously, and anonymously than ever before.

But all the negatives can so easily be turned into positives. Just wait and see.