Internet Mormons

I have been watching, reading and participating in the Internet Mormon world basically since its inception in the 90's.  Blogging and forum-ing wasn't very known back then but a select few came here to read, write and discuss those topics that generally wouldn't be thoroughly touched upon in a public church setting.  The internet mormon population quickly realized this and made the most of it.  Discussions about anything and everything came up and opinions ranged as far and wide as the digital eye could see.  Fear of reprisal or persecution for silly theories or thoughts were laid aside as anyone could pose as their non-self and put forth any idea.  Disregarding the fact that an online personality was rarely connected to an actual person who people knew, unless they were published, etc.
I have enjoyed what the internet mormon world brought to the table of my worldview and faith, as well as what it brought to the overall mormon table.  One was able to, if so desired, go worldwide and discuss topics and thoughts with a population outside of their small community that shared similar thoughts.  Connections were being made that would possibly save a membership from being lost, merely for finding like-minded individuals that don't  adhere to the cookie-cutter mormonism that is seemingly dominant in the public setting.
Since then, an explosion of blogging has occurred.  Anyone and everyone wants to share their thoughts and feelings about the church for good or bad.  The bloggernacle and blogosphere don't discriminate between a 'good' blog and a 'bad' one.  It is generally up to the individual to know where to go to find what they like.  Much reading in the beginning is required to narrow down your choices, otherwise you would never find the blogs that are worth your time.
I write about this because of the fact that I am trying to untangle my thoughts about all this.  Noticing my 'sacred' world of internet mormonism being tarnished by the public mormonism I see at church was disconcerting to me.  They didn't belong there, I thought.  They had no right to think they did either.  Yet at the same time, my world still seemed, for the most part, intact.  There may be more individuals who involve themselves in a discussion, but the only difference seemed to be a bigger audience with an even bigger pool of worldviews and opinions that are brought to the table.
I haven't seen a dominant view take over, since anyone can set up a blog, write topics of any persuasion and slant, and moderate any commenters they desire.  This is the beauty of it.  Anonymity, coupled with freedom of internet speech gives way to a rich and fruitful arena to discuss.
So I will continue to enjoy this arena, and look forward to the evolution that will continue to take place.

Link to Twitter

So not that anybody follows this blog or my twitter account, but I am linking them so if you DO follow one of them, the other is linked.  This encourages me to blog more, so we will see how that goes.  My blog's web address and my twitter account are similar (dallske) so if you want to follow on twitter you can do a search for that name and I should come up. My badge pic shows my AF 'spings', signifying the 1C6 career field.

Rant One

So I follow the mormon bloggernacle a lot.  I keep my twitter account open and each new post shows up on twitter.  Twitter is quite convenient that way...I follow a few cycling authorities, a few running/tri voices, some musicians, etc.  I usually go off of blog titles when I decide whether or not to click on one.  Many times I run across the same personalities who frequent certain blogs and post like they have all the time in the world.  One such personalities' name is geoff b.  Geoff B. seems to be quite intolerant of anyone who disagrees with him.  His opinions (obsessive-compulsive by the way) are superior and must be imposed by way of the bloggernacle onto everyone else who comes and reads.  He seems to be in a lot of places, even though he has created his own blog to bless the world with his awesome opinion.  Apparently today, (the latest incident and the straw the broke my blog into two) I found out that I am OCD merely for coming back to one particular blog once each day for two days in a row to comment.  No matter what we are talking about, no matter where I go, I often run into this guy and he always disagrees with everyone unless they are in complete, boring agreement with him.  I bring all this up because the bloggernacle, in my humble opinion, is somewhat revolutionary within the church.  It is a place for members to go and share experience, opinion, talk about doctrine, the deeper things, the more hidden and lesser known things and talk (write) to each other without feeling different or getting too emotional over it all.  Taking emotion out of it all is a big factor when coming to the world-wide-web to 'vent' and try and find others with similar struggles and questions.

When personalities like Geoff B. comes along, the bloggernacle becomes counter-productive.  The haven that is blossoming starts to wilt when abusive, abrasive, ignorant people come on and point their fingers, laugh and taunt others for not agreeing with them.  I have been reading and following blogs for over a decade now and Geoff B. is a bully on the playground and needs to be ignored and avoided.  There are others, but the better way, I find, to combat bullies is to single them out one by one, even if I never personally single another one out.