It feels good to finally post here, after considering making an account for a week or two now.
I've been browsing The Bore for a few months now, as my dissatisfaction with GAF grew by the day,
I started off on Gaf during the 2016 election, finding the site through looking for threads on old topics to read (something I enjoyed), and appreciating the site of a rare, highly active, straight forum.
But as my lurking continued I noticed the mass grave bannings, and got a feel for the culture.
I was drawn towards it being left leaning, but was unsure of whether I could properly navigate those troubled waters, though after much deliberation, I obviously took the plunge.
My first account lasted under a month, I wasn't sure how to properly interact with the BCT as the slang/humor wasn't something in my vocabulary/a practice of mine as a black man, so after a few failed posts I bailed, and ended up in Poligaf, my biggest mistake, as I was not only a Bernie supporter, but I wasn't the most knowledgeable person on some fronts.
My banning came hours or a day after an argument in there, with the simple message "I don't think this site is a good fit for you" (and maybe it also said that they hoped I would find a community I fit in, can't remember.)
(After I found out about Bishop and his unjust election bans, I figured that it might have been from him.)
My second account lasted a few days or a few weeks, I don't remember doing anything notable, so I assumed that maybe they pinged my i.p as being the same as the banner account, or I just stepped on the wrong mods toes, I don't know, I can't tech.
My third and final account (of the same name as this), is where I finally managed to lay low and navigate GAF-culture, I made GAF-Hop my home, and like a servile dog I bent the knee to the sites popular opinions and tailored my opinions towards them through watering down my beliefs, omitted vocabulary I believed would get my labeled as right-wing, some of which, being terms I never felt the need to use/ever utter, until I was faced with the rabid virtue signaling and purity politics of GAF (like the two terms I just used), or just shut up when in the face of what I believed could be a potential dogpile, all behaviors in stark contrast to how I am in my personal life, or anywhere else on the web, I let the GAF machine bend me to it's will.
My breaking point was when I went overboard in the Fantano thread, I couldn't handle the lack of nuance and self-eating nature of the site any longer, the toxicity had reached it's boiling point with me.
None of this is a big deal, it's just a forum, I'm not doing anything impressive, and my post is over-dramatic and everything, but it feels good to vent again, the last time I was able to vent like this was election night (which felt awkward considering who won, but vindicating considering the site culture), and this is a much better place as of now.
lit