PsiOnline.org

by Stony1205

This article needs to be updated. Things have changed since I wrote it, but many things still apply. ~ Stony 02/07/2007

When I first started psionics about six years ago, everything was really quite simple. I would go onto PsiPog and read the articles there, hoping to find something I hadn’t before. It was all about learning and just having fun with it. But once the innocence of being a newbie at a new site started to wear, my understanding of “The Politics” began to change. No longer was this just a website with cool articles and cool people, it was an organization that was in limbo with many others just like it. I soon learned that things weren’t as simple as they appeared.

I’m not going to try and tell a life story of any individual site. By mentioning PsiPog, I’m not putting them down or giving them props in anyway, this is just where I spent my time as a newbie. However, I am going to describe the situation in the online psionic community as I see it. This doesn’t mean that’s how everything actually is to everyone, this is just my opinion. It wouldn’t be a rant otherwise.

No longer is the online psionic community made up of a few tiny sites on crappy servers, run by webmasters just because they could. No longer are sites made up of only 50 or so members, who all give in equally every day, just to try and find something new and fun. Today, the online psionic community is a huge place of interaction and information exchange. Places like PsiPog and Veritas have grown from small sites to mammoth “monopolies” on the information market. At the time of writing (6/28/2005) PsiPog had around 5000 people signed up in its databases. I’m sure the webmasters of these sites never dreamed that their little spare time project would turn out into the great hub of learning that it is.

Despite the huge sites, there are many medium and small organizations that are just as valid as a site with 5000 members. PsiOnline is nice small-medium site that has great articles and a good strong member base of 301. Our smaller numbers allow us to operate a forum, which ties the community closer together, and allows everyone to get to know each other. You can actually have “regulars” with a small community, as you don’t have to know as many people. Everything is easier to organize and afford, as it is on a smaller scale. But there is something that all organizations share if they have any “influence” in the online psionic community. They are share a part in “The Politics”.

As with any large group of people, there are goings on that seem to create that weird gut feeling you get whenever there is scandal, or secretive stuff going on. The same thing happens in this community, except that 90% of that group doesn’t even realize it. After a few years in an organization the moderators and owners should begin to know who you are and make you “in” (If you aren’t an asshole). When I say “in” I mean more in the ranks of a respected and valued member, rather than the regular Joe. It is this at this point that you begin to understand the ins and outs of what goes on behind all the articles and seminars. You begin to learn about the nitty-gritty of running a community. You begin to lean about grudges and past events that have shaped how the community is today.

The politics of a psionic community can run very deep. Small trivial events may end up in the whole website disbanding, if given enough time. But the politics of a website aren’t always with one person. There can be large scale conflicts with other sites that cause members to leave one site for another. There is one case in my mind in which this has gone to an extreme, but I will not name specifics for the sake of those involved. People have left the organizations that they volunteer at, to start their own sites. In many cases, they try to drag other members, usually their friends, with them. This has caused some people to stop visiting all communities, which is a real shame. Why all this turmoil? When you have this much contact, sometimes the stress is too much, or in some cases, you do not like the ideas that the webmaster has.

Part of the problem with many of the management systems in psionic communities is the establishment of totalitarian control of the site. This system, although instantly effective against rule breakers and bad behavior, eventually causes a rift in the community. The hierarchy usually runs Admin -> Moderators -> Respected Members/Oldies -> Everyone else, with there being a terrible large social gap between Respected Members and up, and the rest of the community. Some people are could care less about the “higher ups”, but some feel left out, and when they ask questions, they are usually kicked or banned. That said person now has a personal problem with the moderators of that website, so they go elsewhere with their hatred, and create a sense of tension in another community. If enough of this happens, banned members form groups in other communities, which forces the two sites to clash. The unfortunate problem, is that the most effective way of managing a website is the totalitarian approach.

A democracy in a website usually doesn’t turn out well, especially with a large member base. If members want something the webmaster doesn’t, chances are, the webmaster will just ignore the members, or water down what they voted for. This can cause members to distrust their webmaster, and leave the site. A way around this is a website council, which mediates between staff and the rest of the members, to try to find middle. This works in keeping order, but slows down the progress of the site to a crawl.

With such different systems of organization, no wonder it is so difficult to try to make communities share information with one another. Add this with internal problems such as staff disputes, and conflicts (which sometimes include attacks, stalking, and other assorted nasties), and nobody has time to work out issues. So the political issues fester until they explode, and people usually end up getting hurt in the process. So what are the solutions? What can we do to stop this political bickering and just get back to studying psionics? There are two solutions, and only one is viable.

Solution one would be for everyone to grow up and just drop all the complicated relationships and political aspects of running a community. This is not human nature, and is an impossible idea.

The only other step I see is for a creation of some kind of unified community. Not for everyone to be involved in, but just so staff and respected members can get together and solve the disputes that they have learned so much about. My attempts at UOPC (United Online Psionics Community) have been nearly stopped. Besides creating a website, there are logistical problems that need to be dealt with. You need to invite all the communities, or people are going to feel left out, which is exactly what you’re trying to eliminate. On the other hand, some communities do not like each other particularly well. If website A sees website B on the list, neither will join, causing another rift in the community. Catch 22. It is almost too late to create this kind of organization, because it would have to have been implemented years ago to prevent problems. But it is currently our best option as a community.

So after all this, what am I trying to say? I would like to step back and say “Hey, why can’t everything just be simple again? Stop all the crazy politics and old grudges. Stop worrying about if psychic X is going to come back and cause trouble. Why can’t we just go back to the way things used to be 2, 3, 4 years ago, when all we really wanted was to just practice and have a good time? Why does there have to be a system of such strict order in all the communities?”

When I used to go to PsiPog back in my earlier days, I could count on walking in and getting a greeting from my buddies, and just chilling out. I knew everyone, and everyone knew me, and when there was a newbie, we tried to assimilate them into our group, not keep them out of the “click”. I refer to PsiPog as if it’s the only place, it isn’t. This is the same in every community. I’m just using it as a good, large scale example. Its hard to see a group of “regulars”, they all leave so much. I would just like it to be easier, so we can actually get down to the real business.

It would be nice if we could drop all the hassle of community ranks and website relationship problems, and just get back to practicing and having fun. Can we do that?