I’ve really grown to appreciate this site in the last couple of days. I’ve always been a frequent visitor/lurker/reader, but never really a poster. Actually, I’ve never really been much of a poster on any board. I’m shy online as I am in real life.
However, recently I’ve found how intentionally cruel people can be on message boards (another board, not BPO). Long story sorta short, a group of volunteers from a rescue group where we adopted Max are working as part of a fundraiser to win one of those “Vote for my dog” contests. As part of the campaign for our dog, one of the volunteers posted on a message board asking people if they would vote. A person responded claiming our campaign was just a scam, had done this last year, that the person was going to use the money for a shopping spree, and that they would do what they could to keep our dog from having a chance to win. I posted in defense of the volunteer (a calm defense…or rather a plea to stop with untruthful posts). The person then responded with the same lie, not taking any time to research any of the links/information provided which show the group is a legitimate rescue group.
I’ve cried over sad movies and sad books, but never over a post on a message board before. I just couldn’t/can’t understand why people lie and intentionally like to stir up trouble. Naive, I know.
But that is what makes BPO stand out—it just overflows with support and kindness (and cute pictures). No internet trolls lurking around to throw insults and cause pointless drama.
So this is my thank you to Big Paws! Thank you for the hard work! Thank you for creating a place to go to that provides helpful advice, smiles and laughs, and at times a virtual shoulder to cry on.
