I've been on the interwebs since about '96 and am involved with several different groups therein. My hobbies of collecting toys (specifically vintage GIjOES), Batman & Superman collectables, Bibles and horns (although I've ended my habit of gathering horns) each have their own groups on the 'net. Some started back in the day of usnet and continue on FB. Then there's Reddit, IG and other online forums. How does this relate to trombones?

All of these different groups are populated by basically three types of people:

Low key hobbiests

Serious seekers of knowledge

The anal-retentive OCD folks who never saw a post with which they couldn't argue the minute details that nobody else cares about.

I could take just about any group's online arguments, change the subject to trombones and they'd never be thought of as being about any other subject.

I've noticed that the basic snarkiness and one upmanship has increased exponentially in the last almost four decades I've been online. Sometimes it gets to the point of being not worth hanging out online.

Perhaps it's due to the chemicals they've been putting in our food supply.

This is really similar to Savio's (Leif's) thread on "Internet Groups". Would you like me to merge the two?

That's a by product of the ability to be anonymous when mingling online. There's a slim chance you'll have any relations with those people "in real life" (face to face, through business, etc.) so they have nothing to lose from being obnoxious online. I imagine most bad actors do not act the same way in person or within their local community. If they do, they're probably alienated from their local community.

Communities as a whole seem to be dying off in many parts of the US. Neighbors don't know neighbors. People are scared to ask for, offer, or accept help. I guess it's easier for many, emotionally and physically, to join online communities instead.

By small chance, I unknowingly ran into another TTF member back in 05-06. A tubist friend invited me to come play in his church orchestra as they had an awesome music program. I was talking with one of the trombonists and put two and two together that they were a member of TTF. They were just as honest and wholesome in person as they appeared on the forum.

There used to be another forum member here that was notoriously opinionated and argumentative on the forums. They happened to be near my age and a member of a different youth orchestra in the area, so we became pals occasionally messaging about trombone and music. They fortunately weren't near as brash to me face to face, or in private conversation.

TL;DR some people act very differently in private than in public, and that has transitioned awkwardly to the online world as online can be private and public at the same time.