Surprises on TOTV
 

Just curious, what surprised you the most about TOTV after you joined?

In my case, it was realizing that so many people do not read the entire thread before posting, say, an answer to a question, resulting in a long line of posts with the same answer.

Posts and responses are not what I would expect from people living in the happiest place on earth. Oops, that's Disney. TV is the second happiest place on earth.

Perhaps in some cases they did read it and we're added their comment as reinforcement?

I think that the negative posts may be because of the way many of us were raised. Nothing was said unless something was wrong. It just wasn't the way of folks back then to talk about things that were right.

For me, it was a religious retreat that changed my attitude on that. We were shown that "affirming" another's good qualities was a good thing and being positive was a way of passing on God's love. I fail miserably, but I think it was a good thing to know how to do.

And you are right OP, most just read the last post and respond.

A lot of insightful people and comments.

Yes, there is some nasty out there, but the insights out weigh.

:beer3:

And some folks just have an over abundance of "grump bucket" DNA.

How truly mean-spirited and petty some people are. And how many kind, generous folks there are here. I'm so grateful that kind people far outnumber the petty ones.

Some like to stir the pot and like getting a reaction. Sometimes I don't mind that.
What I do mind is when people get mean spirited.
Some I take with a grain of salt.
99 % of the time, I really enjoy it and I think there is a great bunch of people on here.
I read it for almost a year before I made my first post. LOL ;)

I was surprised about the length of some posts. I don't use twitter but I think there is a 140 word limit. It's more difficult and more considerate to concisely make a point.

On the other hand if you are sharing something, a personal experience that happened to you back in the day, I'll sift through every word and reread like it was Dickens.

The great news is there are over 100,000 people in The Villages now, and only about 20 of them are regular complainers on TOTV. Most folks are quite nice and friendly. :beer3:

I have actually made some "real time" friends after meeting them face to face.

Yes, there are also some real grumps who have even turned down an offer to meet personally with a nasty message.

I say we list them and that way Santa will know how to handle them next Christmas.

:ho:

I was surprised by how quickly I became invested in what was going on in TOTV.

I usually only read posts which are non-confrontational, but I am constantly surprised at what people post here. Sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way; but, I guess that is life in general.

Another thing that surprised me, was how many people have poor written communication skills (not spelling, but writing) among a fairly highly educated population.