It was put to me recently that a number of people feel unable to post on the Forum as they are concerned that their comments will be perhaps derided.
To be honest, I find this a little hard to believe. I've always used the analogy of the Forum as being like an online Pub, with a hard core of regulars who know each other fairly well, and a wider range of other people who drift in and out of conversations as the interest takes them. In addition, there are those people who come to the Pub every day but just sit in the corner and enjoy other peoples' banter without joining in themselves.
Discussions on the Forum take many forms, and they can, of course, become heated. Again, this is just a reflection of discussions in a Pub environment, which can even sometimes end in fisticuffs.
My own view is that everyone is welcome to post but this is a discussion forum and you must expect to have your views challenged sometimes. It would be very boring if we all just agreed with each other all the time! At the end of the day, it is just words on a screen, so please take courage, start posting, and get stuck in.
