Essay Review: Are Poetry Boards Good For Poetry, The antithesis of 'What do poets enjoy most at MM' Options

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hello all,

Rus from the IBPC has put forth a new email loop and link even as some of our members are still researching the first, "What do poets enjoy the most about your forums" at the link below.
What do our poets enjoy the most at MM?

In this new thread, we'll look at an antithesis to that one. Click into this article carried by an E-zine:
The Pee in the Pool of On Line Poetry, by Terreson

This article focuses on the questions posed at its start: Are poetry boards good for poetry?

Do the boards benefit poets, the new and inexperienced especially who, in most cases, are grappling with the vital stuff of finding an authentic voice, gaining confidence in themselves, working through the canon, trying to figure out if they have something essential to say, and all at the same time? Do the boards, viewed as communities, engender poetry whose language is also authentic or do they falsify the poetry experience? Another question comes to mind. Is even the notion of an online poetry community good for poetry? And maybe one last question. What impact on poets, and on poetry itself, do the parameters, the rules of conduct and the by-laws, of many boards have?

As we all strive to build a knowledge base of what makes a poetry forum work best for the poets who sign into our forums, let's also examine what we do that is not working.

Please share your own thoughts here.

I, for one, hesitated on posting this thread, but do agree with some of what the essay alludes to; SOME, not all as you'll soon read for yourself.

Cheers,
~Cleo

[Guest_Terreson_*]

So, Cleo, let's try this approach. Let's say the essay raises questions based on conclusions drawn on experience. Now let's say you, as reader, answer the questions raised based on the conclusions you yourself have drawn from your own experience. This is pretty much how the brain works anyway, right? For example, in your experience, is there an anti-intellectual element to be found on poetry boards (some boards, a few boards, all boards, no boards)? Or what about this. In your experience are poetry boards subject to a tendancy to place community cohesion first and poetry second? And is Robert Bly right when he speaks of the potentially damaging affect of the collective on the creative personality?

I guess my view is that sometimes it is better to raise questions, even if only by making challenging statements. Reader then compares the questions/statements to her own storehouse of experience and draws her own conclusions. This, at least, is how the essay got designed. This way everyone can draw their own conclusions by referencing their own empirical findings, as you have already done. And thanks again for the input. Actually, thanks for questioning my methodology.

Tere