My affinity space- Hong Kong Band Forum

I am not so a media addict so I could only tell you one affinity space that I participated, when I had interest in guitar and wanted to know more about it. It is “Hong Kong Band Forum”, a platform in Hong Kong for those are interested in music, especially band music. The vast majority of the participants are music players. Unfortunately, I am not.:( I registered as a member in Hong Kong Band Forum because I wanted to know more about guitars. However, as my passion was gone, now I seldom browse this forum. But I really like the diversity and professionalism of the participants there.

The members of the forum are all Hong Kong people mainly using Cantonese as their language for communication. However, this forum consist of a variety of age groups, ranging from adolescent to older adult. Also, they have different backgrounds regarding to occupations. From students, musicians, construction workers to land property agent. From my observation, approximately 80% of the members are boys which is one of the reasons that I am not so devoted in this affinity space. Despite the great differences between them, they communicate and share any information related to music. They can even trade used instruments or promote their music services such as music instrument repair and music lessons. This group of people are driven by "fun", thus they are willing to share information and opinions in the forum.

After years of operation, the administrators of the forum came up with some rules. First of all, services other than music are not permitted to be promoted in the forum. With reference to other music forums that are congested with unrelated commercial advertisement, this rule allows members to enjoy an advertisement-free environment to discuss about music. This forum is non-profitable and the administrators are volunteers. Second, foul or offensive languages are not allowed. As some members are teenagers, they maybe emotional sometimes and turn discussions into oral fight. To ensure the members are self-regulated and being responsible for their comments, registration is required to browsing the forum. Third, commenting on the selling of old instruments is prohibited. Although the price is negotiable, negotiation is only allowed in private conversation or else it is unfair to the seller. 

Recently my friend mentioned a post in the forum that was hot. A boy posted a youtube clip on a post and asked for opinions. Many people gave negative comments to him and some were very rude. Some people mediated and said "we should encourage new music players". In the end, he posted on the forum saying,"I will work harder! Thank you for everyone's comments. I am very sorry."

Although some people are rude, but it is still good to see some amateurs giving sincere comments and encouragements to new player. I hope this can be the practice in other forums too. I bet many Hong Kong people have heard of "Golden Forum". I do not really like it because there are so many foul languages and many people are rude. What do you think?