Well, I did say I would try to write a couple of times a month O_O
(I guess I wasn't exactly true to my word, but I've written enough posts apologizing for my lousy and sporadic updates).
To be honest, the reason I'm writing this post is because I want to get real about the community on Animal Jam. I haven't written up any notes or prepared some mind-blowing presentation on the intricacies of Animal Jam and it's community. And I am definitely not outing or exposing anyone for being rude (not that anyone cares, really).
I apologize, I'm not going to be my usually bouncy, bubbly self in this post. It honestly isn't who I am in real life anyway. When I'm at school or at home, I'm usually a sarcastic pessimist. When I'm at home, not doing my homework, this is basically me:
In addition, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything in this post, it's mostly just me spilling my thoughts on Animal Jam, and while your input is appreciated in the comments, I will not approve comments attacking me or my views (not that I will get any hate anyways, I'm not that big of a voice in the community at large).
Fakers
One of my least favourite things on AJ to encounter are people pretending to be someone else. If your username is not "Aparri" then I'm not going to believe you're him. The real Aparri would not have to try to convince anyone that he is Aparri because he would be on his own account.
Now, if you recognize an impostor on AJ, the absolute worst thing you could ever do is call them out! I know that you have good intentions, but the reason this person is impersonating someone is because they want your attention. Now, what is the exact opposite of what they want? You guessed it!
So if you see some "New Jammer" hanging out around Jamaa, make sure you don't approach him, just walk away or report and block, whatever you need to do, but under no circumstances must you interact with that person! Now if we spread the word "do not interact with impersonators" they will no longer have an audience to troll, which takes care of that problem.
Even if people still try to unmask the impostors, if you walk away, you don't have to deal with them!
Politeness
Another thing I would like to point out is something that has actually improved over the years, but still requires lots and lots of work: manners
Look, you don't have to talk to everyone like they're the queen of England on Animal Jam, but at least observe the basic code of human decency. Such as saying hello when you enter a den or other simple things like "yes please" or "thanks bro".
If I'm trading with someone who does not observe courtesy, I'm not going to want to trade with you!
If you barge into my den and - without saying hello - blurt out "hat 4 yr carpet yes r no?" This is what I'm going to think:
But because I'm an upstanding - mostly - polite human being, and they are a person I have never met before, I must obey social conventions. Even online. So I will say "sorry, not thank you" and I will not lock them out of my den but wait for them to leave so that I can leave as well.
Even though this is a virtual world, it is still a world. I shudder to think of a future when people do not even have the decency to say a simple "please" or "thank you" when making deals with real people.
I'm probably just way overreacting here, but this is the truth. We must treat each other like real human beings, and remember that there is a person behind the avatar.
Age Demographic
The age demographic on AJ is a little bit screwed up. We have the people who started back in 2010 when they were very young, only to grow up and stay with AJ through all the way to 2017 and probably onward. Then we have the little siblings or the New Jammers that have just joined, who may be younger than those older Jammers.
Well, yes. This does present a problem. We have these older kids, who know a lot more about the game, and these younger, more gullible younger Jammers who do not know much about AJ.
These younger children are mostly non members. I think this is where the "all non members are annoying and don't know the first thing about Animal Jam" stereotype comes from.
When the older, more learned kids meet the younger - and generally more immature - jammers, this could lead to the younger jammers getting scammed easier and - more often - with the older Jammers becoming annoyed and possibly causing fights between a person from high school and a second grader.
Now I know for a fact that the older kids can be exceedingly rude, and are not above possibly cyberbullying the younger kids.
The simple solution to this problem is to just be kind. Report the mean dudes and help the less fortunate. Whenever I see a kind Jammer making someone's day, it just makes me so happy.
These younger children are mostly non members. I think this is where the "all non members are annoying and don't know the first thing about Animal Jam" stereotype comes from.
When the older, more learned kids meet the younger - and generally more immature - jammers, this could lead to the younger jammers getting scammed easier and - more often - with the older Jammers becoming annoyed and possibly causing fights between a person from high school and a second grader.
Now I know for a fact that the older kids can be exceedingly rude, and are not above possibly cyberbullying the younger kids.
The simple solution to this problem is to just be kind. Report the mean dudes and help the less fortunate. Whenever I see a kind Jammer making someone's day, it just makes me so happy.
Thank you
To finish off this sarcastic and rather - dare I say - rude post, I'd just like to thank all of you for your positivity, because I know that none of you are these people, it's just me venting my thoughts.
Just keep doing what you're doing, and AJ will be a great place again.
