The community

As I said before, I am not part of a local community. Although it would be fun, I don't really miss it. But I think every lolita is, in some way, part of the online community. Maybe you post pictures on daily_lolita, ask questions on egl, have a tumblr or blogspot blog or sell your clothes second hand via egl_comm_sales. I think there are very few lolita's who don't at least check egl regulary.

I often have very mixed feelings about the online community. I think it's great to share pictures and information over the internet, to help each other with coordinates and purchases etc. But the internet makes people anonymous, and this can stimulate bad behaviour. I won't go into the details of cyber-bullying or rude comments on egl, many people have written about that already. Personally, I think that sometimes rude comments are deserved. It isn't that hard to observe some rules and apply common sense. But it can go too far.

Sometimes, I love the online community. The loli_valentines, for example, always make me smile. And nice and helpful comments on outfit posts on daily_lolita are great as well. I love the many blogs, the interaction of lolita's across the globe, art posts, photoshoots, useful information on shopping services or reviews of purchases. I think almost everyone will agree with me.
But there are times when I decide that I will never participate in the online community ever again! Stupid lolita's! I don't need you, I will dress only for myself from this moment onwards! This often happens after reading loli_secret, or when I'm fed up with the greed and stupidity that come from certain posts on egl.
I often read the secrets. I like to know what's going on in the community, and it's a bit like gossiping. But I almost always feel sad after reading them. Mostly this is a general feeling of: people can be so mean... that quickly passes. Sometimes I have to laugh about a secret that's completely ridiculous, and wonder who thought it was worth the time to make a secret about such a trivial thing.
I've posted a secret two or three times, and I'm always surprised when people comment on them. They often misunderstand me, too. But what suprises me most is the attitude of some comments. Why do you have to be so rude? I guess I'm too much of a nice girl, always afraid to hurt others. Some people just aren't nice, I have to get used to that.

In general, I do love the community, but I hope I will meet more lolita's in real life. Internet can bring people closer together, but it's still a barrier.