If you are just starting out on your magical journey, these internet magic groups can be a blessing and a curse. The difference between these online groups and real life magic clubs is most defiantly the anonymity of the being behind a keyboard.
In real life if you show a magic trick people are face to face and they are much kinder in general. However on these groups people have the courage to really attack something they don’t particularly like, in a very brutal way.
This can be very very damaging for a new performer who is still finding self confidence, I can tell you first hand that at 55 years of age and a life time of experience behind me, only a couple of days ago I made a small jokey comment on someones FB page and within seconds these so called FB police attacked me. They went for the jugular in a big way, screen shot shaming me and really insulting me in a host of ways. Some of these insults were not even relevant to the joke I had made. What then made matters worse was people who didn’t think the joke was bad started to stick up for me and a typing war began. To end something that was getting out of hand, I publicly apologise and all the posts were deleted. Now offence is in the eye of the receiver, and some people really didn’t like a silly little UN PC joke. Fair enough, but I could have been contacted privately rather than publicly shamed, which brought a lot pile of people into the mix … but that’s another thing for another day …
So ! with that said, this clearly shows that the internet as we know can be a very cruel place. For a new comer to magic that posts their latest work onto a magic group to then be attacked and told they are crap etc can be very damaging for their future. Of course this is not just confined video posts or silly jokes. Keyboard attacks can happen for a host of reasons.
On the other side of the fence completely, these group can be awesome and a HUGE source of knowledge and help for even the most experienced and knowledgeable magician. No one knows it all and we keep evolving. It’s an easy matter to ask questions, the hard part is working out which of the countless replies are worth considering.
So internet magic groups have up sides and down sides … One thing we seem to figure out quickly is which groups are worth our time. I have seen people driven out of groups by these keyboard bullies which is a horrible thing to see. On the flip side I have seen people who have asked questions and grown turn into a decent performer with the knowledge they have been given from members of a group. So it goes both ways ….
My advise to any new comer to a group, sit back and lurk for a while see what the general feel of the group is. See the active members posts and get a feel for the tone in that particular group. Then ask some questions, but try to be a little careful you don’t ask something that is going to bring the roof down on you … NO this is often common sense …
EG: if you see a lot of posts of other members asking how a certain trick is done, and the majority of replies is Don’t ask for this kind of question …. Then don’t ask the same kind of question yourself … common sense.
Just take it slowly and feel the water before getting your feet wet …
Good luck … and remember if you see myself or any of my friends around the groups, do say hi .. we are welcoming and most certainly not bullies in any way.