Is it just me, or is the watch enthusiast community toxic?

I’ve only been on this platform for a number of days and I’ve seen nothing but love from the enthusiasts here. ✌🏼

This site seems the opposite of that-I've always found it inclusive and welcoming.

I’m inclined to agree with you. I have grossly underused WatchCrunch. For some reason I always end up in the trenches of watch discussion.

The 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙚𝙗𝙨 are toxic, ergo …

But in my experience IRL watch community events are inclusive, egalitarian and great frickin' fun.

☻

I definitely agree with you. The reason I didn’t make specific mention of WatchCrunch is because I think it’s a pretty great platform. However, I’m not sure if I can make the assumption that this platform is void of toxic people.

I’ve never really attended, although there aren’t too many outlets for that down here in South Africa. That’s good to hear though.

I don't do social media because I got tired of people spoiling for an argument all the time. But people here are kind, and informative. It's a good place.

I’ve seen posts like this before and some of the best explanations I’ve seen for this is some people tie their personal identity/self worth to their watch or their brand or most often their opinion so as a result there are some very very sensitive individuals on these forums. Ultimately sometimes yes I think people can be rude or especially snobby or passive aggressive but sometimes it’s just one or two people getting offended over nothing and we have to cater to the most sensitive person in the room so it can be difficult to express any sort of thought. I saw a guy get offended LITERALLY because another guy called a woman “beautiful” I mean the nerve right? Don’t go calling any women beautiful around here LoL so this is an example instead of me just saying some people are WAY too sensitive. Just my opinion 🌈

I stayed away from WUS because it just seems an outlet for negative remarks. This place seems to be fine, only been on here a few days.

WC being void of toxic people is somewhat utopian I'm afraid, but so far almost everyone here is friendly, engaged and caring (about watches & people). It is quite heartwarming to see how the community responds to and helps out with outside crises (i.e. floods or earthquakes) or personal crises (i.e. divorce, watches being stolen...). The friendly banter, interspersed with an animated gif or two, about those curiously gleaming gems on our wrists, has become a daily ritual for me.

Cheers y'all, keep up the good work

I totally get you. Don’t get me wrong, if someone told me my collection was crap I would laugh. I made a YT video referencing a comment by Paul Pluta regarding Tudors being third tier watches, where I put my BB58 on a timegrapher. I would also not be too bothered if someone roasted myself (or anyone else) within reason.

The stuff that really gets to me though, is when a group of people show up and then decide to insult someone outside the realm of a joke, or overreact immensely to a particular topic. I’ve seen so many people come to a random post just because they were looking for a fight. It’s clear as day when that’s all they’re there for.

Perhaps that’s just me, but there comes a point where an opinion is so strong that one should probably just keep it to oneself. The way I see it, overly strong opinions are typically based on one’s own misconceptions or prejudices, or a manifestation of one’s own psychological instability.

I would take people's opinion not as serious unless is a personal attack. People that tent to have a passion or are passionate about a brand and will show a very bias opinion including myself. If someone hates on a watch I have or thinks my watch collection is garbage I don't take it personally. I think when it comes to personal attacks that's when it starts to get ugly. I do like some of the trolling here with homages, or GS fans are a cult I like the poking fun of something or else it would get very boring.

Yeah WUS is the definition of the trenches. I do go there every once in a while because some of the topics discussed contain useful information provided by some very knowledgeable users. I also went back and posted some info that I thought might be helpful regarding the Tudor ETA vs Sellita thing, but in terms of actually just being bored and wanting to talk about something - forget about it. I mean like even legit checks. Of all things, you post a legit check or need some help identifying something and you still get flamed. It’s actually crazy how far some people will reach.

Personal attacks are exactly what I’m referring to, and they’re so plentiful. I’m not even just referring to a situation that I encountered. I’ve read through threads of people getting ripped apart. Sometimes I can’t even bring myself to comment because I know that I’m just going to get sucked into the unnecessary drama.

Generally I like this platform the most as a place to discuss watches and watch content. FB was too toxic or herd mentality-like. IG was great but its mostly sharing photos without much discussion. The forums are a mess generally same with reddit too. So aside from the few “toxic” individuals here, I’m quite happy with watchcrunch

But generally I am not a fan of the watch community outside of this group and a few groups on FB.

I like it here, yes, there is the odd idiot that makes my toes curl but the vast majority on here are - as everyone else has said - welcoming, knowledgable and add humour.

There are some high rollers on here but it's not shoved in your face or used as a bragging right or to belittle anoyone else, one day they have a G-Shock and the next some £200K Vacheron Constantin or similar. 😎

Weirdly, I'm way nicer here than I am in person.

In any hobby you will find people who are passionate about the topic, and occasionally people's passions will lead to conflict. WC tends to be the least negative hobby related platform I have encountered so far in over a decade of using various forums.

That said, as @nicely mentioned, some people tend to place part of their identity in their watches, so even mild criticism of a brand or correction of an inaccurate take on a brand/model/feature is taken as if it's a deep personal insult.

I've seen death threats in a forum about reptile husbandry, for example. Or were you asking about the heavily moderated ones?

What on Earth is reptile husbandry? 😬

It's how you keep and breed reptiles in captivity. Since studies are actually limited, there is little definitive data to go by. (And requirements will vary strongly by reptile, even within certain sub-species.)

Image a forum where everyone believes to be right, without a good way to prove or disprove it. 😁

Watch forums are peaceful in comparison.

That sounds like quite a wild one

It is not about watches, but forums in general. After some time, while everybody is enjoying their hobby, some idiot find their way into the forum. Some are just rude, some do it on purpose and for fun. After a while the few screaming idiots are ruining the vibe. Add some people who always are using forums as a place to sell and advertise their stuff and it soon becomes like everything else.

Right now WC is just a happy little place. Hopefully the haters will just stay away.

I think forum is far to cheerful for those individuals to find it appealing

Hopefully! And if: As long as WC members call those out it could stay like this.

This is the facts of life. No matter when, where or why you will always find that really special person that doesn't have much to contribute. It's here and everywhere. Learn how to shut that noise out. Otherwise it will just drive you nuts.

Just enjoy the watch!

A few of my more scholarly friends who perhaps view watches as an agreeable redundancy item in our lives remain overwhelmed when I informed a few of the controversy caused by the use of TIMEPIECE when writing about a watch. I confess considerable difficulty learning, studying the English language until 5 years of high school Latin classes somehow helped. I used to catch a lot of criticism for saying that all families are toxic but toxic in different ways. That would start a few arguments. Lol.

See! I knew you could take a joke. Never pay attention to anything a stranger says on the internet. Remember what they say about opinions always.

Stay blessed bud!

A good rule of thumb is to critique the watch (if you must) not the wearer.

Some don't respect the difference between posting their opinion that Brand X sucks as opposed to Brand X owners suck.

Calling other Crunchers "deranged", and likening them to "Hitler youth" and "Brown shirts" because their experience has been different seems too FaceBooky for me but I get that some just view this as a "bit of banter".

Create the world you want to live in.

I wanna see those comments now 😂😂😂