General/Question Prelude to the beginning

We’ve all spent years preparing
Before this band was born
With heaven's help it blended
And we do thank the lord.Terry Kath, “Introduction” Chicago Transit Authority, 1969

In my previous article—The dawn of the beginning—I outlined the case for reforming the Joomla! forum to overcome the undesirable presence of fake users, spuriously-created new forum accounts and the burden these things impose on the forum moderators who spend their time “taking out the garbage”.  As I hope you will agree, the questions I asked in relation to these matters are worthy of answers.  I was disappointed, though, that my questions posted at the Joomla! forum did not receive the kind of support I had hoped for.

It was the conspicuous absence of the Joomla! forum management team in the debate that disturbed me most.  Perhaps this “conspicuity”—not acknowledging that contentions exist—is a characteristic of “groupthink” behaviour?  Or, put another way, the team is counting on burying perceived threats [to it] as quickly as possible simply by not having to respond to them.

Virtue signalling is the conspicuous communication of moral values and good deeds.  The term has negative connotations as it is commonly used to denote virtuous actions and statements are motivated by a desire for social status and self-satisfaction.  In recent years, the term has been more commonly used within groups to criticise those who are seen to value the expression of virtue over action.

Although my observations were apparently not generating much support at the Joomla! forum, I would have been content to allow things to subside were it not for a surprise celebrity intervention; that intervention caused me to radically reappraise my ideas—in a good way—and commit to an entirely different approach, ultimately resulting in what you’re reading now.  You will have to read more of this article to discover the details about that intervention and how it changed my thoughts.