This is an interesting thought and question and I've enjoyed reading the responses. I would answer no to this question.
I'm one of the 'oldies' too that has been around in this community for years and years...in fact I can barely remember a time before it! There's absolutely no doubt that things have changed. The community is unrecognisable to what it was 10 years ago for instance. I think a lot of that is down to people growing older, having other interests and of course the fact that Michael is no longer here. From my point of view, I have a family now and my time spent here and elsewhere MJ-wise is nowhere near as vast as it once was which is a natural progression and the same as it would be if Michael was still here I guess. I couldn't go to a party at the drop of a hat, or visit a different city for the weekend with other fans just because, but that's the same as with all other interests in my life! Priorities change. A massive part of my heart will always be with Michael though and I cherish the memories dearly, they were a huge part of my time growing up and they were magical and so so happy!
There's been a lot said about fans making Michael into a saint and not acknowledging him as a human with flaws etc. When Michael was here I was completely guilty of being totally in awe of him, he was super human to me, invincible. He had strength of character I had never witnessed before. He was impossibly talented. When he walked into the room my God did you know it...the aura he had was (dare I say it) ethereal. He was magical. Even now when I've written that I've used the word 'guilty'. It's almost like there's this culture of having to acknowledge Michael's faults otherwise you're this crazy deluded soul that gives fans a bad name. I don't care about Michael's flaws and bad habits and I have little interest in digging deeper to find out about them. Can anyone who was here before 2009 think back to just how different things were back then? How private and guarded Michael was? Do you remember how fierce we were about protecting Michael's privacy? We didn't discuss his health. We didn't discuss his kids, his surgeries and to a degree his finances amongst other things. This was strict and mutual amongst everyone who frequented here and other sites. The biggest change for me in the last 9 years is this appetite for focussing on these negative things and dissecting every part of his life. MJJC has a section now where these things can be discussed - in response to the fans appetite to discuss it. Clearly this wouldn't have been the case back in the day. If you look through those threads there's a definite shift in atmosphere and even without looking at join dates you can see who the pre and post 2009 fans are. You see this all the time with social media though, people as a whole reveal so much more than they did 10 years ago so maybe it's just the way things are now. There aren't many people including famous people that maintain a high level of privacy these days. Post 2009 fans are perhaps seeing things through the expectations of what artists today do on social media whereas older fans will strongly suspect that Michael wouldn't have revealed himself and his life the way other famous people do - it was all part of his mystique and magic.
I don't have much of an opinion on the altered images as it's not something I've noticed massively...perhaps again because I have withdrawn from most parts of the community. Again older fans will recognise when an image has been changed but I hadn't thought about the younger fans and how much harder it will be for them to recognise what is real and what isn't. That could potentially be problematic in years to come which is a frightening thought! Things like the Gary statue could become much more common! The term lost the real Michael could never be more literal than in that sense.
In short, in person I've not lost the real Michael. I feel very much frozen in time when it comes to him and the connection I've felt with him which is still so pure as it was 9 years ago. As a whole though I can certainly see it happening which I hadn't really considered until now!
