I’m irritated and annoyed! But also grateful.

I think the notion of some over-reacting is a good one, but I also think there's an interesting/important issue that's brought up. Let me preface by saying the internet is a resource which makes it usually easy to search and scavenge for a variety of answers. While this might not be quite as fast or direct as posting on a forum it is still very fast.

I think the problem comes up when someone is unwilling to use the search function or quickly peruse the wiki to find out "what razor brand is good?". I understand someone new to a forum might not know what an FAQ is or what that a Wiki is not something out of Star Wars ;) , and that's ok. I can see why it's frustrating to some to see the main page be filled with "newb question" threads. I personally don't get too aggravated by this. What does tend to annoy is when someone is too lazy to do a little research. Instead of searching through the encyclopedia (the search function or Wiki) the searcher wants an answer NOW and doesn't want to wait. This results in post upon post of the same answer to the same questions. I can see why this is frustrating. :beer2: I guess my point is check the "community tools" first. They've had a lot of effort into them and they're very useful.

I signed up well before the wiki was invented. This might already be happening but would it be useful to have a splash screen after signup which points the SRP Newcomer to the wiki?

My takeaways from this thread were as follows:

1. It is easy to get irritated with the new members especially when they are less than courteous and respectful. So this serves as a gentle reminder to newer members to be courteous and respectful.
2. A reminder to more senior members to be welcoming to and patient with newer members.

My takeaways from BeBeBerlin’s post specifically were:

1. Too many beginners (too much growth at too fast a pace) can be problematic.
2. It is rude to enter a forum without doing some basic homework such as reading the FAQs, which somebody has taken the time to produce in order to avoid cluttering things up with the same questions being asked and answered over and over ad nauseum.

These all strike me as good points worthy of some thought.

Excellent, Lazarus! Very nice summary.

"Your narrative has become tiresome"















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZR9SA5pOg

As a relative Newbie myself, only had a str8 in my hands for about a year a half, I am and have been VERY greatful to all the seniors on this site, Lynn A. included, for puting up will all[I assume] tedious beginers questions. I just wanted to take this thread and opurtunity to say thank you for all your patients and willingness to help me out, and if any of my ranter has been inapropreite I'm just here to say I'm sorry and that I will and have spent a lot of time in the SRP WIKI to save as much research time as possible.
If I've trespassed I will endever to as better questions in the future.

Thanks again to all you good 'Senior's' out there!!

tinkersd of SRP!

Hey crew new and old.

First off it is easy to spot I am new to this forum, but not new to all forums, I own two and moderate several(bodybuilding forums). Does this make me any less a newbie to this board? NOT AT ALL! This also does not mean I know anything more than the average joe schmoe off of the street. I came here to read and learn and to also ask questions as I expect my newbies to do on my board. I would rather they get the correct info from me then to spend a year screwing themselves up.

I do know as a senior over the years you hear the same questions over and over but like I tell everyone on my board.. if we didnt cover the same stuff we would have two pages, after all believe it or not there isnt much to picking up a weight an putting it back down.


I have said it before, SRP has the best group of senior, mentor, and mods I have EVER come across on any internet Forum and to boot they are super knowledgeable.

BeBerlin I hate to say this to a senior member of this board.. but tough. I am sorry I may have asked a repetitive question on one hand but very glad I did on the other. StuBear has provided me links to enough info that I dont need to scour this board.. I can just click right to it.. I am very grateful for all of the help I have gotten.

So as with every new year resolution.. my board gets an onslaught of newbies that dont know a darn thing.. but think watching "biggest loser" gives them expertise.. You pros here at SRP get the same newbies that think they know everything about shaving because of sweeny todd.


THanks again guys for all your help and I hope as to not irritate any of you in the future.. but I am still askin questions.

so neener



Boog

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bmad

BeBerlin I hate to say this to a senior member of this board.. but tough.

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That is certainly one way of looking at what I said. Here is another:

1. Asking questions is good. It is what keeps a board alive.
2. Asking challenging questions is even better, because people love a challenge (we would not be here otherwise, would we, what with the ready availability of Mach 42s).
3. Asking a question that has been asked before can be a good thing, namely when it helps the more experienced members change their answer so that it becomes better to understand, or when it encourages the people in charge of the knowledge base to dis-ambiguise an article.
4. Barging into a social community of any type with unmanaged expectations, mutating into experts literally over night, then telling the senior members of said community that they have been doing things the wrong way all along, then pouting when being told off - now, that may not be the smartest thing to do.

I am not saying 4. is happening already. It would simply surprise me if it did not. In the meantime, here are some articles I found interesting with respect to some of the social dynamics of online communities:

• The Art of Community
• A Life Cycle Model of Virtual Communities
• Users' Influence on the Success of Online Communities
• Shedding Light on Lurkers in Online Communities
  
• An Empirical Study of Critical Mass and Online Community Survival
  

Regards,
Robin

Wow.. What an interesting conversation..

I see two different thought streams coming out of here, both of which are good and important..

The first being, new people are awesome.

The second being, new people are awesome.. How do we help them, and make sure they get what they need, and pull them into being a long term member?

The second is something that we work with all the time, and try and figure out and understand.. And thanks to Robin for posting those documents, some of them I haven't read.

To summarize, new people are awesome. And we want to do everything we can to help and support them in this new venture.

As a very green straight user, I want to thank all of the contributers to this forum. The new guys ask questions that many others are wondering as well. The veterans are a wealth of knowledge that truly make SRP what it is.

What I love most about SRP is that I can check out the site everyday and there are a ton of new posts and new topics/discussions going on. It's rare to find such an active forum, which keeps me coming back.

Thanks to all for making this the best place on the net!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dwessell

Wow.. What an interesting conversation..

I see two different thought streams coming out of here, both of which are good and important..

The first being, new people are awesome.

The second being, new people are awesome.. How do we help them, and make sure they get what they need, and pull them into being a long term member?

The second is something that we work with all the time, and try and figure out and understand.. And thanks to Robin for posting those documents, some of them I haven't read.

To summarize, new people are awesome. And we want to do everything we can to help and support them in this new venture.

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And let's not forget to laud us senior seniors too, and marvel that there are those who are still able to sit at a monitor long enough to key in some vital information for the new youth while not filling our laps with drool.

:beer2: