To the haters

[chronoaug]

I'm not missing the point. I understand it fine. I don't open a majority of the threads. I just understand how it can sometimes be annoying and a bit tedious for long term members who open the page hoping for a stimulating topic but find 5 new threads that have been answered a million times. Obviously, the key is to just start new good threads, but i can see pg2g's concern as a member who doesn't gain anything out of any of those threads.

I still try to help most the time as i said since i know the position, but don't blame people for using some of those threads just to **** around in. After all, it is a forum inhabited by people looking to have fun and kill time as much as it is one for fashion discussion.

 

[PG2G]

Yeah, but we don't come here to provide a service to the community.

 

[cldpsu]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

I'm not missing the point. I understand it fine. I don't open a majority of the threads. I just understand how it can sometimes be annoying and a bit tedious for long term members who open the page hoping for a stimulating topic but find 5 new threads that have been answered a million times. Obviously, the key is to just start new good threads, but i can see pg2g's concern as a member who doesn't gain anything out of any of those threads. I still try to help most the time as i said since i know the position, but don't blame people for using some of those threads just to **** around in. After all, it is a forum inhabited by people looking to have fun and kill time as much as it is one for fashion discussion.

Originally Posted by PG2G

Yeah, but we don't come here to provide a service to the community.
Well not every thread will have something for the long term member to gain nor should that member take this site so seriously. Provide a service to the community? You're some random guy on a forum talking about fashion. This place is insignificant. The world doesn't revolve around our fashionable intuition. I come here to look at some cool **** and get some advice. This forum should do the same for most. It shouldn't become a place to butcher people. It seems like the internet is an invitation to be an asshole because you can get away with it. I wonder if some of you anal people are this efficient in every other aspect of your lives

 

[chronoaug]

Man, so much for having civil conversations about things. My mistake. You're right, i forgot this is the internet where some people use it as "an invitation to be an asshole because [they] can get away with it"

 

[dusty]

Originally Posted by PG2G

Yeah, but we don't come here to provide a service to the community.

You don't think the mentality of a lot of these people is that they are taking it upon themselves to police the forum?

 

[akj27]

Originally Posted by vitaminc

Please use the god damn search button!
last I checked, this is a forum, not an archive.

 

[Surfrider]

Originally Posted by constant struggle

Sadly, I cannot agree, SUFU/SF were the first two forums I ever joined where you were belittled for making new topics of previous discussions... and I've been on lots and lots of forums...
With all due respect, I find it hard to understand how somebody who has "been on lots and lots of forums" is not aware of this most basic rule of forum etiquette. This is not a web forum convention, either; even in the earliest days of Usenet, it was considered poor form to ask questions that had been asked before, failing to use the search function. I've said it time and time and time again; before being allowed to post on internet fora, I think users should be required to read and understand "How to Ask Questions the Smart Way."

Originally Posted by chronoaug

Man, so much for having civil conversations about things. My mistake. You're right, i forgot this is the internet where some people use it as "an invitation to be an asshole because [they] can get away with it"
Penny Arcade stated it best, several years ago:

Originally Posted by dusty

You don't think the mentality of a lot of these people is that they are taking it upon themselves to police the forum?
They are, and they should; community standards aren't/shouldn't be maintained solely by administrators. They are/should be maintained by the community itself.

 

[whodini]

Well said in every respect, Surfrider.

It seems like the same people who complain about older members acting like assholes (your's truly) towards new people who ask a question that's been asked AND answered ad nauseum, usually on the same ******* page that they posted on, usually aren't the same people who end up helping. And I'll call it out: Dusty, when was the last time you helped someone on the "ask a question" or "jeans" thread? PG2G, who happens to feel exactly where I'm coming from, is one of the more vocal people on those threads. I doubt this is a coincidence.

People who've been around here long enough WANT to help. Personally, that's part of why I'm on this forum. I like being able to give someone the knowledge I've accrued from the time spent reading the threads; it feels good. It also feels good knowing that if I had some random question or needed advice there'd be several people on here more than happy to reciprocate this knowledge cycle. So we WANT to help and we WANT to make this forum more of an interactive encyclopedia that benefits everyone. We WANT to contribute.

SF isn't serious biznizz but holy **** is it irritating to see twenty "What jeans fit like Levi's" threads from people who care dick about the forum itself. THIS is where I make the distinction. They have a question? Ask Google. They have a question for us? Please read the rules and stickies, look over some of the newer threads, there's a search function if you need it, this is a community so please treat it as such, and welcome to the forum.

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by whodini

It seems like the same people who complain about older members acting like assholes (your's truly) towards new people who ask a question that's been asked AND answered ad naseum, usually on the same ******* page that they posted on, usually aren't the same people who end up helping. And I'll call it out: Dusty, when was the last time you helped someone on the "ask a question" or "jeans" thread? PG2G, who happens to feel exactly where I'm coming from, is one of the more vocal people on those threads. I doubt this is a coincidence.

 

[PG2G]

Haha, yeah. chronoaug posts in those threads all the damn time, but people in here are giving him ****.

Anyway, it is what it is. Not really worth arguing about.

 

[dusty]

Originally Posted by whodini

And I'll call it out: Dusty, when was the last time you helped someone on the "ask a question" or "jeans" thread?
That's a fair point, but I'm really not that knowledgeable about most of the things that are asked so I don't usually read those threads. I have like one pair of raw denim. Besides, what I'm most concerned about is not people telling users to put it in small questions, but people who are outrightly hostile to new users. Is it that hard to say "You can get them at Zappos. In the future please ask questions like this in the small questions thread" rather than "Oh my GOD, this has been answered like a THOUSAND TIMES, would you use the SEARCH function already!"? Whether or not you are helpful is a personal choice, but common courtesy should always be practiced. To reiterate, I'm not talking about you or PG2G, at least that I can remember.

 

[reprehensible]

Originally Posted by Surfrider

even in the earliest days of Usenet, it was considered poor form to ask questions that had been asked before, failing to use the search function.

Your actual point is correct, but in the earliest days of Usenet most servers only had archives from the fairly recent past. Thus, the FAQ. Searching a serious archive was only feasible after Dejanews started.

 

[datasupa]

Originally Posted by cldpsu

I just think it's silly to make such a big deal about this stuff. No one's time is so valuable that you can't scroll past a thread that bugs you.

And yet you can't scroll past the haters' posts that bug you, but must whine about it every single time? Hypocrisy #1.

Originally Posted by cldpsu

It seems like the internet is an invitation to be an asshole because you can get away with it.

I wonder if some of you anal people are this efficient in every other aspect of your lives
Using the excuse of bashing on assholes to be an even greater asshole yourself? Hypocrisy #2.

Originally Posted by dusty

You don't think the mentality of a lot of these people is that they are taking it upon themselves to police the forum?

What are you and cldpsu doing but 'policing the forum' whenever you criticize people who get annoyed by relentlessly stupid questions? Hypocrisy #3.

 

[brad-t]

Originally Posted by dusty

Besides, what I'm most concerned about is not people telling users to put it in small questions, but people who are outrightly hostile to new users. Is it that hard to say "You can get them at Zappos. In the future please ask questions like this in the small questions thread" rather than "Oh my GOD, this has been answered like a THOUSAND TIMES, would you use the SEARCH function already!".

This is the most important point of this thread. You can help educate new members and avoid instances with said members occuring in the future by doing this, or you can scare them off entirely by yelling at them.

 

[dusty]

Originally Posted by datasupa

What are you and cldpsu doing but 'policing the forum' whenever you criticize people who get annoyed by relentlessly stupid questions? Hypocrisy #3.
The "policing" is not what I take issue with; again, it's the rudeness. With the post you quoted, I was merely stating that I think most of the people with whom this thread is concerned are motivated by a desire to make the community better. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but I think the hostility is counterproductive.