Newbies on this forum - rather long, and maybe comet-like ;) (Read 1169 times)

Here is the thing, many of us old farts have answered these questions at great length. And there do exist in-depth discussions out there that are fairly informative. Rather than expect forumites to rehash and rewrite all that, over and over, through the months and years, newbies probably should search. In many cases, the older posts and threads will be more informative than newer ones anyway. SRLopez, I have seen the shoe milage discussion get as ugly as the Boston Bandit discussion, again with no clear answers. Seemed to me like a good comet.

So olbies could consider being nice about pointing out search. I happen to be an old fart... a much older fart in internet terms than many folks here *AND* an old CR fart. If the old farts here truly want to make newbies feel welcome, they might consider having a popsicle before the snippy answers and the cryptic pictures. As for search, practically NOBODY... newbies and oldbies alike... utilize search as their default response. Search boxes are just about as invisible to the average user as ads. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. To change this will take a very long term effort by people who promote search in a positive, teaming manner.

As I said earlier, many people who post things that cause an uproar probably thought they were being funny, and sometimes forget that people won't always get the joke. This issue is as much about perceptions as it is about using a search function.

Agreed, and in that sense, I can be a troublemaker, because I tend to pop weird/obscure jokes into threads. I try not to do that in newbie threads unless the answers have already been provided and the thread has spiraled, but I don't do that well sometimes. Anyway, chiding newbies for asking questions is a behavior that can be adjusted fairly easily without changing the underlying message ("hi there, this question gets asked a lot. Start (here)") Trying to get people to not post their funny (to them) in jokes can be a harder thing to adjust, but it is totally a fair comment too. That's the problem with humor... someone will always NOT get the joke. As for FAQs and stickies. Both are fine. Too many stickies, though, is a huge problem because it plugs up the "area above the fold" (the top of the screen) and people miss the new stuff. Especially because responses to a sticky bump the thread on the master list in the forum page. This can get to be as annoying as having the same question posted again and again. If there's a sticky 1) there should be few and 2) they should be LOCKED so that they stay at the top but don't get bumped in the list.

Meh, I've formerly moderated a message board before, and you're going to have topics come back. You either merge them or let them be. New posters never seem to get the point that there's a handy-dandy search engine, so the "vets" need to either be tolerant to answer them again or avoid them altogether. I personally never really minded answering "old" subjects since it was still relevant at the time I was replying. The bottom line is that this is the internet. It's not srs bizznizz. Good post, Ann. And I have no clue why people who speak English as a second language that are of European descent always tell Americans they can't speak it well. You speak English better than some natives!

Here is the thing, many of us old farts have answered these questions at great length. And there do exist in-depth discussions out there that are fairly informative. Rather than expect forumites to rehash and rewrite all that, over and over, through the months and years, newbies probably should search. In many cases, the older posts and threads will be more informative than newer ones anyway.

I've been lurking here for the past month or so and have some thoughts on this from an "outsider's" perspective. As a newbie to running but not a newbie to internet forums I know and use the search function extensively. But for someone who wanders into a subforum that says "New to running? Come here to get help from more experienced runners." I'm not sure it's a fair assumption to make that they will know or care to search. Let's say I'm Kippy and I ask a very simple question about how many miles until I should replace my shoes and I get a three word response from you followed by an obscure inside joke and then the next several posts (except for JakeKnight's links) are a continuation of that inside joke. Am I going to want to ask another question? Probably not. Would I feel embarrassed and chastised? Certainly. I'd probably go somewhere else on the internet that was more welcoming. Bizarre (to a newbie) images and congratulatory back-slapping on your clever tangents would likely drive away the people you'd want posting in a Running 101 section. If it completely tires you and others here to deal with yet another rehash of "how often till I replace my shoes?" or "should I listen to music while I run?" then I'm going to say that you should skip over that thread instead of posting. Of course newbies should search. And I should floss my teeth daily but I don't. The other idea is to do what lot of forums have done. Create a sticky that says "Newbies look here first" and inside it remind people to use the search function and maybe even link to some threads that answer common questions people ask over and over. If this forum wants to welcome new people then be welcoming, no matter how inadvertently irritating a newbie might be. Help them stick around long enough and they'll figure out forum etiquette eventually.

OK, to further belabor this point. I searched. "How often to replace shoes". The first 3 threads were about superfeet or other insoles. The next thread was a thread about getting slower instead of faster and what is going on The 5th thread was on topic, but seemed kind of specific and if I was a newbie I might not know if that was meant to apply to everyone. 6th thread. More about what kind of shoe to buy (although if you arent in the LLR you wont see this) 7th specific to an injury..in the end not about shoes Finally the 8th thread gave me the answer i was looking for. AT least 4-5 of the other threads I would have had to open to figure out they werent what I was looking for. Seems like a lot of effort when in theory in a board for newbies I ought to be able to ask a simple question and get 1 or 2 decent answers from someone. This was a simple comet. A lot of other questions are not so simple. It is easy for the "old timers" to point to the appropriate good thread because we REMEMBER it .

We are busy but we want to help. So the question gets answered with a fully adequate 3 word response. I would have searched for "shoe miles" or "shoe milage" or "shoe lifespan".

We are busy but we want to help. So the question gets answered with a fully adequate 3 word response. I would have searched for "shoe miles" or "shoe milage" or "shoe lifespan".

And yes...I thought the 3 word reponse was adequate. You actually answered the question. Not always the case around here.

(perhaps that is why I am busy...and BTW, YOU just used an inside joke )

Cause I was talking to you