lost valuable members due to "newbish" questions

Hello I'm sure you are aware of sort of a spike in newb or easy searched questions. I've personally noticed we have losted some very good members such as janrocks ps2menace and mikeismad i have contact with some of these people still they say they want to come back but there are to many snotty noobs now i was wondering what you can do to change this aka bring down the noob leval if you like i have some ideas to share on what could be done

 

They should know that a site like this is going to get new people signed up almost daily. They come here looking for answers. We were all newbies at one time, including the ones that left. Suppose good people left when they were asking their newbie questions? They may not have gotten to be as good as they are now!

It's not just this forum either. All forums have new people that refuse to use the search feature. Searching is work! They'd rather just ask the question, and get it answered now, instead of spending a lot of time searching through a lot of threads and posts.

There are a lot of people that join forums, ask a question, get their answer, and you never see them again. I have never done that, because I like the interaction of forums. There's always a lot of stuff, about different subjects, going on at forums. If want want an enjoyable read, here at these forums, that has nothing to do with burning dvds or cds, go to the "All Other Topics" forum, and find the "Dumpster Diving" thread, and read it. A good time had by all.

The ones that left should know how it is with newbies, and get over it, or just ignore them, if they can't handle it! Or stay away...... it's their loss!

 

members have been coming and going since AD was first born. as the site grows, more idiots will pop up, as 3/4 of the world's population is retarded, and those are the idiots that rape the internet with their stupidity. that's life.

 

The problem is obvious really.
It's not the n00bs who cause the problems.. they are usually asking pretty clearly about something basic that they have obviously done some reading about, got stuck.. read some more and got confused.
We can tell those from the really annoying ones who are just too plain lazy and ignorant to even look what the menu buttons in an application do.

Then there comes the crunch.. I see it a lot in the very professional sites I lurk. there is the cult of thick.. It's not the n00b poster again who is the problem.. It's the people who seem to think they are owed an answer immediately to something that a google search finds the answer to in less that 5 seconds. then they get all high and mighty when they are put straight about it.. It's very clearly stated in the rules here "use search before posting ANYTHING"

As to what is wrong with aD it's very simple.. the know nothings who hide behind the title addict thinking it gives them some authority to pull people up and call people liars by editing posts when caught. Now I don't tend to use the buggy quote function.. but I can and will start using it and timing and dating the quote with screenshots if needed.
the way I see it is this.. When I started out on t'internet (actually a little before there was such a thing really) it wasn't uncommon to get burned fingers by asking a stupid question.. not a question coming from a lack of understanding, but a question which is so blatantly obviously from a failure to READ THE F*C*ING MANUAL!!. I suppose that's becaues these days the internet is filled with immature adolescent males.. most of whom seem to think because their parents have always given them everything they wanted (threw a tantrum to get) immediately that the rest of the world will behave the same. NOT TRUE! I'm a parent and my kids don't expect anything as a god given right. They have to earn it themselves.. same as I did, be that toys, computers or knowledge. I believe that questions are important, but only educated ones.. not retarded "help me cos I'm too lazy to look for myself" whining.
Ponder this.. Being given an education is a privilege. having the access to information to educate yourself is a right..or is it?
comments?

 

Couldnt Word it better.

Amen. I rest my case.

 

If you don't think someone deserves an answer, don't answer it; simple as. So what if they bitch and moan, if no one listens or reacts, then they might as well not bother posting anyway.

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Nothing has to be done about it, as Aus said, "that's life".

I still think aD should bring in a policy where:

1. Registration is closed.
2. A bigger, impartial mod team is put together.
3. A mass clean out of the sh!t is made
4. An invite only system is brought in for a 3 month period.
5. Registration is re-opened.

 

as in the past, jack, i do now agree with that plan.

 

i agree with jack ;-)

 

Thanks ^^

But why of course, Jack's always right! He also talks about himself in the third person wayyyy too much ;-)

 

nah, jack's just a moron. it's cool, though. he's a moron in a cool way.

 

I feel that same way about you Brandon, s'all good xP

 

deadlove has good points too its good for us to express our oppion every once in awhile i agree i dont mind noobs but people who disrespect other members i just dont respond to

 

No problem

 

I agree.

 

Everybody who joins a forum are useually looking
For instant help ie telly gone off box blew up
They dont bother with intros or reading stickys
They just want a quick fix and off
But all deserve a level of respect
Imyself will help anybody new or old
But if they get stroppy just drop them like a hot Potato
No need to get involved in Conflict with them
Its thereloss
And onto the next forum they will go
Well thats wot i did any ways LOL ..............paul

 

I take a different approach:

I like to help all who ask a question, no matter how simple. Why? Because I have had things that I did not understand, and reading the manual, or searching and "finding the answer" didn't help me because I just didn't know what I was reading. Some things concerning the information on this site can get very technical. To someone that is new to this site, or just introduced to the subject matter, it could get very confusing.

We all think different. So, saying the same thing, in a different way, may help someone understand better.

 

Sorry.. I just assume ownership of a computer and access to the internet demands some modicum of intelligence.. Or isn't that taught these days?

My point.. yup there is one..

I see stupidity and lazyness all the time in my work.. You can show somebody how to do something over and over and over again and they will never get it.
Walking a stupid person through something also doesn't help.. it works the once and then the next time you are back at square one.
I am a qualified adult trainer so I know the score well on this. It's about levels of competency and changing the way people approach a problem. Pointedly refusing to help and leaving them sitting in a void doesn't help anybody.. they just go off and hassle somebody else until either they get (un)lucky and encounter a member who likes spouting the same stale 10000000th identical answer comes along, or they get told politely but firmly to f**k off and RTFM!!

The real solution is by changing very slightly the way the person with the problem looks at, and attempts to solve the issue they are having. Nothing like a few pointers what to look for and the location of the parts of the notes to read to really teach a person to understand more about the issue, and the problem solving process needed to take to solve it.
If you have a large spreading pool of water on the kitchen floor do you
a.. turn off the water and call a plumber
b.. post pleading "help me I'm a noob" rubbish on the internet
c.. have a quick look at where the water is.. check to see if you can locate where it is coming from, or narrow down possible sources for it.. and then remedy the problem if it is within your capabilities with available tools to do so.

The internet is a tool for information.. it is a tool to be used if you need a fix to a problem. It isn't and never will be a replacement for basic common sense. I try to teach people how to use the available tools.. I don't do the job for them unless they are paying me to do it.. usually people who will pay are fully capable of fixing it themselves given the info and tools.. they just rather have somebody else do it for reasons of time. I bet you could fix your car given the manual and tools, but maybe you don't fancy getting oily.. see where I'm coming from here? Knowing a little more about a problem can save it happening again, and teach the user the ""how and why"" of a process..
A large part of the problems here is down to the repeated "my car refuses to start.. help me" type posts.. with no more info than that about what and how and why... Damn . there was a post last wek with a computer not starting that went on for 3 pages before somebody suggested to check there was a power supply to the unit FFS!!!

I rest my case.. too many "experts".. not enough thinking.

 

Very well put!