Things to Keep in Mind When Posing Questions and Responses on AGN
- Thread starter Ezana4CE
- Start date
I agree, people that suggest that should use it themselves and then reference the relevant previous thread to the current thread if the information is pertinent and well articulated. Personally I don't want to type an essay more than once to cover the same subject. Sometimes it's nice to d.r.y (don't repeat yourself). Certainly when information remains unchanged.
-Matt
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My point also is that many times a post that has been covered was done some time prior and the industry changes pretty quickly. I found that out asking about a regulator a few months back. And if people are terrified of repeat threads, eventually there won't be any new material if everyone just uses the search function. Takes the fun out of a forum.
I agree. Some years back, I had seen a burning laser video. I had to have one... until I saw the price tag. So I decided to look around and see if there were other options. There were. Build one yourself. I found a forum dedicated to such and read for several days, trying to do my due diligence in learning before asking questions.
However... what I quickly learned after trying to do such and then posing what I thought were good questions is that I didnt know WHAT questions to ask. I was immediately bombarded with 'search is your friend' and similar. It was quite annoying and yes... there were some instances where that much of the information was available. Somewhere... but perhaps not in the context I was looking for, etc. In the end, I finally found a couple forum members who were kind enough to look past my 'dumb' questions and help and I ended up reaching my goal.
This gave me a new appreciation for new folks asking questions on the various airgun forums I frequented (I'm now only active here). Sure, it gets tiring at times to rehash the same questions, but it keeps us entertained if nothing else. Same as with the 'newbie' questions are those that have also cropped up time and time again that despite being played out over and over (HW97 vs TX200) or the ridiculous 'what airgun for SHTF' (dont get me started on that horse poope), those type questions ALWAYS drum up conversation.
So as played out, ridiculous, or seemingly dumb (granted, some really are dumb) questions that may crop up, there usually is something of value to be had in them, even if it's just giving folks an opportunity to engage in conversation on a forum, which I guess is the whole point.
Yes but at least you tried and made the effort. Too few do that and are flat lazy.
Sadly too few in this age of instant gratification bother looking for the info themselves and want it spoon fed to them. I've already seen New posts here where their answer was a couple topics down on the same page, but they were lazy and didn't bother looking.
It's quite easy searching and sorting by date. Informing yourself with the information at hand. Yes if it's older, by all means ask if it's still pertinent or if something has changed. But to be lazy and not make any effort is inexcusable. Not to mention now it dilutes information in multiple threads vs together in one.
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Not salty at all but your ignorance is bliss.
Especially encouraging lazy people not trying to do any research for themselves and was it spoon fed to them.
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You are correct there. Laziness and entitlement is absolutely at pandemic levels these days. I stated that it gave me a new appreciation for newbies asking, but that's not to say that is a 'personal pass' for the really dumb or played out questions.
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One of my personal pet peeves is, folks ask a fair question but neglect to state what they are shooting, gun, caliber and purpose, so we get to slowly dig out the answers to give them the most accurate answer to help them.
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In a way I wish there was a newbies guide to walk them through things like this. explaining why it matters etc.show them the search feature and how to sort by date. Show them the subsections and why it's helpful to use the correct one.
Sadly few would likely read it as it would require effort.
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Your assertion that people don't use the search function because of laziness is asinine at best. It takes much more effort to start a new thread, title it and type out a cogent question than to uSe tHe SeArCH fEaTuRe.
People start threads because we come here to converse, partake and learn, not scrounge through posts of yesterday's past.
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@TheBeardedGunsmith Obviously people come to AGN for various reasons. Threads are started for various reasons.
@MysticalDragon @TheBeardedGunsmith I think many folks encounter more than enough petty bickering at work, at home, in traffic, and while out and about. Why bring it here? At some point I would think that one, or both of you, should see that you aren’t going to change the other’s mind in an ongoing pissing contest spanning multiple threads. Your positions seem clear to me.
Kind of like the lack of effort put into reading the forum rules before throwing a fit about not being able to PM to a classified ad 3 minutes after making an account. Those posts crack me up!
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You don't have to like particular members, but you should respect your fellow community members, not only is it in the rules, its just a common courtesy that people seem to be lacking in droves. Challenging someones stance/opinion should be encouraged, but when someone loses traction in an argument they commonly start to launch personal insults, which is inappropriate and only diminishes the strength to your counterpoints.
Almost need a disclaimer one has to accept prior to hitting "Post Reply".
"Exercise common sense and be considerate towards your fellow users. The diversity of opinion and intelligent civil discourse is encouraged; by the same token: rude, lewd, vulgar, obscene, flaming, baiting, trolling, hateful, threatening, insulting, violent, or slanderous content will not be tolerated. You may challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully."
-Matt
Almost need a disclaimer one has to accept prior to hitting "Post Reply".
"Exercise common sense and be considerate towards your fellow users. The diversity of opinion and intelligent civil discourse is encouraged; by the same token: rude, lewd, vulgar, obscene, flaming, baiting, trolling, hateful, threatening, insulting, violent, or slanderous content will not be tolerated. You may challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully."
-Matt
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Heck, I'm just here for the pretty pictures! Man, there are some gorgeous airguns documented here.
OK, on a more serious and on topic note, I was the admin/moderator of a forum for about 5 years. Not related to airguns or the shooting sports, but very similar to AGN in structure and user traffic. I was surprised at how many new members there were who had never even looked at a forum, let alone join one and interact with others. Yes, that search bar up there in the corner is your friend, but there were new people who genuinely didn't know there was such a thing beyond the Google search bar on their main browser page. There are more people than you would think who simply have no idea of forum etiquette simply because they've never been on or participated in one before.
We got a fair amount of repeated common questions, and I had to learn to understand that some people just didn't know they could do a basic search, let alone a more targeted search to find multiple existing threads on the subject of their inquiry. Many times it wasn't laziness, but just inexperience. I had to exercise a bit a patience, and I encouraged everyone to have patience as well with first offenders, and ask everyone to politely and briefly explain the search function to new members. Nearly all learned from this and were appreciative. There were few repeat offenders. There were also people who just wanted to interact with others, and would start a new thread on an often discussed subject. I always try to understand that everyone is different in their reasons for posting.
Anyway, not judging anyone, just passing on what I've experienced in the past.
OK, on a more serious and on topic note, I was the admin/moderator of a forum for about 5 years. Not related to airguns or the shooting sports, but very similar to AGN in structure and user traffic. I was surprised at how many new members there were who had never even looked at a forum, let alone join one and interact with others. Yes, that search bar up there in the corner is your friend, but there were new people who genuinely didn't know there was such a thing beyond the Google search bar on their main browser page. There are more people than you would think who simply have no idea of forum etiquette simply because they've never been on or participated in one before.
We got a fair amount of repeated common questions, and I had to learn to understand that some people just didn't know they could do a basic search, let alone a more targeted search to find multiple existing threads on the subject of their inquiry. Many times it wasn't laziness, but just inexperience. I had to exercise a bit a patience, and I encouraged everyone to have patience as well with first offenders, and ask everyone to politely and briefly explain the search function to new members. Nearly all learned from this and were appreciative. There were few repeat offenders. There were also people who just wanted to interact with others, and would start a new thread on an often discussed subject. I always try to understand that everyone is different in their reasons for posting.
Anyway, not judging anyone, just passing on what I've experienced in the past.
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