The Way People Respond.

[buttercupbabe078]

Sometimes I have concerns about the manner in which some people respond to posts. They are a bit abrupt with reply's they post especially to newbies.
Loadsa people come on here for advice on how to make things better for their fish and they get abrupt answers that are basically slating them.
Me a few times have read a newbies post and thought if I had had a reply like then I wouldn't dare come back on and ask another question.
I know everybody on here is really helpful but people can't see the smile on our faces when we are answering a question.
xxxx

 

[Lateral Line]

It's the internet. Many people, behind their keyboards, annonymous, and safe bahave differently then they would in real life. Fact of the medium, not much you can do about it.

 

[Tolak]

It's the internet. Many people, behind their keyboards, annonymous, and safe bahave differently then they would in real life. Fact of the medium, not much you can do about it.

This is the truth, there is also the other side, folks like me who are generally much more well behaved & well spoken online than in real life. Keying in responses gives you much more time to think.

 

[Underwurlde]

Also, it is v. difficult to convey emotion. Remember: There is always two ways to read a letter (so my English teacher used to say).

I have fallen fowl of this many times, esp if reader is in a bad mood at the time.

Also remember that the poster does NOT know what you know, so assumptions are based on this, which also unnecessarily winds perople up

Andy

 

[Bignose]

Also, it is v. difficult to convey emotion. Remember: There is always two ways to read a letter (so my English teacher used to say).

This statement cannot be overemphasized. The written word is bare naked and does not convey the tone in which it was written. Sure, there are few helpful hints, like ? and !, but in general, the same sentence can be read many, many different ways -- with respect to Andy's English teacher but I'd say many more than just 2.

When in any smidgen of doubt, err on the side of caution. There are times when anger or vitriol is unmistakable, but usually it is just short matter-of-fact reply.

 

[rdd1952]

I agree totally concerning tone and emotion. I usually try to go back and reread my posts just to make sure they can't be taken the wrong way and if I think they can, I will generally change them. In certain situations though, I think a stern reply is warranted, especially if good advice has been given but seems to be ignored by the person asking for advice.

One prime example of this happened to me a while back when I quoted something someone said about the doing water changes, basically agreeing with them but adding to it. The person I quoted came back at me for questioning their fishkeeping abilitlies and methods. I tried in later posts to explain what I was trying to do but I think they still left mad at what I had said.

So if it can be taken both ways, I meant it the good way.

 

[jazz298]

Does the "newbie" and other statuses mean how long you've been on the site, and/or how many posts you've put? or is there a way to classify and change your own status somewhere that I don't know about.
Because if so, then just because someone is new to the site and are labeled a newbie, doesnt mean they are a newbie to the hobby..I by far, am not a newbie to the hobby, nor am I a professional. But I AM new to the site.

 

[Tolak]

The newbie title is related to post count. It will automatically change when you hit 100 posts. You can customize it once you hit somewhere around 1250 posts.

The experienced aquarist joining this forum, and having the low post count & associated newbie title can be solved by adding a few comments about your tanks & experience in your sig.

 

[jazz298]

The newbie title is related to post count. It will automatically change when you hit 100 posts. You can customize it once you hit somewhere around 1250 posts.

The experienced aquarist joining this forum, and having the low post count & associated newbie title can be solved by adding a few comments about your tanks & experience in your sig.

Even so, people should not assume that someone with a newbie status does not know much, and respond like they are irritated (if this is the case when someone responds to a newbie status)

 

[Tolak]

The newbie title is related to post count. It will automatically change when you hit 100 posts. You can customize it once you hit somewhere around 1250 posts.

The experienced aquarist joining this forum, and having the low post count & associated newbie title can be solved by adding a few comments about your tanks & experience in your sig.

Even so, people should not assume that someone with a newbie status does not know much, and respond like they are irritated (if this is the case when someone responds to a newbie status)

I totally agree, and it is so easy to start a post with "Forgive me if I am telling you something you already know, as I do not know your experience level".


Also, if someone's topic or question irritates a person it is best that they don't respond, or read over their response before hitting the add reply button.

 

[Underwurlde]

Conversely, a high post count does not necessary mean an experienced fish keeper....

Andy

 

[Lateral Line]

Conversely, a high post count does not necessary mean an experienced fish keeper....

Absolutely. That is why posting in some of the non-hobby related parts of the board do not increase post count. We had a whole load of members with little or know fishkeeping ability get high post counts by posting rubbish in the off topic areas.

I don't remember where all the "breaks" are in the post count list, but there are quite a few. I think most people are aware that the label applies to the forum. There is no way the software can detect fish keeping ability/experience.

If I could devise a way for software to detect peoples abilities and skills by just having them enter a few details to register for a forum, I would become very VERY rich.

 

[Underwurlde]

It would be good if members could 'rate' another members post. Ranking or ability is then based on this and post count.

 

[BigC]

Conversely, a high post count does not necessary mean an experienced fish keeper....

100% correct.... take a look at some postings. Certain members just post for the hell of it to get their ratings up to make themselves look experienced. Time spent on the forum will soon educate and enable you to sort the wheat from the chaff. My main worry is in the emergency/diesease section (I believe a lot of fish are being unduly killed through mis-advice) where advice needs to be swift and concise, sometimes there is a lot of ill advice offered. Many a time I would personally be busting a gut to answer questions to members problems but have seen all the bunkum already offered as solutions and I back away, and I feel that if I offered this information it would get lost in the mix. Now here is the Holy Grail. Many, Many past members (educated aquarists not just fishkeepers) have emailed me regarding their concerns surrounding the forum idiots (for want of a better word) and those true aquarist members have long since gone from posting and replying.
I agree that there should be another ranking system which would go someway to sort the underlying problem. (something for the Mods to get their teeth into).
Personal experiences are always the best answers so look for them first before web-based replies.
As I said earlier stick around here long enough and you'll know who the real Gurus are.

 

[Lateral Line]

members could 'rate' another members post

We had that for a while at another forum I mod. Doesn't work. Apart from the obvious "you rate my posts and I'll rate yours" type side shows, we had people creating multiple accounts to rate their own posts etc. etc. (Think back to the problems to XotM competitions caused here).

A bigger problem is the people doing the rating may simply not recognise good advice. BigC is quite right above. There is an awful lot of bad advice being given out. Some members have a huge popular "fan base" because they chip into almost every thread with their advice. These people would get their ratings bumped, despite the fact that often what they have said is at least not helpful, and sometimes frankly lethal.

The next suggestion is usually that the mods or another group do the rating, but that creates an elite which many people resent.

If you want to have an open forum where everyone can give whatever advice they beliieve to be good, you have to accept that some, even a lot of it, is not going to be any good.