I've been making a habit of going back to the earliest posts to read what's been discussed before to make sure I'm not going over the same topics. And it also gives me an opportunity to chime in on a discussion that was started months before. Invariably someone new to the group adds a comment or two afterwards and has an opportunity to put their two cents in as well. Seems like a good practice but can also appear as though an old topic is being rehashed by a new member - but is actually that old topic being revisited.
When I am looking for information on a particular subject, the more "hits," I get, the more info I have to research. If I do a search, and only get one or two hits, generally I am disappointed. The more hits I get, the more potential for me to gather useful information.
Since most of us have been using the internet for close to 2 decades now, I'm fairly certain that most know what the term "troll," refers to. The troll's main motivation, is to create dissention, and then sit back and watch the fireworks. At it's core, it is very basic child like behavior.
Short of banning problem people, the quickest way to take the wind out of their sail, is to simply ignore them. If they cannot find a fire to pour gasoline on, they will move on and fish until they find the right group of people, that will provide the childish entertainment that satisfies their needs.
I remember as a kid, someone calling our house with harassing calls. When my mom spoke with the telephone company, their advice was to hang up immediately, if we wanted them to lose interest.
Hmm, I guess I am not cut out for forums. It is probably a good thing that I stay away from social media, normally. I did not realize that it is that important to people that there are not duplicates or similar posts. I thought they exist to help people or just for stimulating conversation, friendly banter, whatever. Do people really care about how many "badges","points", "ranks", "friends" or whatever they aqquire in a virtual world? Apparently this forum stuff is some kind of contest? If someone NEEDS forum "friends" WOW. Now I am not against starting up friendly conversational relationships on forums mind you, but to rag someone about duplicate post......you're killing me. There IS more to life.....really.
Badges, points, and the like are a popular tool these days to encourage users to participate and have some kind of reward for doing so. It's not just limited to forums, either. At my old job, they implemented a similar "gamification" system to their training system to encourage their employees to stay on top of their training, as well as gain bragging rights. I'm a gamer, and I while I get the appeal, it doesn't mean much to me.
As for people who make new topics over finding older topics about the same subject, it doesn't bother me like it used to. As a moderator on a forum about ten years ago, it would get on my nerves, but I've mellowed over the subject. I'd rather have a friendly, encouraging atmosphere, rather than crack down on rules over something that should be fun. I wouldn't want to be the person to run off a new piper and scare them away from pipes from my elitist attitude. That's how you lose a constant flux of new users and have a forum full of an old guard that slowly fades over time. I've seen it happen, and don't want to repeat past mistakes.
@RockyMountainBriar I've been an Owner/Moderator for a number of horror related Yahoo groups like Creature Features and The Secret Cinema both of which were established to pay homage to those old Universal Classic Monster Movies of the 30s' & 40s', cheesy sci-fi flicks from the 50s' & 60s', and 70s' Grindhouse cult classics. But we also keep members abreast of what's new on the horizon. And when a group has been around for 10 years or better - and the bulk of the conversation is on movies from the 30s' thru 70s' - it's safe to assume you'll touch on topics previously discussed ad nausea. But with so many new members joining because they too share the same passion for the old movies, the absolute worst thing you can do upon their arrival is give them grief over a topic they bring up because it's already been discussed in the past. Right out of the gate you've managed to alienate that new member and make them less inclined to join in on 'any' discussion - let alone start a new topic for fear of being called out again. No one wants to be a member of a hostile group with little patience for newcomers. The best way to blow-up a bridge between generations is by having old farts sitting in rocking chairs complain about the youngsters asking the same old dumb questions, instead of instilling their collective wisdom as a kindred spirit and friendly mentor to a receptive newbie who is all fired-up about becoming a member of the pipe culture.
I've been pretty lucky to have arrived at The Pipeline when I did because from my very first post I've been treated with the upmost respect and find the members to be very cordial, helpful, and quite knowledgeable without coming across as an arrogant know-it-all. Either the person or persons this original post was intended for have left or been weeded out or were taken to task ... I'm not sure ... but that problem doesn't seem to presently exist, so I don't think you have anything to fear about being chastised for asking a simple question that may have come up before. Nor should you assume you're not cut-out for this particular forum. That would be a mistake. Fellow Pipers one and all are welcome to this forum.
Since I've been here if a topic comes up that's been previously discussed you'll get answers to your question - and others newbies may chime in as well who may not have seen the original post - and it's been my experience that the person who wrote the original topic might add to the discussion by referring you to the archive where you'll find additional useful information from that original discussion.
@PappyJoe your comment on etiquette was just savage (Even though it was a joke)! A few other comments of members venting about people "b******g" and multiple alike forums. Although this has been one of the most formal forums I've ever been apart of, besides the "Shits & Giggles" Thread, a little venting is a good thing. As long as it is not mean or derogatory to our other members. When I first came onto this site I read as many threads as I could; not knowing that there are multiple alike subjects. I think that it's a great idea to revisit said subjects in a different manner.
If anyone is feeling salty, I'll make a thread for that!
If the topic of a conversation were to be discussed only once the productivity where I work would go up exponentially. Even Guy Lafleur would get sick of talking about Hockey so much!
@PappyJoe I've been starting to notice that! Haha I wish I had a chance to see those guys down there! Their shop looks great from the videos I've seen!
I really enjoy going through some of the old discussions, and admit to having re-activated a few. Along the way, I encountered a URL by our friend @thebadgerpiper that I've found interesting and enjoyable. https://thebadgerpiper.wordpress.com/ Take a look; I think you'll enjoy it.
This thread was started when this was a pretty small forum, and it was really easy to find out what discussions had been started. (As a forum grows,of course, that's much more difficult.) When a new member joins a new forum, announces that it is important to him to get a fancy title, and then proceeds to start a whole bunch of threads,somebody might make a wisecrack. That's what caused this thread to be started.
I kind of doubt that Jud, I looked for the thread I started and couldn't find the answer I needed so I started a new thread asking a specific set of questions, got my answer along with some rude comments but that is water under the bridge so let it go and lets move on. I let this drop to the back for a reason, I wanted to move on because I had my answers, as for some posts and comments they are fun as for others they help others as for rude ones they do nothing but show stupidity and school yard crap that needs to stay out of a pipe smoking community.
Comments
When I am looking for information on a particular subject, the more "hits," I get, the more info I have to research. If I do a search, and only get one or two hits, generally I am disappointed. The more hits I get, the more potential for me to gather useful information.
Since most of us have been using the internet for close to 2 decades now, I'm fairly certain that most know what the term "troll," refers to. The troll's main motivation, is to create dissention, and then sit back and watch the fireworks. At it's core, it is very basic child like behavior.
Short of banning problem people, the quickest way to take the wind out of their sail, is to simply ignore them. If they cannot find a fire to pour gasoline on, they will move on and fish until they find the right group of people, that will provide the childish entertainment that satisfies their needs.
I remember as a kid, someone calling our house with harassing calls. When my mom spoke with the telephone company, their advice was to hang up immediately, if we wanted them to lose interest.
Guess what? It worked.
I don't mind it, it's happened to me both ways and it doesn't shake me up too much. We're all here for the fun mostly.
I don't remember where I read it but a perfect society should have only two laws.
1. You should not bother anybody.
2 You should not be easily bothered.
As for people who make new topics over finding older topics about the same subject, it doesn't bother me like it used to. As a moderator on a forum about ten years ago, it would get on my nerves, but I've mellowed over the subject. I'd rather have a friendly, encouraging atmosphere, rather than crack down on rules over something that should be fun. I wouldn't want to be the person to run off a new piper and scare them away from pipes from my elitist attitude. That's how you lose a constant flux of new users and have a forum full of an old guard that slowly fades over time. I've seen it happen, and don't want to repeat past mistakes.
@RockyMountainBriar I've been an Owner/Moderator for a number of horror related Yahoo groups like Creature Features and The Secret Cinema both of which were established to pay homage to those old Universal Classic Monster Movies of the 30s' & 40s', cheesy sci-fi flicks from the 50s' & 60s', and 70s' Grindhouse cult classics. But we also keep members abreast of what's new on the horizon. And when a group has been around for 10 years or better - and the bulk of the conversation is on movies from the 30s' thru 70s' - it's safe to assume you'll touch on topics previously discussed ad nausea. But with so many new members joining because they too share the same passion for the old movies, the absolute worst thing you can do upon their arrival is give them grief over a topic they bring up because it's already been discussed in the past. Right out of the gate you've managed to alienate that new member and make them less inclined to join in on 'any' discussion - let alone start a new topic for fear of being called out again. No one wants to be a member of a hostile group with little patience for newcomers. The best way to blow-up a bridge between generations is by having old farts sitting in rocking chairs complain about the youngsters asking the same old dumb questions, instead of instilling their collective wisdom as a kindred spirit and friendly mentor to a receptive newbie who is all fired-up about becoming a member of the pipe culture.
I've been pretty lucky to have arrived at The Pipeline when I did because from my very first post I've been treated with the upmost respect and find the members to be very cordial, helpful, and quite knowledgeable without coming across as an arrogant know-it-all. Either the person or persons this original post was intended for have left or been weeded out or were taken to task ... I'm not sure ... but that problem doesn't seem to presently exist, so I don't think you have anything to fear about being chastised for asking a simple question that may have come up before. Nor should you assume you're not cut-out for this particular forum. That would be a mistake. Fellow Pipers one and all are welcome to this forum.
Since I've been here if a topic comes up that's been previously discussed you'll get answers to your question - and others newbies may chime in as well who may not have seen the original post - and it's been my experience that the person who wrote the original topic might add to the discussion by referring you to the archive where you'll find additional useful information from that original discussion.