help or criticize "newbies"

[Duckie26]

Other issues arise when the OP asks a question without doing any research either on the internet in general or this site in particular and they curt or short, precise answers, depending on how they perceive them. Is it always fair to the OP? Probably not, but it's good manners to research a topic before asking the question to avoid redundancy. Just like it's good manners to read a whole thread before posting.

 

As somebody who is familiar with the workings of message boards, I can understand your point. I know how to search. I know how to research.

 

But say it was Grandma, who isn't very internet savvy and has never been on a message board before. And she finds her way here and has some questions about a cruise. They don't know how to search and it took them all day just to figure out how to post. Is it fair to jump on them for asking a question that has been asked 100 times before?

 

Is it fair to expect somebody to read a thread that may be 100 pages long before they post if have something they want to contribute, even if it HAS been said before?

 

As a member of any message board I find it good manners to be polite to everyone and if you can't say something nice, than don't say anything at all.

[LemurCat]

Google and yahoo are going to lead you here.. to CA or to CM

 

The search function here does not work very well and will lead you into another world.. lol

 

And again, I disagree. But then again, I'm used to using the VBulletin Board system and know the quirks of the search feature (like searching for posts instead of topics, using the sub-menus, etc.). But then again, I pretty much know the quirks in most of the board systems. I've just been online that long. And these search features are actually much more user-friendly then they were in 1992.

 

Also there is a FAQ section here in the 2nd top tool bar..

 

And it's very and specific to each forum. In a perfect world, in which Mach had nothing better to do, there would be a Carnival-specific FAQ that covered everything from smuggling to Early Saver to Who Is John Heald? I know this is a massive, sprawling community it covers a lot of group. And it's not a knock against the admins and mods here. But a girl can dream, right? :D

[trock]

And again, I disagree. But then again, I'm used to using the VBulletin Board system and know the quirks of the search feature (like searching for posts instead of topics, using the sub-menus, etc.). But then again, I pretty much know the quirks in most of the board systems. I've just been online that long. And these search features are actually much more user-friendly then they were in 1992.

 

 

As i have also.. this particular one just seems to be down more often than not..

 

 

And it's very and specific to each forum. In a perfect world, in which Mach had nothing better to do, there would be a Carnival-specific FAQ that covered everything from smuggling to Early Saver to Who Is John Heald? I know this is a massive, sprawling community it covers a lot of group. And it's not a knock against the admins and mods here. But a girl can dream, right? :D

 

 

I agree completely!

[MrPete]

Just so I can add another to my post count, and trade them in for S&H green stamps, remember there's ALSO an ignore feature.

 

There are a handful of useless posters on these boards lately that you can just make DISAPPEAR! Take advantage!

 

And the ones who can't see this message have already engaged theirs! :D

[UpstateCruizer]

Google and yahoo are going to lead you here.. to CA or to CM

 

The search function here does not work very well and will lead you into another world.. lol

 

Also there is a FAQ section here in the 2nd top tool bar..

 

Unfortunately that Faq section just explains what Cruise Critic is how to post etc.

 

I think the FAQ that Lemur Cat was referring to are the ones that answer specific frequently asked questions that pertain to the board you are on. Ex would be "What beverages are included with your cruise fare?" Those type of questions that you may not see spelled out in the cruise contract but still would like more information on.

 

I agree in the few years since I've joined here there's been alot more "troll" finger pointing and general rantings towards posters who may not share the exact same cruise experience as someone else did. For those that are new if they choose to stick around they will learn pretty fast which posters flock to controvery and fuel the fires and which posters are there to offer assistance.

 

One of my favorite boards when I first came here was the air section. I learned so much over there and it has made me a wiser airline passenger. I rarely go there anymore as the "experts" can be brutal now.

 

Perhaps this board is becoming more like that because of the number of "experts" that we have over here too. :confused:

[Kurbanfan]

Well, I don't agree with you on that.

 

Alot of people on here are not Internet savvy as some........nor do they have the time to search every single question they might have.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Google and yahoo are going to lead you here.. to CA or to CM

 

The search function here does not work very well and will lead you into another world.. lol

 

Also there is a FAQ section here in the 2nd top tool bar..

 

The search function sucks big time on here IMO........

[thoneycu]

The thing that makes me go bonkers is when people make bizarre assumptions about a person based on a post. A recent example is the post from a woman asking how to tell her husband she booked a cruise when she knows he would be angry because she has serious financial obligations. She was called everything everything from irresponsible to a bad parent to an abused spouse to a troll and everything in between, and I can't even go into the head of household rant :mad: I will admit the question made me roll my eyes, and I should have moved on without reading the responses, but I had time on my hands - lol. I was highly offended by a number of the posts and typed out a few responses, but then common sense intervened and I DELETED WITHOUT POSTING. More people should try that instead of adding fuel to a fire or being just plain nasty. If I posted every response I started to type, I too would be in the 10,000 post club, but I prefer my posts to have some redeeming value.

 

Oh, and another suggestion - Don't Drink & Post! Been there, done that - not pretty ;)

 

Great post! LMAO

 

Some questions people ask here are... odd (I won't say stupid because that's not nice). I really don't understand when people ask "will I like X"" or "should I do Y or Z?" or any other question that is completely predicated on the OP's personal preferences. WE DON'T KNOW YOU! How in the world do we know what you will like? I can understand wanting to know other people's opinions, but in that case, pose the question in such a way that you are asking them what THEY like, rather than what you would like...

 

Or, better yet, the questions like "How should I tell my husband/wife/child/friend something?" really make me :confused:. Those are YOUR personal relationship dynamics! Why in the world would you expect strangers to have better insight than you do?! I just don't respond to those kinds of question.

 

I agree.

[LemurCat]

Advising someone to use the search feature or research on their own is hardly the same thing as helping them. If someone doesn't want to answer a question or actually provide any assistance, they have the option to skip a post entirely.

 

Please point out to me where I suggested directing people to the search function instead of answering their question. I suggested people try to use the function before asking, yes. But that's not the same thing of saying "You know there's a search function, right?"

[fllady]

I so agree, this is one reason I don't visit as I used to do. I try to be helpful only if I know the answer, if not try to post some web pages fto help others, but have gotten the nasty gram from the CC board, you would think after 5000, I would know better but sometimes we act without thinking. I also have gotten very good information from the boards. Its too bad a few have to ruin it for others and BTW the search option doesn't always work.

[LemurCat]

As somebody who is familiar with the workings of message boards, I can understand your point. I know how to search. I know how to research.

 

But say it was Grandma, who isn't very internet savvy and has never been on a message board before. And she finds her way here and has some questions about a cruise. They don't know how to search and it took them all day just to figure out how to post. Is it fair to jump on them for asking a question that has been asked 100 times before?

 

Would you like to wager a bet as to how many of our posters are Grandma and aren't internet savvy enough to find the answer with a simple scan of the first three pages of threads? ;) This isn't 2000 anymore. That excuse simply doesn't fly, at least not for me. The internet is no longer the scary, complicated, magic box it was in 1995.

 

Is it fair to expect somebody to read a thread that may be 100 pages long before they post if have something they want to contribute, even if it HAS been said before?

 

Well, yes. It is. Unless they've posted already and are looking at specific replies to their own post. It tends to cut down on the Brush Fire Threads we get here ... you know, the issues already been stomped out but then someone finds something from page 3 that's been answered or beat to death and they kick up the sparks again.

 

As a member of any message board I find it good manners to be polite to everyone and if you can't say something nice, than don't say anything at all.

 

And my mother always told me to the tell the truth, and it's not always nice.

[djwood24]

I was directed to this board researching my first cruise.

Since then I come and go...still drawn to see the entertainment of flaming people who ask questions that "they should know the answers to" or "smoking kills"....

I have met some really nice people on this board and even booked another cruise to go on with them.

To those who are "new" I guess you just have to ignore the people who know it all and wait for the friendly poster who will point you in the right direction.

 

Do not let the nasty people stop you from asking questions to make your cruise experience better...then they win.

[trock]

Unfortunately that Faq section just explains what Cruise Critic is how to post etc.

 

I think the FAQ that Lemur Cat was referring to are the ones that answer specific frequently asked questions that pertain to the board you are on. Ex would be "What beverages are included with your cruise fare?" Those type of questions that you may not see spelled out in the cruise contract but still would like more information on.

 

I agree in the few years since I've joined here there's been alot more "troll" finger pointing and general rantings towards posters who may not share the exact same cruise experience as someone else did. For those that are new if they choose to stick around they will learn pretty fast which posters flock to controvery and fuel the fires and which posters are there to offer assistance.

 

One of my favorite boards when I first came here was the air section. I learned so much over there and it has made me a wiser airline passenger. I rarely go there anymore as the "experts" can be brutal now.

 

Perhaps this board is becoming more like that because of the number of "experts" that we have over here too. :confused:

 

Hi Betty

I agree but Carnival. com has this sort of FAQ section.. The FAQ on CC will help someone new learn to navigate it.. and for some people that is still a stretch..:)

 

Alot of people on here are not Internet savvy as some........nor do they have the time to search every single question they might have.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The search function sucks big time on here IMO........

COMPLETELY USELESS and when it does work you get a hit of 100s of irrelevant posts.. at least that has been my experience:)

[figs]

Naw, it's not an internet-wide phenomenon. Sure, there are nasty boards, and nice boards, but most of the other moderated boards I post on are much friendlier than CC has been lately. I agree that it's really gotten out of hand.

 

I've only been around, what, 2 years? And I've seen a sharp decline in the friendliness of posts here. Bunch of people have turned into curmudgeonly old "Get off my lawn, you little whipper-snapper!!!" types. Any new person is shot down by nature of having a low posting number, and any "stupid" questions are viciously attacked. Sex assaults-at-sea threads blame the girls walking alone. Tipping threads attack certain ethnicities. Proper clothing threads call people white trash for their attire. I don't remember it being that bad two years ago, but maybe I've just been around long enough for the rose-colored shades to disappear. Meh. :confused:

[trock]

Would you like to wager a bet as to how many of our posters are Grandma and aren't internet savvy enough to find the answer with a simple scan of the first three pages of threads? ;) This isn't 2000 anymore. That excuse simply doesn't fly, at least not for me. The internet is no longer the scary, complicated, magic box it was in 1995.

 

quote]

 

 

Yes for you maybe at 30 yrs old.. there are many people.. who are twice your age and look and act young but will still ask if they have to turn the cd over to hear the other side... ;):p

[LemurCat]

Alot of people on here are not Internet savvy as some........nor do they have the time to search every single question they might have.........

 

Translation: They don't want to do the work themselves and want to be spoon-fed information. ;) I hope they understand that when they rely on the group-think dynamic of the internet they are opening themselves up to relying on bad information. In the words the late Ronald Reagan, "trust, but verify".

 

The search function sucks big time on here IMO........

 

It's severly lacking in intuition, but that's pretty standard for VBulletin. We're no longer in the age of wildcards. Be grateful for that.

[MrPete]

I have NOT had any problems with SEARCH since it was announced it was fixed.

[trock]

I have NOT had any problems with SEARCH since it was announced it was fixed.

 

 

BUT do you turn over your cds?:p

[figs]

Would you like to wager a bet as to how many of our posters are Grandma and aren't internet savvy enough to find the answer with a simple scan of the first three pages of threads? ;) This isn't 2000 anymore. That excuse simply doesn't fly, at least not for me. The internet is no longer the scary, complicated, magic box it was in 1995.

 

quote]

 

 

Yes for you maybe at 30 yrs old.. there are many people.. who are twice your age and look and act young but will still ask if they have to turn the cd over to hear the other side... ;):p

 

Agreed. I post here frequently for help with my dad and stepmom's cruises - my Mom posts here on her own, she's net-savvy. But my other set of 'rents still have.....gasp....DIAL-UP, and it's hard for them to get online regularly. There are still areas of the US that don't have good net access, so you have to understand how hard it would be for them to post. If they didn't have me, they'd be one of those "annoying posters". Because it would take them, literally, years to access the info on a site like this.

[Kurbanfan]

Translation: They don't want to do the work themselves and want to be spoon-fed information. ;) I hope they understand that when they rely on the group-think dynamic of the internet they are opening themselves up to relying on bad information. In the words the late Ronald Reagan, "trust, but verify".

 

 

 

 

Well you are correct we do disagree.......and I have to say by your comments.......this is why newbies don't like to post a question on here.......and I certainly can't blame them........

[MrPete]

BUT do you turn over your cds?:p

 

No, just my 3PM's. :D

 

OT: DD and I were in the basement recently, and I was showing her my old turntable from my rack system. There was also a pile of 45's, and the top one was "Do They Know It's Christmas". Being she knew the song, I picked it up to show it to her. She looked at it, and then asked how many songs were on it.

 

When I said two, her eyes opened WIDE!

[LemurCat]

I agree in the few years since I've joined here there's been alot more "troll" finger pointing and general rantings towards posters who may not share the exact same cruise experience as someone else did. For those that are new if they choose to stick around they will learn pretty fast which posters flock to controvery and fuel the fires and which posters are there to offer assistance.

 

Yes, the indiscriminate use of the term "troll" is quite annoying. Trolling is actually an art. People simply don't understand that. A good troll is pretty much a message board performance artist. They have a schtick. They provide entertainment for those who are wise to them. They should be distinguished from one-hit-wonders who post an on-topic thread and then take their ball and go home when they don't the response they want.

[tess2cruz]

I'm glad this was brought up. I too have found so much valuable information here but I am more hesitant to post because I don't feel "welcome" here or I'm afraid that one of my questions may be deemed "stupid". I'll just continue to search various topics for my answers and if I can't find an answer, I'll hope that it is eventually answered.

 

I am no stranger to message boards. I am an administrator of a fairly large board for a NY Times best selling author and I've been a moderator for an NBC board for one of their hit TV shows. From my experience, there IS more hostility on this board than I have seen on other message boards.

 

The atmosphere here won't keep me from lurking or reading, but I am not likely to post much or join any of the "Crazy Cruises" that are organized.

 

Just an FYI, group cruise threads in general, and the above referenced thread in particular are as a rule the least hostile threads of all.

[LUV THE SEA]

Thank goodness whenever I have had a question everyone has shared their opinions/facts politely and were very helpful. I thought the reason for this board was to help one another and I have helped several who ask questions on several issues as well. That is exactly what I use Cruise Crtic for is to gleen information that could be helpful to me and others with questions. I cannnot do posts everyday like some do but that doesn't make me stupid...and as far as searching or reading...you miss things once in a while some posts go so far off base that you can't find something after reading 5 pages ..so it is easier to ask...but once again that is why I thought this board was here...to be of help...to ask a "friend." We don't call a friend or an aquaintance stupid if they called you with a question. I think some might be flattered that they thought to ask you of your opinion.Well I think if we treated everyone on the board as a friend with a question rather than as a faceless individual that you may never meet...the boards would be a lot better...just a newbies perspective.

[LemurCat]

Well you are correct we do disagree.......and I have to say by your comments.......this is why newbies don't like to post a question on here.......and I certainly can't blame them........

 

Really? That's disappointing. Please show me where I have ever gone out of my way to tell off a new comer for not researching. Just because I believe people *should* do it doesn't mean I *expect* them to do it.

[MrPete]

I've been a moderator for an NBC board for one of their hit TV shows.

 

NBC has a hit TV show?

 

j/k :D