azwing wrote:
I totally agree that in a perfect world, the above are a great ideal. However, the real world is full of people that don't or won't meet those expectations. Expecting every newcomer to meet those criteria and do their homework is very unrealistic. So, the response of some is to attack people because they don't meet the ideal standard, as opposed to simply answering or ignoring them.
Yes, I believe I said exactly the same thing a few threads of this nature back. So rather than rehash imperical observation, I posted the ideal. I agree with you fully, it is the ideal. To me, the ideal is the goal, not the 'method' of reaching it.
azwing wrote:
In my opinion, the real fault is the lack of an active Admin in the forum. If an Admin were active, then dumb questions would be answered with perhaps a short answer followed by, "See the Sticky" and "Thread Closed". Instead, the forum is a sort of quasi-self-policing entity where people attempt to enforce their own standards through their own methods.
Completely accurate. Then again, with that level of admin, some of the funnier things said would also be constrained so it's a double-edged sword.
If all of us, as a personal choice, stick with the 'ideal' posting behavior, it will rub off on all but the most inconsiderate of newbies. It sets the standard by which just reading a few threads tell a new poster how to behave. If the new poster comes in and doesn't read a darned thing and posts up "How do I...", I fully expect myself to whistle up North and say "Go get 'im boy!" However, if it's clear that the poster at least tried to follow good posting behavior, even 2 out of the four things I mentioned, then they just need a little polishing, some minor admonition, the right answer and as you said Az "thread closed". We need to agree to kill the thread (not just derail, but kill).
At that point, introducing new posters to the Alla world is just a maintenance procedure. It becomes "Clean up on Aisle 5" and we can all juggle that role around. If you don't feel like doing it, like you said Az, ignore it and someone else will. Or we can all clamor for better admin, or just ignore this entire issue and risk becoming bored because it's just all of us common posters and all the new blood is entirely scared away.