I’m sorry, but this is getting ridiculous. I’m tired of seeing topic names that aren’t even straight forward with what the poster wanted to say. I don’t like the whole, “Maybe if I make my post seem dramatic and prone to flamewars, more people will post in it!” mindset.
Another thing that’s been annoying me is the new yoyoers flooding the General section with ,“Help me! Help me! My life is at stake! I’m scared! ahh!”, and then the post would be about bearing removal or sleep time.
If everyone just quit replying to them then, eventually, people would figure it out. It’s kind of like a monkey trying to grab a piece of food and keeps getting electrocuted. He’ll keep doing it for a while but, soon enough, he will realize he needs to stop with the routine… Well, that’s kind of different since that would still be a form of positive reinforcement… If we stop replying, that would be negative reinforcement, since we are taking something away…
But honestly, can this even be stopped? All I can we do is help tell the people that do it. So they won’t do it again
Maybe if, when we click on these vague topics. In our reply, AFTER we answer there question. We can explain to the OP to not use vague topics. That way, the people he needs to reach, are. A title “sleep time help” will draw in people that have good sleep times, resulting in a quick answer. When an"I’m scared" title, simply makes people think it’s a thread about phobia’s.
Not trying to be rude, but is it possible we could have a kiddie section, where newer yoyoers can talk, and not clog up the boards with these kind of posts? That way, we can answer their questions in one place.
John is right about these people acting like their lives are in danger because they can remove a bearing, as well as the vague titles.
Recently, there’s been a few people doing this constantly, and half the time, it’s the same person, even after we ask them to post correctly. I understand if you’re brand new and are just learning the ropes, but after a while, you should know better. Like today, someone posted the same thread about their bearing 4 times. Sure, it was annoying, but he just joined. But some other people, with around 100 posts, do this time and time again, and it’s starting to get on a few people’s nerves by the looks of it.
I think some of it has to do with lack of writing skill in general, not always intentionally being vague. Not all of it is innocent, but some of it is. I honestly think that some people are just not good at being able to sum up their thoughts into one short thread title. I think it is taken for granted that this is easy, but depending on the age of the poster, and their experience writing, or the grade level they might be in at school, it is all very new to them.
Some of the titles are created as attention grabbers, but sometimes, I believe posters really have not acquired the writing skill to sum up their thoughts properly to a short phrase. Those of us who are annoyed have acquired the ability to extract a key phrase from the topic to be used as a thread title.
I agree that we have to help them along. It is difficult to do without seeming “rude.” In one thread, I remember someone told an OP that their title was vague, to which they responded, “well what else could I name it?” That was an eye opener, because that poster really did not know what better title might apply. I remember we all gave alternative titles as examples. But, in that instance, the vague title was not intentional.
For a person in this situation, they might need help with a stuck bearing…so from this they extracted “Help!.” While it is true that they need help, they have not considered that they need to target those with knowledge to help them. The way to target the right help, you have to put the specific type of help needed in the title, “My Bearing is Stuck, any Suggestions?,” would suffice.
Maybe a short guide to creating a proper thread title should be made. Then, when you see someone making vague titles, just link to that guide. It is better than repeating the same things to these posters over and over again. I made a guide about shipping yo-yos because I found myself repeating myself over and over with the same advice. It makes things easier to have something to link to.
I believe TA is getting right to the heart of the matter here. If I were to create one of these “vague topic” threads I’m certain TotalArtist and possibly a few more of my friends here might jump in and say “Geez Banjo, that read like it was written by a fifth grader.” And they would be right to do it. On the other hand if the OP is a fifth grader, well then they are simply doing what is to be expected. Something that contributes to this frustration as well is many times young people feel compelled to try to escalate the perception of appeal of their post with drama. I know I did that with my writing when I was young.
Forums can be a frustrating place to congregate and chat about stuff because unlike life in general where birds of a feather tend to flock together, here we are wading about is a societal soup of contributors from across the intellectual and demographic spectrum and that can make keeping the forum consistently interesting for all very challenging. (Not to mention the task of mucking through run-on sentences like that last one.) Frankly I’ll confess I find many of the threads initiated here dull and puerile. However much to my surprise these threads go on for pages with participation from many who feel encouraged to chime in. So apparently in reality the threads are not dull and puerile after all, I’m just a stodgy old goat hanging out with kids who are many times one forth my age. And that can be a very uncomfortable place to find oneself in which can then drive us to want to step up the cerebral level of the conversation.
It isn’t necessarily a bad thing when a child writes like he’s just a little kid. We all just want to jump on board, be respected members of the club and get the chance to be heard in place where “everyone knows your name and they’re always glad you came”.
This is one of the threads that made me realize that some people just don’t know. I think we all could have been more helpful than we were. I thought about it since then. :-\
Sigh Within the past 2-3 days, 4 or 5 threads have popped up in the General Section about bearing problems. Seriously, if you aren’t going to bother looking around the forum for an answer, at least post in the right spot… Eh, I think I’m just being sour. It’ll get better after a while, I guess, the whole wrong section thing. People will learn hopefully.
Alright, just warning you guys, this might come across as kind of messed up but I think it’s very well possible and maybe even a good idea, as I’ve heard of this before elasewhere.
I think there should be a section of the forum only accessible to users that have been registered for a certain amount of time (let’s say 6 months or a year maybe). Just like the General section but for users that have been registered for awhile and know the drill and know better than to post stuff like that. It’s not only something to look forward to as a new user but it can be rewarding. It can be a place where people can talk about yoyos and yoyo related things without all the clutter of the regular board and participate in actual stimulating discussion. Maybe there could even be an age limit set on it. But it would be a nice break from the regular boards. I would advise the moderation/administrative team to at least consider this as an option.
I’m not out to create something like the yoyo.gs forums at all, I just think it would be a really good idea.
I think this is a really good idea. But I do think that six months to a year is a little long. It should be a mix of things. Like if that thread were to unlock only after you had been registered for a month and had 100 posts. I don’t like the idea of an age restriction because people could easily lie about that. Also, I’m 12, and going into seventh grade (only one week left of summer :'() and I don’t think because of my age it is hard to follow some simple rules about where and how to post. I just think that many new people don’t follow the rules because they haven’t read them.
On that note, they could make a small paragraph of simple rules that you have to read before creating your account. Sort of like one of those super long pages that you have to agree to before installing anything, but it would be short enough so that people would actually read it. Basically a condensed version of this YoYoExpert Forum Rules - General Yo-Yo - YoYoExpert Forums. Then most newbies (I’m not very qualified to call someone that) would post in the right section.
No, I actually think that could work SR, but I don’t think it will ever be implemented. Most of these people posting in the wrong section have low post counts, and seem to be 10 years old. Even when you tell them to post in the right place, it goes in one ear, and out the other. You notice older/more mature posters know where to post or listen to instructions very well. Recently, people posting all these “HELP WHAT YOYO” or maybe “IM SO SCARED PLEASE HELP” in the General Section have started flooding the boards.
I agree with Matthew that an age limit may be harsh. There are many members mature beyond their years, and that would be unfair to them. For example, Matthew has a low post count, and is only 12, but he follows the rules well enough.