On being rude ...

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

Is anyone concerned that rude, sarcastic, or otherwise off-putting responses may drive students away from CD? I know I've had students tell me they avoid CD because "everyone is mean" after they've lurked for a bit...

That is a problem with any online community. Over time, unwritten rules of behavior develop and when new members arrive, they are held to standards that they don't understand.

It is easy to be blindsided by a terse response to a question that you thought was pertinent but within the community has been answered many times over.

It's easy as a long time community member to forget what it's like to not know the community's rules. CD does a pretty good job informing new users with the sticky posts but as an "older user" it's my responsibility to be gentle with anyone who has a post count under 10 and it's important for the new members to understand that lurking an learning the community before posting is a smart idea.