Welcome the Newbies

[jarowe]

When I first joined, I never really posted. In fact, in six months or so, this is my third, maybe fourth post. I was just here to collect information, as I was just starting out it FIRST and didn't think I had very much to offer. Which, seems to be the point of CD, collecting information from those who've already done something, then passing on what you have learned. However, there was another reason I didn't post either- I was afraid. For the number of times I've seen people getting yelled at, reprimanded, or otherwise shamed for doing something that seemed pretty harmless, I didn't want to make that mistake. I love FIRST, and I don't want to say or do something that will cast me in a negative light in front of some of FIRST's most influential people. It wasn't until members of my team insisted I should post more that I actually made a post or two. But, after reading this thread, I feel better.

When going through the fundrasing threads, I found something I wanted to comment on, but, it was started last summer, and finished then as well. I wasn't sure whether to post on it, or start a new thread. I believe Matt Krass already mentioned this as well, that just because the conversation no longer is one of the twenty or so recent threads, does not make it old news or irrelevant. What if the new thought provides a solution to a problem? FIRST is constantly growing in size, and as new generations step forward, new ideas and perspectives are ultimatly going to come with them. I think it a bit hypocritical to say "search before you post," and at the same time, "don't bring back old threads."

[spears312]

I agree with your point 100%. I can honestly say I have not received a negative rep point yet, but I am always edgy and really cautious about what I post. I find that it is often intimidating to start posting on CD, especially if you don't already know some more popular posters. I remember that when I first joined, I felt like I was just an insignificant poster, and I could imagine that if I ever did get a negative reputation point, I probably would have been scared away. I'm glad someone was brave enough to bring up this topic.

[santosh]

Originally Posted by Matt Krass

And when a threads been dead for six months, sometimes reviving it is more likely to get you yelled at then starting a new one. And just because it was discussed once doesn't mean everyone got their say in. New people, inactive ones turned active, there can be a lot of new perspectives that can help. So I see no reason for every topic to only be discussable once.

Those are my $0.02, if it seems brash I apologize, I just want to make sure my point isn't diluted.

I cant agree more. I made a post in a thread that was maybe a year or 2 old, but I didn't really check for dates or anything like that. I got hit with negative rep points from 3 diffrent people within the hour. And yes, What if someone had a discussion 3 years ago on say what type of support your club recieves from your school and how can you gain more support. I mean I was here this year, If I had something that would hlp this topic even though it is kinda old doesnt mean I cant put my 2 cents in because if I say something, others will see that and maybe get something out of it.

If someone is complaining about me posting in something that is old, then don't read it. Maybe that sounds a little mean, but that is no reason to bash some one who has never used this forum before. Much of my team has also had similiar run ins with this kind of stuff and is scared of coming back.

[JVN]

Arefin,
This seems like a pretty valid concern, it can certainly be very intimidating to come into this environment. It is great to see new people come and join, and we should certainly welcome them. But we also have a responsibility to educate them. I would never negative rep someone for posting a thread that has been posted before, that is a trivial "offense"...

However, there are worse offenses...
This also happens to be a place with a great number of "really smart people". Engineers and professionals with a large amount of experience deign to post here and share their wisdom. As my father so frequently told me when I was younger "Listen with your ears, not with your mouth." It is important that all younger members learn to listen, rather than jumping in and offerring opinions and advice that may not be well founded, or worse yet... posting inflamatory accusations or attacks.

When I was a new member back during the 2001 season, I was an idiot. Reading some of my posts from back then makes me cringe. Eventually I learned, and I got better.
Now I can say with authority, that in four years I will look back and say "Wow, I was an idiot in 2005".

Okay... no more ranting... short and sweet:
There are obviously two sides to this...
New members must be welcomed, but they must also learn the ways of this wonderful community.
Veterans need to make sure that in their zeal to educate new members, they do not scare them away.

$.02
John

edit:
Some would argue that even today, I am an idiot.
No names mentioned...
/edit.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

We could give some polite suggestions using the Neutral rep option.

You still have to be careful with that. I have given neutral rep to someone and even started the comment with "Just a suggestion," but I got back a PM which indicated the user was rather annoyed at having received "negative" reputation. Although I did PM back and explain that it was neutral and didn't effect them either way, I never heard back from them and was afraid I had driven them away from CD. Fortunately, they're still around.

We should try to give a grace period to new comers. If you see someone who joined 15 minutes ago make a new thread when the very same topic was sitting at the bottom of the portal list, just calmly and politely point it out to them and tell them not only to search, but how to do that. As I remember, things like the forums list and even the somewhat more obvious search link were rather hard to find when I first joined. Posting on a new forum, especially one with as many forums and extras as CD can be confusing for a while. Give the inexperienced a chance.

On the other hand, if a person has been making the same mistakes for months, then it might be justified to use a negative rep to try to drive your point home.

Originally Posted by JBotAlan

I'm just curious, what is your criteria for giving good rep? What would 'wow' you enough?

P.S. (I'm pretty new) how do you go about giving rep?

Anything insightful, helpful, etc. Anyone who helps me almost always gets positive. (That means reply to my threads. )

Seriously though, I don't really have a criteria for positive. I rarely give out negative rep. I've only given out 4 negatives on my last 4 pages or rep given and they've all been to the spam bots which occasionally pop up. The last real negative I gave out was in 2004 to 2 people who were insultingly negative of another person's idea.

P.S. Interesting thread, Arefin.

[Jay H 237]

This thread brings up a very good point. Maybe it should be made a "Sticky" here or in the "Forum Help, Comments, Suggestions" area?

Just a thought.

[kjhobin]

This has sorta happened to me but I only got OM.

I had just created my sig and I went to post. 5 min later I got a PM saying my sig was over 200 px. so I shortened it. Then I got another PM. and I kept shorting it and shoting it (by removing 2 lines of text and moveing the images around)needless to say, i finaly stoped getting messages.

so... Make sure your sig is under 200 px!

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by JBotAlan

I'm just curious, what is your criteria for giving good rep? What would 'wow' you enough?

P.S. (I'm pretty new) how do you go about giving rep?

When I come in the forum and start reading, I prefer to see posts where I learn things from. Once I start reading, I check for the quality and the content of the post. Is it useful? Is this post going to help others? I do give out reps in chit chat foum, depending on how funny, entertaining the post is.

... Thanks everyone for your input.

[sanddrag]

I would agree with most things said above but I'm going to add in my slightly different viewpoint so this isn't just one sided story. I would like everyone to read my previous post here to see my perspective on this topic.

I regard Chief Delphi as some of the most efficient forums on the net. It would be a shame if they couldn't stay that way, because efficiency is the key to success. Duplicate threads, posting twice instead of editing, posting in the wrong forum, not searching, and poor grammar and spelling all contribute to inefficiency.

[mhayon]

That happened to me. I was afraid to post for a while, and constantly checking myself. That probably isn't the best situation for a Rookie Team Leader to be in. I really hope this thread at least gets one person to be more patient with the people on here, because you could scare some really worthwhile FIRSTers out of FIRST.

[ChrisH]

This is a great thread. It should be repeated again about a week after Kickoff. About then tempers will be flaring about all these "disrespectful newbies who don't know the rules". It happens every year. Admittedly that is also a very stressful time of year, for both this forum and the individuals on it. So maybe there is some excuse, but not much of one.

I remember a few years back, 2001 to be exact, before many of you were here. I made one of my first posts in a thread that had a raging debate about how electric cars would save the world, or not (Note: this was pre-Segway). I just could not let some of the mis-information in the thread go unchallenged. The esteemed Dr Joe replied with something to the effect of "Your reply made me want to kiss my monitor". At that point I was hooked.

I don't post so much anymore. Being on the West Coast, somebody usually says what I was going to better than I can before I even read the post. So nowadays I only come out of the woodwork when I really think something needs to be said, or I can contribute to a technical discussion.

But I remember what a powerful thing that enthusiastic greeting was. Maybe we could get better results by encouraging good behavior than by slamming people with negative rep for what are obvious rookie mistakes.

PS I've handed out more rep in this thread than I have for a long time, ALL of it positive, all to relative newbies. The new people who have commented will be worth listening to in the future ...

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by ChrisH

I remember a few years back, 2001 to be exact, before many of you were here. I made one of my first posts in a thread that had a raging debate about how electric cars would save the world, or not (Note: this was pre-Segway). I just could not let some of the mis-information in the thread go unchallenged. The esteemed Dr Joe replied with something to the effect of "Your reply made me want to kiss my monitor". At that point I was hooked.

I remember that thread like it was yesterday. Some great discussion took place. For all those who are interested, it can be found here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=13124

[teamtestbot]

Quick question...

What is this "rep" business and does it affect your account/forum operation at all? Or is it some sort of social benchmark, like "popularity" at schools? I see alot of posts about "giving" positive and negative reputations which makes me suspicious about the actual nature of it.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by teamtestbot

What is this "rep" business

The green, gray, or red dots on the right side of the bar along the top of each post give you an idea about how, um, insightful (for a lack of a better word) each person is.

You can give a person rep on a post you like by clicking the scale icon () which is on the right side of the post. (near the rep images) You can see the rep you've received by going to your user cp.

Originally Posted by teamtestbot

does it affect your account/forum operation at all?

No.

Originally Posted by teamtestbot

Or is it some sort of social benchmark, like "popularity" at schools? I see alot of posts about "giving" positive and negative reputations which makes me suspicious about the actual nature of it.

The fact that the rep(utation) system is fairly opinionated causes all the discussions about it. A lot of it is a popularity contest, but you also have to remember that the people who are popular here are almost always the ones who are helpful.

Good question.

[teamtestbot]

Sounds a bit subjective. But if it's a good measure of a person's ability to help others, then it's acceptable.

Regardless, I would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that getting caught up in popularity contests is destructive and frivolous. My advice to newbies who are worried about people lowering their 'rep'....is to not worry about it, go on your way, and be a good forum member.