Si Jia
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 8:51 am Post subject: FORUM Newbie 101 |
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Joining an online community is no different from entering a real world community, said Associate Professor Randolph Kluver
"If you are joining a new company, the logical thing to do is to lie low and observe the office politics."
Here are some tips for those new to forums:
>Read the forum regulations posted by the moderator
>Surf the forum to get an idea of the topics championed, as well as taboo topics.
>Pay attention to the writing style - whether it is casual or formal.
>Check if the forum is moderated - actively moderated forums helps limit personal attacks.
If you are new to tech mambo-jumbo and head for the many online forums to learn from those in the know, then put on a "thick skin" before you charge in. It's essential because you can cause a "flame war" or an online spat with forum regulars, some of whom have absolutely no patience with newbies.
A flame war is as regular as once every month on local technology website Hardwarezone. At a local pet forum Doggiesite, such incidents occur every three months.
According to Associate Professor Randolph Kluver, this newbie bashing is "universal behaviour" at most online forums.
Respecting the regulars
"It occurs because regulars feel that this space belongs to them, and that the newbie isn't respecting to them by taking some time to understand the culture of the forum."
Flame wars happen because these newbies are clueless.
"Every forum has a certain slant and etiquette, and this is usually championed by a core group of regulars. So when a newbie jumps in without first understanding this, the regulars - sometimes up to 10 at a time, would respond with criticisms."
Besides cluelessness, another issue that sparks the flames is laziness. Some newbies expect to be spoon-fed answers - some were too lazy to check if the questions being asked had already been answered again and again in the forum. That irritates the regulars.
Controlling the Flame
When enough regulars flame the newbie, "he usually begins to feel that he is being picked on and gets defensive...things almost always go downhill from there.."
Some regulars don't realise that their critique could come out harsher than they had intended. Multiply this by the number of people giving them, it can get very bad on the receiving end.
At this point, unless a moderator steps in to "lock" the thread - that is to prevent any new posts from being added to it - a vicious flame war is all but unavoidable.
Both newbies and regulars should "play nice", emphasizing only when it gets personal.
If flame wars get too often, the forum will get a bad reputation for being mean to newbies.
Glossary
THREAD: A new topic started
POST: A comment written by a user and "posted" on a thread
NICK: The nickname used by the user
MODERATOR: The forums, administrator, who ensures discussions do not get out of hand
LOCK: A thread that is frozen by the moderator, so that nobody else can add comments to it
STICKY: A thread permanently highlighted on the forum
FLAME: A post critiquing another user or his postings
FORUM NAZI: Slang for over-zealous moderators
LURK/LURKER: Reading the forum but not posting on it
BUMP: Posting in an existing thread to make it more visible, or "bumping" it to the top of the forum |
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