As most of you know, I am a frequent guest on this forum. I like the knowledge base and the informed answers to poster's questions. Some people here are well read, some are hands on and some a combination of both. A good mix.
A lot of us like to add a little levity to the site and some threads go way off track.
It doesn't bother me, in fact I am a participant. Some of us have even formed quasi friendships through our common interests of the 107 and trying to be witty.
What I wonder is if newcomers take this site seriously or if some could even be intimidated by our constant bantering. It was just this past week we managed to piss off a couple of posters. All harmless, in my opinion, misunderstandings happen all the time.
I'm just curious to know what the lurkers and new participants have as a first impression. I would hate to see this forum consist solely of 6 or 7 of us talking about the same old, same old.
An old friend of mine gave me this analogy about sales.
Sales is like a funnel. For every one sale that drips out the bottom you got to load up the top with ten more.
Is that actually happening here?
__________________
Quote:
"This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."
What I wonder is if newcomers take this site seriously or if some could even be intimidated by our constant bantering. It was just this past week we managed to piss off a couple of posters. All harmless, in my opinion, misunderstandings happen all the time.
Here's how I see it.
When I was looking for a place with lots of information, and lots of people who knew the answers to the questions I had, and - this is the important part - were willing to share those answers, I found many sites out there that had little bits of information, but none that had everything this place has. The banter and joking here is what made me comfortable enough to ask a question without worrying that someone was going to think I'm an idiot.
That levity isn't for everyone. Some people are all serious and just want to ask their question and get an answer and not have any discussion outside of that. That wouldn't work for me. I'm excited about having this car, and I want to talk about it. I'm also frustrated sometimes when I work on it and I want to vent about it. This place currently allows that. If the majority wants to keep everything on topic and only post in a question/answer format, that's fine and I can do that, but it wouldn't get as many new people, I don't think, and there wouldn't be as much information. I can think of several times when a casual side comment in a thread told me that an assumption I'd made (and hadn't asked about) was wrong.
A different version of this question came up right after I started here. One of my first posts was a response to it. Lots of different sites, lots of different tones, and people can gravitate to the one where they're most comfortable. Personally I think there are more people who want a little casual interaction. We certainly get a lot of newbies here. Some stick around and some don't. That's always the way.
__________________
When I die I want to go quietly, in my sleep, like Grandpa.
Not screaming, like the people in his car.
Well, I agree with everything you say, Scott. I too visit other sites and find this one the best fit. For me. The way it is currently.
I would, however, hate to see it turn into a country club where newcomers are tolerated but not fully accepted and are discouraged from asking, perhaps, a dumb question.
Ike and Ears probably have the highest ratio of useful information per sentence, but I've been told a couple of times that I helped someone. I wouldn't be here as much as I am to answer questions if I only got on here when I needed an answer to a question - I don't work on my car every day. So I wouldn't be here to answer questions. And one of the things that's nice about here is questions typically get answered quickly. That's going to do more to attract and keep viewers than anything else.
Standard disclaimer: Your mileage may vary, void where prohibited, some restrictions may apply, check with your local retailer for details.
I would, however, hate to see it turn into a country club where newcomers are tolerated but not fully accepted and are discouraged from asking, perhaps, a dumb question.
I do training at work, and one of the first things I tell people in a training is the old chestnut: The only stupid question is the one you don't ask. I know there are things on this car that I don't understand, and I don't hesitate to ask no matter how simple it might be to someone to knows. I knew tires, but I didn't have the first clue about offset until the thread in here when I got those wheels off the 300E. I'm still not clear on how it all works, but at least I now know there is such a thing as offset. I wouldn't if I hadn't been comfortable enough to post that I'd gotten the new wheels and had the (mostly off-topic) conversation that resulted.
I don't know. I'm a believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I don't think it's broken.
This thread was driven, primarily, by the two pissed off posters. So got to thinking that perhaps they are not the only two.
You are right...There are no stupid questions.......
Thinskinitis can be a truly debilitating condition. Sufferers generally find the cold, sometimes offhanded callousness of the web can exceed their comfort levels. It can also result in an inability to differentiate between said callousness and the aforementioned playful banter. However, the condition is reversible with the proper regimen of forum observance and banter recognition. Said therapy is even more useful as a pre-post preparatory course of action. All in all one's own predilections can be the primary causative factor in most examples of chronic inflammatory thinskinitis.
Dr. Dave
__________________ "I'm Slate Sanchez, and I'm about to BE the news...."
Linear Mode
