I think that the first thing I should have done when joining the forums and before making any posts should have written a little about myself, my interests etc. I will in due time as I am working one something to write up, other then a blank bio.
Before I joined the forums I joined a few model railroad facebook pages and I have enjoyed being on these groups as a contribtuing member.
However I decided to make my information other than my name anonymous as, I am conerned that being that many posts show modellers projects, layouts and progress on building them, new locomotives and bought purchases etc. I am concerned that by putting too much about yourself and what equipment you own, a skilled theif or robber could choose a next target to pick.
I am not suggesting that this could happen to you, but I am stuck between giving information about myself and interests to help others understand where I am coming from, while keeping anonymous. What could I do?
Do some serious model work and present it to us, instead of wasting your and our time with asking useless questions. Remember, this is a hobby forum and not a blabla social media club!
Well I’m afraid I dont have time to do serious (although what would be considered serious?) scale modeling at the moment other than some freight car kits I have amassed and am assembling at the moment, alomng with adding kadee couplers & metal wheelsets to replace their current plastic hook-horn couplers & plastc wheel sets, so all I can do is ask questions along with kit assembling for now, until I get to the skill level to do my PRR FG1 project.
I’m suprised you commented again, even after you said you would any future posts I make. But thanks for commenting again anyway.
Although wouldnt the forums be considered social media? We are socalizing online, both together and in private messaging about this hobby.
I would think layout tours and sales that post addresses on line have the most potential for theft.
I would simply post some areas of interest in your bio, if you wish–railroad, era, scale–and show pictures of your work or comment on threads as it suits you.
The crowd is edgy today. We have experience with other members who started off, full of ideas, without any follow through. First it was a heavyweight business car, a week later a layout in a shed (that didn’t exist) then with was something else.
Your bio states that your interests span the 1920’s to the present and 17 railroads. You’re not exactly a specialist.
I do belong to a forum, whose subject cannot be mention in this forum, where an introductory post is amost mandatory. No one uses their real name or address, but they are not hesitant to display pictures of what they own or what county they live in.
However there is no requirement for that, in this forum. People are free to post as much or as little as they want in their biography. I don’t think I have a bio and rarely look at the bio of others.
We have two people who are famous in the model railroad community and they post under their real names. Multiple others have youtube videos or blogs with extensive pictures of their collections.
It’s not something that people in this forum agonize over.
My bio section had stuff like my occupation and the name of the parakeet. My modeling is posted in the forum itself.
My biggest inspiration was Weekend Photo Fun. It made me a better modeler, as I posted stuff that I thought was “good enough” but then looked at the work of others and realized mine really wasn’t good enough, so I spent more time, learned and made it better.
I don’t post my real name, address, phone number or email. That’s common sense online these days.
I think targeted forums are just that, and social media are something different. I avoid Facebook and Twitter and those platforms.
That comes across, at least to me, as unnecessarily harsh…lots of folks here are here to ask questions and gain knowledge. We can choose to offer answers or ignore the request, but there’s no need to rebuke someone for their input or their questions.
And, if you think about it, yes, this is a version of social media, hopefully one that’s sociable, but also mostly interested in this hobby, in whatever part of the hobby which appeals to each individual. If you’re not interested in hearing what someone wants to say, simply look away.
I’m no Billy-Goat-Gruff, but I doan see no steenkin’ troll.
My avatar says everything that my username doesn’t. I model BNSF, UP, and the related roads represented in my avatar as well. And anything else you wanted to know you can pick up from my various posts. I’m an absurd rivet counter and I’m a big proponent of 3d printing in model railroading.
Hey Random, don’t sweat the grumpy old men. If you are legit and I have been nice I can be proud of my behavior, If you are a troll, I have tried to treat you with respect and kindness and there is no skin off my nose if doing so didn’t work out, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am a heathen through and through but some people really need to go to church![(-D]
I would post little about myself online if you want an opinion. Having RCMP members in the family and hearing their stories of how info is gathered means a low profile on that front for me.
My wife has in the past invited friends that she thought she new well through social media to stay with us when there has been a big dog show in town. After the third and final bad experience of having these people in our home, never again.
The RCMP speak to our school kids about Facebook and suggest that a friend is someone that has been to your home for a social visit, an aquaintance is just that and should warrant some caution as to what they should know about you and how much access they be given to your life until you get to know them. Its not perfect but a good starting point.
We get a pretty good idea of each of our interest on this forum by what gets said over a period of time and I don’t think many of us have a Bio posted. We all like to see pics of what people are doing both with the hobby or other matters that may be posted in the diner thread.
I suffered through the nasties like you are doing now when I joined because I decided to try out using foam for the first time (for me) you should see some of the PMs I got! Most of these guys are dead now and for some reason I only remember how nasty they were and not their great work.
I’m not afraid to have my real name known here. What’s that actually going to get someone?
My best friend, whom I’ve been friends with for 40 years, doesn;t know my SSN or bank account information, it’s not like I’d put that anywhere public. I’ve posted pictures of the inside of my basement, and one upstairs room where my workbench is - again, what is that going to get someone? I’m just not that paranoid, I guess. I don’t have a bio, but that’s because I hate talking about myself.
I have my web site linked (which has barely been updated, I’ve been posting all my construction updates here) and the email address I registered with is the one I use to sign up for anything that requires an email - I have a different one for friends and family.
Some may consider my method of just asking for something bad to happen - well, the ONLY time my credit card was ever compromised were both from physical in-person use - one I traced to a restaurant I went to, and the other to a taxi while I was in Vegas for work. Nothing ever through an online purchase, and I buy a LOT of stuff online.
Interesting I never got any real nasties for using foam - TWICE now. Maybe the first time, there were some out there fire concerns, but that was a long time ago that I started that layout. Just not doing it this time mainly due to needing to keep the deck thickness down, but I’ll still use plenty of it for landforms.
I see this reply the same way Wayne does. In fact, I would urge everyone who agrees with that post to educate themselves on what an ‘ad hominem’ is. I suggest this course of action because that’s exactly what the replying post constitutes. It’s the reason Wayne replied the way he did to that earlier post because that earlier post is neither warranted nor appropriate on our forum.
Just because someone’s ideas or offerings don’t meet with your favour isn’t a reason to attack the person. If you disagree, state your case in the form of a counter-argument where you point out how their facts are incorrect or how their results disagree with your own experience, not as a personal attack.
That was way back in 2006 and I don’t think it had still settled in for some as a product that should be used. I had read about it becoming a little more popular in mags and some MRR sites and thought why not? But then I always like to try new things.
I still like it, but the only change I would make is to put something more solid like spline or ply under the mainline. If you look at my pic below, if I were doing it over the spline would have carried on instead of butting up against the foam. The foam is great for yards and a spur line as it ads a little rock and roll to the track, but for the main, nyet.
Crandell, back in 2006 when I joined this forum, it was the first social media platform I had tried and was somewhat intimidated to the point where I was stumbling a bit (with the etiquette) as I tried out the social media waters. I needed help with some things I was unsure about and you offered kindness and encouragement. Also, you did the title as moderator proud. Thankyou.
I prefer to keep my personal info private. I’ve heard too many stories of people who had just enough info about themselves online for someone to start harrassing them in real life. Only a small number of people around here have learned my real name through private messages, and I like to keep it that way.[:)]
These don’t seem like troll posts to me. There’s a lot to this hobby, and sometimes it’s easier to ask others in the hobby directly instead of trying to figure out how to sort through 1,329,566 Google results. Isn’t turning someone away or shunning them because they have a lot of questions kind of the opposite of how a forum is supposed to work?
I’ve actually been labeled as a troll before (off-topic of MRRing, by the way). I was having problems with a graphics card, so I joined the card manufacturer’s forum to get some help and suggestions. My posts kept disappearing for some reason, so I was getting frustrated and asked why my posts were getting deleted. As it turns out, there was an actual troll flagging all of my posts and others for removal, and once that was cleared up and my posts were restored, I put up an apology for my frustration. The response from the members? It was essentially “Whatever, we won’t miss you. Idiot.” That, and they never even answered my question.
So please, to the ones criticizing all the questions and saying “stop wasting our time,” try not to come off as angry elitists looking down on those who may know less than yourselves about the hobby and haven’t yet been able to make grand accomplishments. I don’t want this forum to become like that other one that gave me the boot. For some, a forum like this is the only social interaction they can get for this hobby.
(Also, you’re not required to read the post or leave an answer, so the only one wasting your own time is you.)
