This is why a ‘welcoming tone’ even for apparently ‘dumb’ or ‘previously-answered’ questions is the right way the ‘regular posters’ should respond. It should not hurt if, while running the online searches or waiting to talk to someone at the club, you spool up the forum and ask the question here. At worst no one answers, or you have to endure a little banter. And at best we might give you information or insights you wouldn’t have gotten the ‘other ways’ – I suspect the hive-mind here is more extensive than any club’s, and representative of more types of education and experience. And perhaps easier than the SEO firehose of asking questions via Google or some other search engine…
I lurked for many months, perhaps longer. I was learning things, so I was happy.
Then I saw a question that no one had yet answered, that I felt able to answer, so I did.
Now I answer more, but there are others with more knowledge on most topics in here.
I find it’s hit and miss when it comes to the responses… Some really interesting questions sometimes only get a few answers, while some questions with really obvious answers get a sh*tload of responses, many not really on topic. Looking at the historical answers from here and other sources is often richer. And I like reading, so it’s not a problem. I should add that I tend to work on vintage stuff, so a lot of the answers in old posts are often more useful. But not always, new information does pop up, but because I read this forum on a regular basis, I’m usually “up to date” with the most recent
As I said in reply to another thread, I lurked for ten plus years after being hurt by some unkind comments made by a few. I must say, and I don’t remember who, someone replied, “Ignore them, they’re jerks.”
Aside from that, I don’t have a current layout and am unlikely to have one again. After five or so tries I’ve learned that I love building the benchwork, laying the track and getting it operational but then lose interest.
I do continue to love the hobby and looking at the progress and craftsmanship exhibited by many who come here.
Keep up the good work and I’ll keep lurking . . . and respond with a comment when I have something useful and non-controversial (I hope) to add.
Commenting on these Forums was more “dangerous” for sensitive souls decades ago, when there were some genuinely nasty and highly personal comments particularly posted on weekends when the moderators were not always on duty. I think that was pretty common across the spectrum of internet forums and chat rooms back then.
It really was a reign of terror there for a while.
I am reminded of a famous incident involving Abraham Lincoln. The night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address, a group of people and I think even a small band came to his hotel and he went to a window and waved. Someone called for a speech. He refused, saying something to the effect that “it is very important for a person in my position not to be heard to say something foolish.” A heckler in the crowd yelled “if he can help it.” Lincoln smiled and said “and often the only way to help it is to say nothing at all” and shut the window.
Dave Nelson
Wow, the benchwork and the tracks are probably what discourage most… My next layout will probably just be a shelf layout that goes around the room with pretty much only ballast, grass and pictures in the background. A few buildings at most.
I lurked without ever joining for a long time. I only joined when I had an issue and needed to vent and eventually ask for help on things. I don’t always have time to stay up to date on the various threads and usually when there is something I could provide input on, either someone else (usually a regular) posted something similar or the conversation moved on to something else.
The reason why I “lurk” is because most queries are answered by those with much more experience than I possess. As I gain skill and experience I will probably post more. Any questions that I myself have had I have found answers to by searching old topics. There is a great group of folks here and I feel privileged to glean knowledge from their experiences. The few posts I have made were in situations where my input may have been of value.
As I stated in another post, I used to spend time learking during break time and lunch while at work but now that I’m retired maybe I can speak up more. Most of the time I just feel that I learn more by “listening than talking” or someone else has said what I would have. With this Covid thing going on, it’s good to have some place to go and vist, even on line.
Ralph
I used to lurk out of fear that I had nothing to contribute. Offering suggestions was not easy but I realized that often, there are no perfect answers. It seems that what works for me might not for others, but perhaps it’s something to consider.
The value of posting is learning about something new.
Any examples of this behavour and why Mel? I was mistaken for a troll when I first joined this forum, when though I was just asking questions and getting used to using a forum, so I hope I am not an example of a lurker.
Sorry, I was lurking this afternoon and just seen this. Yep, Virtual Rail Fan, I know Henry enjoys them to.
Now, back to lurking. [swg]
Mike.
We might need to consider individual’s circumstances as well. Even those with a great deal of experience and who have a pretty nifty layout up and running might be exhausted by the time they crawl to their laptop or PC after whatever dinner they can cobble together, and they simply do not want to get embroiled in lengthy debates, or even to place themselves where they have to argue with someone for some reason. In a forum where there is healthy debate, threads get lengthy, sometimes a bit testy, and who needs to get into a 36 hour response cycle where you say several versions of, “Well, it worked for me?” I could see people “on the margin’s” of whatever current crisis is taking place struggling to keep up, let alone jumping into protracted discussions about the state of the hobby, or about our hosts’ software.
Online posts do not adequately convey tone.
I’m tired of certain model train forums where seemingly every single discussion devolves, and there are certain people who to me just exude stress, which I just don’t need.
So, whatever, I won’t be posting very much anymore anywhere. I may come on for a quick look, but…
John Mock
Many of the lurkers, like myself, are probably here to gather information. This site is a wealth of information. A simple search can usually answer any concern I may have. I don’t feel the need to chime in at every turn. Is lurking a problem of some sort?
Where to start… my posting tends to be seasonal, as in: when I’m on my winter break from work I tend to post more. Other times of the year its sporadic. Now and then. Months may go by and I’m just too busy. If I were retired or without younger kids I would be around more.
Secondly, I was out of the hobby for a loooooong time and have lots of questions and so I find myself reading more than commenting.
Thirdly, regarding “unkind responses”: yes, I have had them. It’s part of life and sometimes people have a bad day and make a snarky remark. I can live with that.
What was over-the-top disturbing to me was a forum member that last year took insane objection to the line of one of my posts and insulted me. Totally unnecessary.
I had simply shared something that I thought was humorous that other modelers would also get a laugh out of.
This particular person had apparently lost their sense of humor a long time ago (or their ability to live-and-let-live) and was outraged that I would try to inject humor into the hobby … because he didn’t find the same thing to be amusing; as if he alone were the arbiter of what is and isn’t worth a chuckle. [^o)]
Anyway, I had previously set up a Flickr account to share photos of my layout progress and within a day or two of this unpleasantness I was sent a message on Flickr that someone (don’t know who, but obviously from this forum) “liked” my Flickr account and wanted to link up. The page in question was loaded with all sorts of pornography. It was disgusting.
OP here.
That’s one that’s never happened to me. [:D][:D][:D] I do get that on email, and facebook. On facebook I had a week of requests from people, who, not only could I not pronounce their names, I couldn’t pronounce any of their “friends” names.
It is tragic that people feel unwelcome by hostile answers. If I see a first post by a newby, I always [#welcome] them to the forum.
My inclination is to help people, but sometimes I have been spectacularly wrong. The forum gurus set me straight and I end up knowing more than I did before. To Mel’s point there are some people that spew garbage. Isn’t that true of every forum on everything?
There are a lot of threads that go on far beyond their usefulness. There are others that maybe important to real railroad, but have nothing to do with MR.
Don’t write off VRF. On Strasburg, you see Strasburg, on the other cameras you see schnabel cars, WW2 hospital ward cars, nuclear waste cars and all sorts of stuff.
Thank you Henry.
We need lots of participants here, and your effort to welcome newcomers is greatly appreciated.
I never thought you were a troll. I think a lot of it was misunderstanding of your old user name and the misinterpretation of a couple of your early questions.
In the four years I have been here, there have only been two real trolls, and one borderline troll, that I know of.
I hope you feel welcome now.
I have made responses where my tone has been misinterpreted. I have begun to use more emojis now, and I am trying to write in a less rigid style.
My old employer had strict writing guidelines for emails and public posts, and I wrote like that for decades. It is beginning to fade now.
-Kevin
Good point Kevin. I think most people have been burned once or twice when misinterpreting the tone of an email or text. You learn pretty quick to try to assume the best of others unless they give you a reason to think otherwise. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt and not judge motives in a knee-jerk fashion.
Most people are relatively civil on here, though there have been a few who got offended by something I said and vice versa. My post was primarily directed at non-MR forums, which have a tendency to get much more heated than here.