What gives around here?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:03 am

I've not been here for long, but I've noticed an increasing amount of heated comments and dialogs in a lot of threads.

It usually starts with someone asking a basic question (with or without a certain amount of included detail) and then before you know it, someone replies in a snide, arrogant or down right rude fashion, usually avoiding the question all together. If anything, mostly to point out how wrong or stupid someone is.

I'm certainly not saying that all questions are good questions and even I, in my short time here has noticed the massive repeats of the same kinds of questions (and obvious lack of research from those inquiring), so sure, it can wear on you, but I have to be honest; a bunch of folks here make me mumble under my breath "geesh...what a dick" at the way they respond and act towards others.

Has it always been this way? I don't get it.

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:38 pm

Microcosm of society as a whole...unfortunately.

Dicks flourish, are encouraged, and breed more dicks.

Blame Thomas Alva Edison. He invented the motion picture, which led to TV, which...well, we all know...large-scale dissemination of information on how to be dickier than the next guy Sad

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:50 pm

I somewhat agree. It hasn't always been this way but I've noticed that it's happening more often over the past 6 months - year. I think it's attributable to several things.

#1 Repetitive questions.
Most beginners ask the same questions which have been answered numerous times. Also, pretty near any general recording question has been discussed on this forum. If instead of asking, they did a little searching, they would likely find their answers.
Having to answer the same question over and over is tedious and annoying and can drive a person to be less than polite when they respond.

#2 Partially informed or mis-informed questions
There are lots of these.
Someone may post a question and in the process of that make several statements that are wrong, false or based on mis-information. Instead of the responders guiding the questioner to an answer they argue the false or mis-informed statements...sometimes in a very condescending manner. The intent to help is there but the delivery is usually bad.

#3 Complete noob questions
Questions like 'how do I add compression to my track' where the asker has no idea why they need to add said compression is Hella annoying and generally brings out the worst in people. Many people come here asking questions about a function or process and they don't even have the basic building blocks to understand the need for the function or process. Thus explaining the process becomes very tedious and annoying.

#4 The know-it-all
We get lots of these. You try to tell someone something and for whatever reason, they just don't hear, listen or understand what you say. So the thread becomes a hate fest where the thread devolves into personal attacks rather than helpful information.

#5 Wrong Forum Posters
When a person posts a question in the pro audio gear forum they are expected to have a certain amount of professional recording experience. Many do not and that's frustrating beyone belief.

I'm not blaming this rudeness on the people posting the questions. The problem is really with the responders. But those things are what generally trigger the harsh responses. Is it right? NO. does it happen? It surely does.

I'm sure I'm guilty of posting some rash comments that may not really have been necessary. But generally I try to answer questions in a helpful manner.

My recommendation would be to PM the harsh responder and possibly a moderator and just let them know that their comments aren't really helpful and reflect poorly on the community here at RO.

Another recommendation would be for the moderators to make sure that questions coming in to their forum are appropriate for the forum. If a person asks an obvious home recording question in a mastering forum, the thread should be moved. That way the mastering elite won't flame the guy. Same goes for the pro audio gear forum as well. Sure it's hard to draw the line as to what belongs and what doesn't, but thats what the moderators are for and proper moderation of a forum can be a big help in getting the correct responses out.

RO is a great place for learning but it seems to have become somehwat of a He-Man Noob Haters Club. Beginners and the like are handled like outsiders. It's

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:01 pm

"It's"....time to increase maximum post length?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:12 pm

LOL @ codemonkey.

Oops. What really bugs me is that I have no idea what I was going to say there.

ARRRRGH

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:42 pm

It's....
really bugging me that a community which has such great advice and so much collective experience to offer is potentially turning away so many users by being so seemingly malicious?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:28 pm

Well it might just be the fact that I haven't been around as much lately, but I don't see a big upsurge in hostility. These things tend to go in cycles and it has certainly been worse in the past. I'm skeptical about pr0gr4m's reasons. Those things are pretty constant. Changes in the tenor of a board are usually more random things that going on in the lives of the dozen or so most frequent posters: a "good cop" gets busy at work and doesn't post much for a few months, a "bad cop" has insomnia and posts 100 times a day, a couple of trolls get vicious and the mods start to crack down or just get disgusted faster.

Another real possibility is that some of you are just starting to notice things more or get more annoyed by things that have been going on for a while. Sometimes that can happen when you finally get to know all of the personalities on a board and get familiar with their quirks. Or (as I said) maybe I've been oblivious to all this for the last six weeks or so.

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:44 pm

This is interesting.

For those of you who werent around in the 'old days', I must say the civility of todays postings, makes this time period look like a bake sale when in comparison.

There are many members on here that have extremely dry and even droll senses of humor. A lot of firstime posters come on here with the thought that they are owed something by this community simply because its here and its easy to access. They read a few pages and think that they have a certain right to answers which they're not going to listen to anyway, and their attitude is evident from the start. When they get an answer, and they dont quite relate to the tenor in which its given, they react in a foolish or a hurt way. Rather than getting to know the regular community, they simply react because the answer doesnt fit their preconception . Theres a lot of folks on here that simply dont take too kindly to reactionary statements made out of context. And so the flame goes.

Read the JP22 thread archived at the front of the recording thread.

Things are a lot mellower in reality now.........No?

Those who read this......SEARCH FUNCTION...use it ....Love it!

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:55 pm

TBH I use it and hate it. Maybe it's "SEARCH: UR DOIN IT RONG" but it fails me on most things which are mildly specific.

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:39 pm

Ones happening right now :
http://recording.org/ftopict-47680-.html

This is what makes the silly in me lean heavily on the manic and then my brain shuts down but my mouth will not shut up...and a mood swing happens and someone walks away unhappy with me...

edit:a quadruple post for Jacks sake!!!

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:50 pm

post deleted cuz i'm an idiot...or computer malfunction.

end of line

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:54 am

Oh, I've read the JP22 thread, how could you NOT. That was a bit different I think though because there was blatant ignorance that kept coming back to get abused...so it was doled out in spades.

I just think some of the more 'innocent' or harmless inquiries could simply be ignored by some if they're bothered that much by them....rather than choosing to be an a$$ and respond harshly.

My $.02, nothing more. I learned the tenor of this community pretty quickly; obviously others haven't.

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:49 am

Davedog wrote:

... For those of you who werent around in the 'old days', I must say the civility of todays postings, makes this time period look like a bake sale when in comparison...

Yeah, if you go back in the archives you can see that things are a lot mellower these days. Compared to that and compared to any of the other serious recording or audio boards that I know of novices are treated pretty well around here. Maybe it was even mellower a year ago, but I don't see it.

Moreover, a lot of the rudeness has a serious purpose. There has to be some way to discourage those who are ill informed, lazy, and demanding from dominating the place. How else are you going to respond the next time we get, "help me get my cracked software to work in the shiny hardware that I bought at GC with Mom's credit card...and do it right now!...of course, I didn't read the manual, why do you think I'm posting here?" (Of course, this needs to be revised to include six misspelled words for it to be realistic.)

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:58 pm

Dave - right on.
Bob - I myself blame GC.

For a lot of us, we come here after we've recorded the bands, the guitars, the drums, the cellos, the violas - we've used the techniques and technical know-how that most people redundantly ask us to explain just a few hours ago, or we've spent the last hour talking to our peers about "the cheapest place to rent a PM5DRH in Orlando last minute on Friday night because the guys out back need to load it onto a truck for a week long gig first thing Monday morning"...

This industry, I've said it before, will kick your ass. It'll pay the bills, but it'll also smack you in the face all along the way. You've gotta be able to laugh and take some punches (and prove yourself), whether you're on stage - in the studio - or on a website such as this.
As far as Guitar Center is concerned - just because the gear is out there and readily (cheaply) available doesn't mean every joe blow should buy it!!!

I myself have been in Wireless Hell the past two days.

I'm not really in the mood to type much more than I already have.

But I do love my job!

I like Guitar Center when I've gotta buy something for a show, or for our own stock...

I do not like the way they've Walmartized the industry.

No sir, not one bit.

SSHACK said:

Quote:

I just think some of the more 'innocent' or harmless inquiries could simply be ignored by some if they're bothered that much by them....rather than choosing to be an a$$ and respond harshly.

Honestly...
Ignore?
Sometimes we do - not out of spite, but rather because we're just too busy. Have you seen the catty, snide, flippant remarks that more often than not get posted here when we simply ignore 'harmless inquiries'? God forbid you ignore someone in the Critique section - Many a whiny, bitchy comment will ensue if you do that.We've actually had to lock some of those posts for that very reason.
Read through some of the posts with minimal replies - you'll see what I mean. Who has time for that BS?

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:18 am

Points well taken. It is what it is.

Good to hear from you Ben, thanks.

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