As a member who rarely posts and READS 99.9% of the time on this forum, I would like to point out that viewing all the negative responses and flames is more annoying and a bigger waste of time than the original offending post.
Whats worse? One dumb question, or a dozen flaming responses?
One needs to keep in mind that members range in age from kids to adults well advanced in age. It is inevitable that there will social challenges between the different age groups. The noobs and kids are here to LEARN from the more mature and experienced. What does someone learn when they get dumped on, unless they truly deserve it? It takes just as much effort to answer a question as it does to flame someone. I would hope that the older members would be more willing to teach than to ridicule or deride, unless it IS truly deserved, and then, it should be kept to PM's. I have no interest in reading someone else's public flogging. To be honest, though, there MAY be rare times when it IS appropriate to make a public example of something blatantly stupid or dangerous.
Personally, I avoid asking questions publicly for these very reasons. I won't post at all unless I have something to ADD to a conversation. I read this forum daily for over a year before I even joined. Perhaps more folks should consider this before asking questions, as the answers ARE usually already there. But what if someone needs an answer quickly and doesn't have time for an exhaustive search? Is it fair to jump all over them? Yes, there are those who ARE lazy, but you figure that out after a while, when they show no learning or gaining independence taking place. But, its just plain mean to jump all over someone on their first few posts, and its best just to ignore the trolls.
At my rate, I will probably never get rep power or even reach my first 50 posts! The "rep points" system doesn't reward self restraint very well, but rather, it seems to reward large quantities of frivolous posts. I cringe at the thought of the number of hours of my life that I would have to spend in this forum (or any forum for that matter) to post enough times with worthwhile content to ever achieve "veteran" status.
To those who end up name calling and attacking a person over the slightest provocation: GROW UP!
This is only my opinion, for what it is worth..
