More rigorous directing of users to a FAQ?

[autumnal]

Hi,

I've only been here a couple of months, but like many others I'm already exasperated at new users who ask extremely obvious questions, either as new posts or as responses. Things like 'What does SN stand for?', 'Can I die from an overdose of...?' etc. While there will sometimes be users with a legitimate reason for doing so, such as non-English speaking background or developmental/cognitive impairment, the vast majority seem to be from people who are simply too lazy or ignorant to read a FAQ section or do a search for existing answers on their topic. Could we create a FAQ and make it a requirement of registration that all new users read it (in the same way as the rules are)?

Additionally, if this isn't too harsh, perhaps create a rule that if someone asks a question already covered in this FAQ, that other users are only allowed to direct them to the FAQ rather than post the answer?

I am only relatively new here and so would welcome any thoughts on this.

Autumnal

 

[Quarky00]

I don't think people will read a FAQ , there is already one btw but it is [intentionally?] general , and members ARE required to read it (!) :

• Can I change my username or get a new account?
• Can I trust other members?
• Is X information correct?
• How do I respond to a thread?
• Why are my responses/replies to more than one user being combined into one whole response/reply, instead of two or more seperate responses in a thread?
• How can I create a thread, send a PM to a user, or join the chat?
• How do I send a PM after I have permission?
• Is there a site Discord?
• Will the site ever close? Should I worry?
• Can I edit or delete my posts and threads?
• How do I get alerts from a specific thread?
• How do I change my alert and privacy preferences? How do I change the title under my username?
• Is there a "Dark" mode?
• Can I follow or block a member?
• My privacy is essential to me. Do you have any tips for me?
• Privacy is very important to me. More tips?
• Can mods or admins read my PMs?
• I have been banned. What can I do?
• Why was X banned?
• Why are there different colors for usernames? What do they mean?
• Why was my comment deleted or thread locked?

As can be seen people don't read the rules as it is , even though these are sent to new members etc.

There is also site terminology and acronyms , which is somewhat buried in the resource compilation

Generally speaking site seems to be cautious about adding 'real ctb content' as something official , I think (dunno) , so adding anything relating to methods is a problem .

 

[Living sucks]

In fact, this very page, that quarky mentions, is the first message that is sent to a new user upon joining. Titled "Important". Admittedly i skimmed it quickly at first and it initially appears as just guideline like, be nice, don't harrass, etc it didn't help me understand what SN or N or CTB or OP meant, boy was I lost reading posts. After being somewhat scolded for asking questions I started just reading everything I could to try to understand more. But in asking some questions i was directed to links I didn't know existed and not so easy to find. Like SN shelf life once dissolved etc. and i think people are in panic mode a lot and not in a right frame of mind, not everyone here is calmly seeking a potential way out IF things go bad for them. And it's downright scary to contemplate ctb so many looking for reassurances, comfort etc. the stupid questions aren't going to stop. I just ignore or i post a link bcuz I know I had trouble finding what i was looking for and sympathize. It does get old but unavoidable. I think the partners thread is half people looking to ctb and half looking for someone similar to date.

In summary I think the message sent to new users should state "there are resources to help you navigate this site" and then list each resource page, FAQ, Acronyms etc maybe more would read in advance .

 

[Quarky00]

Admittedly i skimmed it quickly at first and it initially appears as just guideline like, be nice . . . didn't help me understand what SN or N or CTB or OP meant, boy was I lost reading posts . . . After being somewhat scolded for asking questions I started just reading everything I could . . . in asking some questions i was directed to links I didn't know existed and not so easy to find . . .

i think people are in panic mode a lot and not in a right frame of mind, not everyone here is calmly seeking a potential way out IF things go bad for them. And it's downright scary to contemplate ctb so many looking for reassurances, comfort etc. the stupid questions aren't going to stop. I just ignore or i post a link bcuz I know I had trouble finding what i was looking for and sympathize

!!!
100%
Couldn't have said it better
People are in distress etc

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

Maybe a solution would be volunteers like mods who could watch threads in the Suicide Discussion and offer stock answers. Or a resource thread with stock answers that one could simply copy and paste the content.

For instance, @Hasssssuùuu occasionally posts a great response to some new members asking for methods. It would be great it that were somehow automatically given as a stock response every time. It would also be great it the Rules and FAQ were updated to more clearly reflect what @Hasssssuùuu wrote -- sometimes folks argue about whether or not it's okay to give out methods when folks are asking for them, and the rules are not clear enough about it. They say it's not okay to ask because one needs to take responsibility, but they do not clearly say that it's not okay to give.

I've noticed some new folks get hurt feelings when they're given a brief response with information like the resource compilation, doing your own research, etc. I think it's a great point that new folks are often in distress. It would be nice if there were a simple way to answer that's kind as well as clear, such as what I wrote in the first paragraph.

 

[Living sucks]

In some case it's better to let members intervene than mods. Stupid questions shouldn't be a constant theme mods should have to chase down. Everyone gets a message upon joining and no one can make them read it. But that message didn't help me understand any acronyms or that i shouidnt post the name of the SN i was inquiring about. Or understand why i couldn't pm so i replied and got a warning. It was a 2 week learning experience. And i was never offended. I was minorly annoyed when asked by one member why i had joined, in the way it was asked, like I had unknown intentions on the site, but i get it now.
Anyway I'm just effing bored with nothing else in my life. Putting in my 2 cents Sorry

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

In some case it's better to let members intervene than mods. Stupid questions shouldn't be a constant theme mods should have to chase down.

Just in case this was sparked to my comment, which I now recognize wasn't clear anyway, when I said volunteers like mode, I didn't mean mods. I just meant volunteers in an official capacity. I totally agree with your comment.

Also, Hasssssuùuu saw my comment here and update the Rules and FAQ with that lovely blurb I mentioned.

 

[ArtsyDrawer]

The main issue with any FAQ is phrasing.
I can never understand a FAQ. They're written in this "global" way of speaking that's supposed to cover everything, kind of like how a lawyer writes things. If it was a less friendly site, my first fifty or so posts would be asking for help in deciphering the FAQ.

 

[one4all]

Just in case this was sparked to my comment, which I now recognize wasn't clear anyway, when I said volunteers like mode, I didn't mean mods. I just meant volunteers in an official capacity. I totally agree with your comment.

Also, Hasssssuùuu saw my comment here and update the Rules and FAQ with that lovely blurb I mentioned.

I might have been nice to put that section at the top of the FAQ though. But then again seems a lot of people don't bother reading the initial PM they get when singing up or reading the FAQ.. ohh well

EDIT: Maybe put the line "Read this thread in its entirety." at the very top. But the initial issue still remains. READING

 

[Quarky00]

I'd say make a simple quick rules/faq/reference , and put it on top for new members for a week -- instead of old Samaritans notice etc . Notice it contains quick links . Just a sample . The idea is to condense the main things required .. and link .

Be respectful & thoughtful .

Use search , read terms , methods !

Do not : Harass , Bully , Insult • Encourage or ask for Encouragement • Sell , Buy , Offer , Request • Post or request personal info , links or sources .[/COLOR]

This is just a start , may add quick links for common issues/questions .... But "Terms-Methods-Search" up front at the top should solve a lot .

 

[Jumper Geo]

!!!
100%
Couldn't have said it better
People are in distress etc

I will hold my hands up, lol when I joined people just referred to it as SN and CTB, I was baffled but there was so much information when I joined, I was only a lurker for one day so I just got stuck in, trial and error, but I must admit you do see the same questions popping up again and again but maybe when you join you should send the resource link and tell them to read this information first.

But if anyone asks me what SN and CTB is I always have a little chuckle remembering when I was new.

Cheers Geo

 

[Genetics]

I will hold my hands up, lol when I joined people just referred to it as SN and CTB, I was baffled but there was so much information when I joined, I was only a lurker for one day so I just got stuck in, trial and error, but I must admit you do see the same questions popping up again and again but maybe when you join you should send the resource link and tell them to read this information first.

But if anyone asks me what SN and CTB is I always have a little chuckle remembering when I was new.

Cheers Geo

But do you answer after your chuckle or do you minimize their inquiry by saying "read the FAQ" or "do a search for the subject"?

I say if someone is annoyed by what is referred to here as a "stupid" question posed by a person who is in distress and seeking help and information then the annoyed person should just keep on scrolling by and let someone with some empathy respond to the person.

Those rules and FAQs are long, run together, hard to read, harder to retain documents not everyone has a college degree, some compassion or just ignoring could go a long way.

 

[Quarky00]

I don't think it's 'annoyed' per se but an aspiration to really discuss issues -- one of the oldest rules is to avoid posting "low effort content"

Can we devise an extremely short Sanctioned Suicide primer? Can mods incorporate it somehow in a welcome message for new users? Idk how , email , PM , top notice , etc

For example
"Ctb stands for catching the bus , SI is survival instinct , SN is Sodium Nitrite (method) ... ? ... See more forum terms , read more methods , and use search"

I'm shooting in the dark here, so more help/feedback (from mods as well) would be appreciated. :)

 

[Jumper Geo]

But do you answer after your chuckle or do you minimize their inquiry by saying "read the FAQ" or "do a search for the subject"?

I say if someone is annoyed by what is referred to here as a "stupid" question posed by a person who is in distress and seeking help and information then the annoyed person should just keep on scrolling by and let someone with some empathy respond to the person.

Those rules and FAQs are long, run together, hard to read, harder to retain documents not everyone has a college degree, some compassion or just ignoring could go a long way.

I'm quite happy to tell people what SN, CTB and N means and give people links.

 

[Genetics]

I don't think it's 'annoyed' per se but an aspiration to really discuss issues -- one of the oldest rules is to avoid posting "low effort content"

Can we devise an extremely short Sanctioned Suicide primer? Can mods incorporate it somehow in a welcome message for new users? Idk how , email , PM , top notice , etc

For example
"Ctb stands for catching the bus , SI is survival instinct , SN is Sodium Nitrite (method) ... ? ... See more forum terms , read more methods , and use search"

I'm shooting in the dark here, so more help/feedback (from mods as well) would be appreciated. :)

LOL and here I thought ctb meant close the book. Same thing I suppose.

I used annoyed because you and a couple other of the posters tone seemed to me to be annoyed with new participants. We ARE new, after all. It can even take time to familiarize ourselves with navigating and finding things. If a person is in the midst of an episode they may think it's easier to just ask. You know it's wrong but they are lost and searching for answers and sometime quite desperate.

I don't know why your here, planning, recovered, but this is a forum for this type of person this isn't a forum for CPA or lawyers or other hyper organized folks. So yes you can "required" new members to read this or that or take a quiz or test or whatever. It will only delay their help and possibly push them over their edge.

I'm quite happy to tell people what SN, CTB and N means and give people links.

Thank you.

 

[autumnal]

To clarify my position, I have no issue whatsoever with a new user not knowing what specialised terms and abbreviations mean. I know I certainly didn't when I first discovered the forum. I do have an issue with new users who, rather than reading the rules/FAQ or doing a basic search for these terms (as I did), post obvious questions asking for definitions. In my opinion, suicidality and common sense need not be mutually exclusive, and to suggest otherwise lowers the tone of the forum and does a disservice to those of us who prefer to think before posting.

 

[Quarky00]

I used annoyed because you and a couple other of the posters tone seemed to me to be annoyed with new participants. We ARE new, after all. It can even take time to familiarize ourselves with navigating and finding things. If a person is in the midst of an episode they may think it's easier to just ask.

This was addressed and acknowledged , I'm building on that and looking for solutions so I wouldn't fester further (I understand it comes as 'annoyed' and I'm sorry for that).

 

[Genetics]

This was addressed and acknowledged , I'm building on that and looking for solutions so I wouldn't fester further (I understand it comes as 'annoyed' and I'm sorry for that).

Not festering or being told how to behave or feel. Thank you

 

[Deleted member 1465]

In my old job I often got asked stuff by people who hadn't listened previously. At first I'd tell them to read the manual I'd written for them. This just pissed them off.
So I started to explain to them what they needed to know then emailed them links to the relevant manual pages for future reference.
They caught on pretty quickly and stopped asking me for advice.
Lol they sometimes even said 'Don't know why I thought it was difficult, it was all in your guide.'

People sometimes don't want to wade through a long guide when there is someone to give them a quick answer. But if they are pointed politely in the right direction, with specifics it can give them what they need without them feeling dismissed, enabling them to feel more like using the FAQ the next time round.
I also agree that new users may need a gentle but emphatic nudge to the FAQ when starting out.