Online communities are full of dysfunctional people

[Tintypographer]

I get radically down about my novice postings in online communities. It doesn't matter where or how, there is a big group of people who seem to wait for someone to ask a question then immediately pounce by telling romaine to read the FAQ, read the manual or show a link to this already being discussed. It's happened too many times to count. I don't understand it. In my life and world I answer questions and guide people. When I ask a question like "I'm doing XYZ and attempting it with a PDQ do I need to check the pressure..." Someone inevitably jumps into the train and says "read the fucking manual and don't try it if you don't know what you're doing"

I really just want to let the trolls win and die.

 

[WornOutLife]

Oh my friend! I SO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN!!

What's the matter with those people?
They just want us to read the FAQ or look for threads/posts from 10 years ago lol.

I used to be in a subreddit about the japanese language and you can't imagine the haters that there were there!

That's why I try to avoid online communities now, except for SS obviously!

Sometimes, many people here ask a question that has been asked before but most of SS members are very kind and reply again or if it's something very specific, share the link of a megathread so that this person can be more properly informed.

Is it so difficult not to be a loser who is waiting for a "noob" so as to copy and paste their "read the FAQs section"? lol

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

Online communities are full of dysfunctional people.​

So are offline communities; where do you think the people frequenting online communities come from?

 

[checkouttime]

I understand why you would get frustrated. people are desperate and just want the answer like NOW!! believe me when i joined i was exactly like that too!!

what you have to realise though is that some people have spent alot of their time posting threads etc to help others. and what you find happens is the same threads come up over and over which people then get annoyed about or can't be bothered replying too. if you search for something and can't then find it, at least then you have made some effort and people will more likely help you more.

 

[signifying nothing]

At least on this site there can't really be any experts, for obvious reasons.

 

[Tintypographer]

I always help people learn things. I don't mind and I understand the questions. That's how a FAQ should work. You use the most frequently asked questions.

Today on a watch forum I asked "how difficult on a scale from 1-10 is it for a novice to change a watch crystal and is it something I should try as a first time project or is that something that takes a lot of practice?"

What I got was

"Are you seriously asking us to say whether you're competent enough to change a watch crystal? If you don't know how the fuck should we know, I'm not your teacher. If you want to learn try GOOGLE it's this amazing thing that lets you look stuff up"

The answer to my question wasn't in the FAQ and I was really looking to understand is it like changing a tire on a car that you can learn or is it more like pulling and rebuilding an engine.

 

[Boochky]

I always help people learn things. I don't mind and I understand the questions. That's how a FAQ should work. You use the most frequently asked questions.

Today on a watch forum I asked "how difficult on a scale from 1-10 is it for a novice to change a watch crystal and is it something I should try as a first time project or is that something that takes a lot of practice?"

What I got was

"Are you seriously asking us to say whether you're competent enough to change a watch crystal? If you don't know how the fuck should we know, I'm not your teacher. If you want to learn try GOOGLE it's this amazing thing that lets you look stuff up"

The answer to my question wasn't in the FAQ and I was really looking to understand is it like changing a tire on a car that you can learn or is it more like pulling and rebuilding an engine.

UGH. Humans are the worst. Sorry that happened to you!

 

[All Things Must Pass]

They are right. Stop being lazy and read.

 

[demuic]

They are right. Stop bring lazy and read.

You must be the type of person OP is complaining about.

 

[All Things Must Pass]

You must be the type of person OP is complaining about.

Nothing wrong with that. Don't be angry at other people for your own incompetence.

 

[LastLoveLetter]

Laziness and incompetence aren't the only reasons someone may need a bit of extra guidance. Sometimes people want to ask clarifying questions or for further information because the available literature is confusing, inaccessible or information is missing. Others may absorb or learn information in different ways. For example, in the case of guides and manuals, I find visual examples such as pictures and videos very helpful. Others may very well overlook or miss information mistakenly. It's hardly worth insulting people over - we are humans. Hurting humans, at that.

In the case of members here, I have observed those that struggle to go through hundreds of pages in Megathreads (which could be overwhelming for many members) or lengthy guides due to severe issues such as fatigue, brain fog, disabilities, mental health difficulties and cognitive impairment, including several members I have encountered who suffer with brain injuries. I would hardly consider these individuals "incompetent."

Suicidal people generally have enough on their plate and don't need to be put down by strangers. It's better to not respond at all rather than go out of your way to call other suicidal people lazy and incompetent. I appreciate those who leave such comments here are struggling as well, but how does treating others harshly help anyone?

The same goes for forums outside of SS. What purpose does such behaviour serve? It takes less time and energy to simply scroll past than it does to say something like "read the fucking manual."

Kindness costs nothing at all. And if you feel shitty and kindness is difficult to muster, that's okay - wordlessly moving on to another post isn't.

 

[Tree frog]

The ability for every human being to democratically comment on a subject seemed like a good idea at the time but with hindsight I fear social media comments sections might be the undoing of the human race. And yeah I see the irony of posting that in the comments section.
I do think it would be a good idea for everyone to remember why this site exists and just be kind and hold off before offering harsh or venemous comments. Theres plenty of other places on the internet to do that if you feel the need.

 

[StringPuppet]

If I'm being honest I think a lot of people online act like jerks because they have low self-esteem in real life, so they need to make other people feel bad online.

 

[TooConscious]

Barely any truly dysfunctional people in the world anymore, just people who are going through a bad time retreat to forums, people are too stupid to be anything more than a dumbass follower of the sick game.
We allowed those above us to poison us, physically and mentally life has become more horrific but people 'disneyfy' things more, everything's got a Minions mug with it, to make us soft and weak as those who wish to inflict pain like us. It is our own fault.

 

[Painless_end]

Social media comment sections are cancerous. Even this website is social media but atleast everyone suffers some form of trouble which is related to CTB hence there is some level of empathy and if someone is being a jerk, they can always be reported.

But comment sections of Youtube videos or public Facebook posts on any issue are extremely cancerous if you have a shred of decency.

People want to use every opportunity they get to put others down and instead of debating in a healthy way, they will often resort to unprovoked attacks, name calling and threats of violence.

In short, avoid the temptation of leaving a quick comment on any public social media page unless you want to get bombarded with trolls or piece of human filth that identify as self-righteous people.

 

[Symbiote]

When it comes to explaining things to people, either you have the ability or you don't and leave the person confused. So we refer people to manuals that were written by a subject matter expert rather than us trying to explain it ourselves and if you still have questions then maybe we could fill in the gaps for you. Google searches made things easier and less complicated unless you were looking for something specific which no one except one particular post on a community forum would know.

Mostly everyone should know that the Internet is one giant cesspool of negativity and depravity. It's where "normal" people get to become abnormal nutjobs and play out their actual personalities in the space of anonymity without it affecting their real-life stuff. I always said this, if you can't handle the Internet at this moment in time, then log off and do something else. Come back when cooler heads prevail.

 

[eternalmelancholy]

Mostly everyone should know that the Internet is one giant cesspool of negativity and depravity. It's where "normal" people get to become abnormal nutjobs and play out their actual personalities in the space of anonymity without it affecting their real-life stuff.

How people behave on the internet is true human nature. Since it is anonymous and has no real life consequences, people are free to act however they wish. Some people are cool but it is pretty clear that most are complete assholes.

 

[Tree frog]

I

If I'm being honest I think a lot of people online act like jerks because they have low self-esteem in real life, so they need to make other people feel bad online.

Think your spot on there. People with no power, influence or respect in the real world so they fashion a persona online to try and seem important. I guess if we look at it like that then hard not to have some empathy for those being jerks too. Not to condone it at all. But guess it's good to see things as not always black and white in simplicity. Ah humans hey!

 

[checkouttime]

I always help people learn things. I don't mind and I understand the questions. That's how a FAQ should work. You use the most frequently asked questions.

Today on a watch forum I asked "how difficult on a scale from 1-10 is it for a novice to change a watch crystal and is it something I should try as a first time project or is that something that takes a lot of practice?"

What I got was

"Are you seriously asking us to say whether you're competent enough to change a watch crystal? If you don't know how the fuck should we know, I'm not your teacher. If you want to learn try GOOGLE it's this amazing thing that lets you look stuff up"

The answer to my question wasn't in the FAQ and I was really looking to understand is it like changing a tire on a car that you can learn or is it more like pulling and rebuilding an engine.

You see now thats a response by a dick head. it is possible to tell someone to research or whatever without the agression and be abusive!! it will be some soft twat sat behind his computer thinking he's a hard man. plenty of sad fuckers like that!

 

[popuoh]

Nothing wrong with that. Don't be angry at other people for your own incompetence.

Nothing wrong with being angry with other people when they're being a dick though