Board Ettiquette (for Lack Of A Better Word)
Good afternoon fellow investors,
Lately i've seen a remarkable number of unhelpful, rude and (sometimes) ridiculing replies directed at all sorts of people. Examples?
Newbies who ask the same questions that were asked billions of times before can be irritating but.....far more constructive to direct them to previous posts or not answer them at all and let the newer members help the true newbies find their way around.
Members who write long, encouraging (but filled with previously hashed over info from weeks or months ago) posts to fellow newer investors.....If it's not false or misleading info, what harm is it to the Senior members (who already know it)? I can't exactly recall the post but a new investor wrote to encourage fellow new investors by spelling out his "Plan" for action. Several of the senior members here jumped on that post, using sarcasm to ridicule. No one gains from that.
Lastly, the personal remarks toward members has, IMHO, become stupid and alittle intimidating. I'm sure there will be tons of remarks directed at me for writing this post, it's one i've considered for a few weeks and, yes, you may just run me off the boards if you're nasty enough but....try to realize something: There are moderators. If you have a gripe with someone personally, keep it to yourself. If you believe someone is giving false info: take it up in a professional way. If they persist: Get the mods involved.
I don't know much about this stuff yet. I love coming here and reading ideas and then researching more on my own. I don't take anyone's word as "gospel" nor do i expect anyone to think mine is. I've found some fantastic info here and just want to keep this site as great as it has been.
Respectfully,
Becki
P.S. Darn periods and www stuff *sighs* Sorry for the edit! 
[ Edited by lorien on Date 02/24/2004 ]
Thanks for the encouraging post. I think the problem is that no matter what you will always have people that have rude, or unhelpful comments.
I agree with pointing people in the right direction or not saying anything at all.
Also I think its hard because there is no inflection or emotion so you cant really tell how people mean things.
Lastly when your dealing with so many personalities its impossible to not put your foot in your mouth or have someone comment about your comment.
I think what you gave was great advice
TVA
Thanks for the post...Even though this looks like my first post I actually changed screen names and the post count doesn't travel with you ...lol...I agree that sometimes civility is lacking. I hope your gentle reminder will help keep this board from regressing to the other types that are out there.
PD
I think this is absolutely great advice. Recently there has been a nasty chain of posts between omega1 and tinman755.
This is a perfect example where it could and should be handled much more professionally.
Well spoken and your timing is great. Thanks, Dave
i see your point and i agree with you to an extent. but i also feel that personal attacks help you to gague someone and determine if you'd like to weigh thier input more heavily in future or pasts posts. you can learn a lot from people's sarcastic posts as well as personal attacks. the other part is that they may just be justified and enlighten someone to something they may not have noticed. it adds a bit of personality to the site and for regular readers, even a bit of entertainment in an arena where you don't get to laugh often. rei is kinda stressful and without being able to laugh, it can get to be too much at times.
so i'm not disagreeing with your point, i'm just sayin it CAN be positive - even in negative tone.
i prefer an active board, to fewer posts. the more someone rants, the more i learn tactics!
lorien,
I cannot agree with you more concerning posts that are rude, ridiculing, name-calling, bashing of another, disrespectful, and otherwise personally inappropriate or offensive in nature.
Allowing such behavior to continue and feed on itself is counterproductive to the purpose, intent and spirit of TCI.
Name-calling never achieved any positive result. Name-calling is a dead giveaway that the person doing it apparently can't think of anything better to say.
We have put in a new feature on TCI within the past week. It is called the 'Report this Post' feature. As you will see, there is a link at the bottom of each post on the right hand side with a red frown face as the icon.
Since I am busy developing the website, I do not have time to do the moderation of the boards as the moderators do it for us.
When you use this 'Report this post, the moderator, will then look at the post, and if it is breaking the rules of TCI, they will make the adjustments as well.
We do plan on putting features in that will allow you (the TCI form user) to describe what is the problem with the post etc. in the near future. But for right now, we are currently in the middle of developing www.AllYouCanRent.com
I agree with you totally. But ..... every board or forum that I have used has had this behavior. It is called human behavior. I use many professional, high fee boards for work and they still have members who align themselves with a certain camp and it comes down to name calling. I have found that it is best to ignore it. It is like trying to have a logical discussion with a really pissed off person who wants to fight. Anyone who is like them will feed off of it, any one who wants to be logical and helpful will see right through it.
Everyone is different and no matter how hard you or any one else trys, you can not control the others on this board.
The board is not like inviting several of your friends over for Saturday night dinner, it is more like going to your in-law for a large Christmas dinner.
Brenda
Joel,
i think you guys do one helluva job! Thank you for putting up with all of us
I know people are all different and have their own personalities and can appreciate that. i see idiotic responses directed at new folks and it bugged me..
Humor on the website is great, I just hate to see it at the expense of someone who's genuinely trying to contribute or learn. Heck, it's easy enough to feel STUPID here all by yourself! (oh, ok, i can feel stupid anywhere, not just here)
I own up to being a stickler for fairness. Also own up to being a mom (god knows how many times i told my kids to "play nice!"
Rant: OFF
i'm going to tear out kitchen cupboards
Newbie's need love too...So what is a realistic win-win solution?
A) We truly believe that the TCI website creators post a search engine to uncover relevant information stored on the server. We can not speak for everyone but I will wager the bet that our newbies do not take a couple days and perform research prior to posting a dozen questions.
B) Knowledge is power and it can change the world. A growing number of passionate, committed investors are stepping up to an important challenge. They are tapping their entrepreneurial spirit to share with to the TCI community.
The middle ground is for each group to contribute on a reasonable level. A newbie who demonstrates the drive and ambition to learn independently is a sigh of relief. This website is a compliment to both schools of thought and we must continue to grow this community.
Happy to be successfully investing,
Eric & Rosa
[addsig]
I dont understand why people feel the need to make snyde remarks to posts when they really dont know who they are dealing with. I dont think this should be tolerated in any of the forums here. I agree with the posts above mine, for the most part, people are good on here, but there are a few who feel this killer urge to just slam someone with their intelligence and it is not called for. If they cant say something constructive or informative, they need to look at themselves and decide where the true problem lies. This is the best source of information I have ever come across and I would like to see it stay that way. I know the moderators jobs are tough, and so is Joel's job. We need to be more aware of our own actions and not be so harsh on others. This gets nowhere fast. I dont want to see this board lose it's reason for being...it's hear for others to learn from, not get abused by people who have nothing better to do with their lives. Thank for hearing me out
pejames,
I couldn't agree with you more. I would add, however, that it's not just the forums that are being "tainted." The poison has leaded into article comments and replies as well.
I know how everyone must feel getting the same questions over and over again. It can be frustrating. I have been a member of several other boards over the years and it too was frustrating to me, however, I am new to this board and by gosh I have tried to read and read and research so I don't bother the people who have been on this board a while with questions that they may have answered 100 times before. I really try to spare you all and I think I have done a good job. I might miss something that was posted 20 threads ago and I am sorry, I can't sit here for several hours a day reading every post because I have a 1 year old who occupies my time. I just want to say that some of us newbies really try and I would hate for some reason I missed a post or question way back when and got jumped on because of it. Please don't be so hard on the ones who are trying not to ask repetitive questions because some of us do research. I must also ad that I have met some of the nicest people on here and I thrive on the knowledge from everyone here.
Kelly
Y'all are on the right track. I left a pretty good size board because the owners of the site were allowing a purty good size bashing of dear ol' John Locke and the quality of the site IMHO was going downhill PDQ. I always enjoy reading and helping folks with similar interests and it pains me to see others wasting time on a public fight, although I have been guilty of the same a time or two. As a moderator, our job is to make sure posts are in the proper forum and do not break any forum rules. I think we all enjoy answering the tougher questions as well as the ones that haven't been answered although that isn't in the job description. We are not supposed to get in the middle of these squabbles, for we do not want to interfere with the freedoms of speech that we as Americans hold so dear. However, I do believe it would behoove us to lock these topics up when they become counterproductive, as well as non educational. If y'all would be so kind as to report these types of posts, I am sure my fellow moderators would be happy to put a padlock on it if we deem it neccessary. Thank you for bringing an important point to light.
Good Luck,
Shawn(OH)
loanwizard,
Point of clarification...
Does Forum Rule #6 include namecalling and bashing even when profane language is not used?
Dear Becki, et al.
The bantering and cat calling which on occasion intrude into our solomn occasions really should not be taken too seriously. You should hear some of the things that I get called in the normal path of business.
Today a Plan Checker called me a "Metal Lover" and said I was "Anti Wood." He hoped the Termites would gang up on me for removing their lunch. I left out the profane portions. Interesting a bit graphic. Oh well he still thinks mf is one word.
I thought he was being funny but he was serious. Seems his father was a Carpenter picked up an early ediction by chewing on pencils while at school. He thinks that houses made out of metal shipping containers are somehow or other Anti Christ and against all established religions. Now thats my normal day trying to get my first building permit.
So when I come on line and someone newly arrived asks me a question, I frankly do not know how to properly direct their question. So I grab the keyboard in two hands and shake, rattle and roll and out comes the answer. Always a little different but in essence the same.
I must tell you that some of my private messages from the new members in many particulars reveal a depth of knowledge that is astounding. Some of them have had prior careers in which their skills in negotiation are way past mine. They posses procedures which I have added to mine and improved my pitches at the door, on the phone and most of all in casual contacts at lunch etc.A man selling cars uses a lot of devices while he is trolling for customers wherever he goes. Two such persons are on this site and oh my god can they quickly establish empathy and roll into motivation. They are Masters and both newly arrived. They have both taught me much. I treasure their private messages and I have printed them and stuck them in file for future reference.
As to John Doe, John Doe 1, John Doe 2 who uses many different names. Bear with him he is very clever, has masses of very original ideas and queries. Of course he drives us nuts. But to those of you who have taught. What a thrill it is when some crazy kid stands up and sounds off and in broken english comes up with ideas that remind you of Stephen Hawking or Anatole France or what is even worse a combination of both.
This is a very interesting time in Real Estate Investing. Most of the old stuff is becoming obsolete. You have to do new things, new approaches and you need new methods. A lot of the newly arrived are verbalizing these concerns. I suggest we all read with care and temper our advice so that it reflects present time experience. I am of course addressing most of these remarks to myself.
Dear Becki, I would never direct a negative remark to you. Your statement to accept no item as Gospel. Is right on.
Amen Lucius
Hello my name is Tim. I'm a newbie....... "Hi Tim!"
I have not experienced the flaming that you all are discussing, but I have seen some comments that were unproductive at most. Pesonally, I come here for clarification of what I have read, or researched. Many of the books that I have read are NOT very detailed, and assume a certain level of real estate knowledge. I agree with what you all have said. I would add that simply because someone is posting a question that you may have answered a million times or seems second nature to you does not mean that the one who posted the question is not highly intelligent or educated and should be treated as such. Many, like myself, are leaving the high tech "downsizing" job sector in search of greener pastures. Just remember we all crawled before we walked.