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A piece about forums in general, but mainly this one.
Please note this is a long rant, but I'm in that kind of mood.
I have been active on this type of forum for many years.
I started out on the excellent WHQuestion, now dead, and have been active on alot of other sites.
Overall I have had alot of fun and games and met some very fine people and had to put up with many idiots, flamewars and general stupidity.
What really gets me is the apparent inability of some users to follow even the most basic rules of etiquette when interacting with other people.
Small things like common courtesy, manners and respect are some of the things that come to mind. After all we all give our time and effort freely, but to be derided by, mostly forum newbies, is just plain bad manners.
While I’m on the subject of rules, simple ones like correct places to post. How hard is it to find the board you want and post a question? After all, the main index page has a whole list of available subjects.
Back to forum newbies, why is it that they feel that the use of English and punctuation are an optional extras.
This isn’t a chatroom, speed isn’t an issue, so why use chatspeek. Are they really so thick that a basic grasp of English is beyond them?
OK you can forgive grammar and spelling, we are all guilty of that one at some time, but the out and out laziness of chatspeek is beyond me.
It really doesn’t help their cause or get their question resolved any quicker, as we have to spend time in translating their drivel into useable English. Some of our foreign users have a better grasp and it’s a second, or even third, language to them.
Last couple of things I promise.
The ability to read what has gone before your post, both previous responses and mainly the posted dates. The most annoying thing is when an ancient thread is reopened by someone posting a response. How difficult is it to check the original date and whether the user has been online since? OK some feel they are helping, but please how does posting a response to two year old question really help.
While on posting, do they really believe that repeating the same question on ten different boards will get their question answered any quicker!
Bugger lost my train of thought now. Amuse yourselves for a moment while I try and regain it. Normal ranting will be resumed shortly.
I remember now, hackers, spammers and scammers. Come on are we really going to buy the next wonder penis enhancement pill just because you post it twenty times in two minutes. Are we going to send you our bank account number because you can give us an unlimited overdraft. Are we going to help you retrieve your webmail password just because you say it’s your account.
Come on idiots what planet do you think we are from???
Rant over you may now return to real life.
A final thing to think on: Why is Common Sense so uncommon?
So what really bugs you abot these kind of forums ?
Another thing that bothers me, or rather, worries me, is when people come on here with serious medical questions, either for themselves or their pets. My husband is a doctor, and he's read several posts on the site where he thinks people need to go to a doctor asap rather than coming here. I guess maybe people just need reassurance that their condition is serious enough for a doctor's visit, or maybe live in a country where they have to pay for the doctor and can't afford it, but... it kind of scares me. Like what if a person comes on and reports a certain symptom, and a member tells them it's nothing to worry about, when in reality it's a serious condition in need of medical care? Even if an expert is a doctor, like my husband, his ability to help here is limited. He can't make a diagnosis online, and he also can't advise past certain general points. For a definitive diagnosis, people need to have medical tests.
And when it comes to pets, I've noticed people writing things like, "my dog hasn't eaten for 4 days", "my cat won't drink water", "my animal is bleeding". Those are serious symptoms IMO. The animals should be taken to the vet right away!
Good point. I am afraid too many times people do come here for a diagnosis and cure. Some may just lack experience and not be sure what is worth getting help for. Often somebody with a good background can say yes, no, and wait until Monday. What I hate to see is somebody saying my dog had etc. and the vet treated it with .... The dog may or may not have the same thing. I seldom see anybody that knows dogs very well recommending a treatment. Others, well....
Another thing that bothers me, or rather, worries me, is when people come on here with serious medical questions, either for themselves or their pets.
That is definitely a concern of sites like this. Its more worrisome with medical issues, but concerns all the forums.
Someone could give advice about beauty tips but to someone with an allergy that could cause serious damage, even death! Someone could give legal advice that could cause a person to wind up in jail. Someone could give financial advice, that could cause the loss of a great deal of money. Someone could give advice about a computer that could result in the loss of important data.
I believe that this site, like others of its type, has a disclaimer somewhere that essentially is caveat emptor. ANYONE who makes important, especially life or death decisions based solely on advice they get on a site like this is being foolish IMHO.
But that still doesn't excuse someone given advice unless they are sure of themselves. Unfortunately there are people out there doing so. They care more about their own egos then the quality of advice they give. This is why I have been adamant about advocating that all questions be kept public. And why I like the comments/rating system we have here. Keeping questions public allow for peer review. It gives others a chance to correct mistaken advice. Whihc is one of the uses of the comments/ratings feature.
But IMHO, any serious questions about health should at least include advice to see a doctor. In some cases it should be the ONLY advice given. I feel similarly about some legal and financial issues. I think some people have been, at best, irresponsible in the advice they have given.
As others may have noticed, I have been a champion of the quality of the advice given. I think anyone who decides to give advice on a site like this takes on a responsibility and I for one, take that responsibility very seriously. I'm not sure about others. I've encountered people who do it for their own self aggrandizement or just for fun. And while it can be enjoyable, the responsibility should come before the pleasure.
Another thing that bothers me, or rather, worries me, is when people come on here with serious medical questions, either for themselves or their pets. My husband is a doctor, and he's read several posts on the site where he thinks people need to go to a doctor asap rather than coming here. I guess maybe people just need reassurance that their condition is serious enough for a doctor's visit, or maybe live in a country where they have to pay for the doctor and can't afford it, but... it kind of scares me. Like what if a person comes on and reports a certain symptom, and a member tells them it's nothing to worry about, when in reality it's a serious condition in need of medical care? Even if an expert is a doctor, like my husband, his ability to help here is limited. He can't make a diagnosis online, and he also can't advise past certain general points. For a definitive diagnosis, people need to have medical tests.
And when it comes to pets, I've noticed people writing things like, "my dog hasn't eaten for 4 days", "my cat won't drink water", "my animal is bleeding". Those are serious symptoms IMO. The animals should be taken to the vet right away!
Welcome back,and hope your honeymoon was great - even with Alex's ailment.
Alex is right, some people may not be able to see a doctor due to financial reasons, but don't know how serious their problems could be. We can advise, give examples, (trying not to be too scary even though some really need one heck of a scare to finally do something), and emphasize that the golden rule is to see the doctor as soon as possible. There is no way anyone can make a diagnosis online - not for humans, and not for animals either. If my pet does not eat or drink for 4 days, then I evidently did something wrong by not taking it to the vet on the 2d day - instead of waiting.
Human patients should take their bodies more serious, but some do it when it's too late. If they don't ask online, they probably ask their neighbors. Plus, the "HELP!!!!!" typing does not do any good.
We can try and re-iterate that the body is important and needs taking care of, which is far better than not answering at all, though.
There are some countries that will accept patients without insurance, or the state has an insurance plan for all, then the excuse there is "it takes too long to get to see a doctor". So it's a "you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't" situation.
I'm very relieved that someone else voiced the fear I also have in this regard, but it's very evident that people will continue to use this 'shortcut' or we would not see so many medical sites on the internet.
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