What happened

[Sherman]

I agree, I prefer forums much more over the format of social media. Sure, there's the instant gratification of your stuff being posted at the top, but like others above mentioned, there's the loss of the collected knowledge of a forum where you can search, link, and browse years worth of questions and answers.

Now, I administered a forum for about five years a decade ago and it's rough going lol. A lot of moderation, a lot of rules and sticking to them. We saw a lot of "newbies" who want to just ask all the basic questions that have already been answered and the easiest knee-jerk reaction is to tell them "this has already been asked, go search for it" or to flat out ignore it...but all that does is create a sense of unfriendliness or grumpiness in the community. Sure, it's annoying as hell when each week someone asks the same questions...but as a community we have to bite our tongue and gently remind others how and where to find the information. Not everyone has even used a forum before!

That's my two cents. I love forum communities, but I don't like when they start to turn unfriendly towards the new, underexperienced members when we should be instead teaching these whipper snappers how to use the forum properly and helping turn them into seasoned forum pros.

I'm glad I'm back in the forum community and really enjoy this forum.

 

[high plains drifter]

I agree, I prefer forums much more over the format of social media. Sure, there's the instant gratification of your stuff being posted at the top, but like others above mentioned, there's the loss of the collected knowledge of a forum where you can search, link, and browse years worth of questions and answers.

Now, I administered a forum for about five years a decade ago and it's rough going lol. A lot of moderation, a lot of rules and sticking to them. We saw a lot of "newbies" who want to just ask all the basic questions that have already been answered and the easiest knee-jerk reaction is to tell them "this has already been asked, go search for it" or to flat out ignore it...but all that does is create a sense of unfriendliness or grumpiness in the community. Sure, it's annoying as hell when each week someone asks the same questions...but as a community we have to bite our tongue and gently remind others how and where to find the information. Not everyone has even used a forum before!

That's my two cents. I love forum communities, but I don't like when they start to turn unfriendly towards the new, underexperienced members when we should be instead teaching these whipper snappers how to use the forum properly and helping turn them into seasoned forum pros.

I'm glad I'm back in the forum community and really enjoy this forum.

As someone who was once a forum moderator, I'd have to agree with all of this. Still surprises me when a noob seeks some advice and one or more members berate them. Back in the day it was more understandable as a community could pick and choose who to slam... and there's the old mantra of "Better develop a thick skin if you're going to fit in" but forums are much smaller and less active now and I think it's better for the community as a whole, to be a bit more forgiving and friendly.

Doesn't mean that the noob can't take some ribbing amd it certainly doesn't mean that the community is hostile but like you said... maybe they're new to forums and feel a bit uneasy. Having someone jump on you, even in the vein of "just fooling around/ take a joke" doesn't necessarily make someone want to stick around. I think the jabs are better suited among members that have been around a while and sort of know each others personalities. A lot of us are older now too and we don't always take kindly to getting jumped on.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

As someone who was once a forum moderator, I'd have to agree with all of this. Still surprises me when a noob seeks some advice and one or more members berate them. Back in the day it was more understandable as a community could pick and choose who to slam... and there's the old mantra of "Better develop a thick skin if you're going to fit in" but forums are much smaller and less active now and I think it's better for the community as a whole, to be a bit more forgiving and friendly.

Doesn't mean that the noob can't take some ribbing amd it certainly doesn't mean that the community is hostile but like you said... maybe they're new to forums and feel a bit uneasy. Having someone jump on you, even in the vein of "just fooling around/ take a joke" doesn't necessarily make someone want to stick around. I think the jabs are better suited among members that have been around a while and sort of know each others personalities. A lot of us are older now too and we don't always take kindly to getting jumped on.

This place was pretty brutal to noobs back in the day. Some guys were flat out dicks. The "cooler than thou" attitude was ever present. I was a dick back to them whereas some newbies cower. As a result, I bumped heads with a lot of the vets at the time. I'm still a dick and still here so maybe I'm part of the problem, but I try to be as helpful to people as possible when they are open to it.

 

[cooper_xl]

I know personally I spent more time over on ScaleRC4x4 and when it went belly up I lost a ton of pics, contacts etc and it kinda made me stay away from the hobby a bit. Add in medical issues and money issues and I've felt kinda like I don't have much to contribute most of the time unless someone is asking a question or see a build that interests me.

Losing scale4x4 was big. Plenty of info was lost


What I find odd is that we, builders, never had so much choice. Chassis, tires, wheels, axles...we have 3D printing now to make bodies and customs parts...but the builds are fewer and less ambitious

 

[high plains drifter]

This place was pretty brutal to noobs back in the day. Some guys were flat out dicks. The "cooler than thou" attitude was ever present. I was a dick back to them whereas some newbies cower. As a result, I bumped heads with a lot of the vets at the time. I'm still a dick and still here so maybe I'm part of the problem, but I try to be as helpful to people as possible when they are open to it.

You're like one of my favorite Asian dishes... sweet & sour! I may need to evaluate my metaphor there but you know what I mean. Yeah, you're still rough sometimes but it seems to me that you as well as most people have toned it down a couple notches in recent years. I applaud you for the way that you interact with people on here... noobs and old-timers alike. Can't just be a dick all the time or you begin to alienate yourself from the rest of the community.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with being brutally honest and at times there's plenty of reason to throttle someone... especially if they double-down on misinformation or if they blow a gasket over a little jab. If you're that easily offended then don't escalate things. Just say you don't agree or you think whomever is out of bounds but if you stand up for yourself, do it in a way that doesn't instantly confirm your immaturity or how easily offended you get. There's ways to disagree and still maintain composure.

The ones that get me are those that come to a forum... create an account, log in, etc... just to ask one question with absolutely no further interaction. Community members show an interest in your project and try to have some dialogue with you but boom... you're already gone with no plans to ever come back. Not a "thanks for the great advice", no follow up... nothing. Those folks irritate me. People taking time to help you out but you just expect it. I guess it just comes naturally for self-entitled douche-bags with the instant-gratification mentality... treating an online community like FB or IG or something.

 

[JimrC]

I rarely post any questions as a newbie to the hobby. I have a hunch that anything I have to ask ... someone has already done so and the searching begins through the wealth of info on here ... one of the reasons I enjoy and appreciate forums. Another, is the wide range of helpful peeps on here Forums rock, all social media can go but I am an auld git set in his ways

I should partake more though lol

 

[JatoTheRipper]

You're like one of my favorite Asian dishes... sweet & sour! I may need to evaluate my metaphor there but you know what I mean. Yeah, you're still rough sometimes but it seems to me that you as well as most people have toned it down a couple notches in recent years. I applaud you for the way that you interact with people on here... noobs and old-timers alike. Can't just be a dick all the time or you begin to alienate yourself from the rest of the community.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with being brutally honest and at times there's plenty of reason to throttle someone... especially if they double-down on misinformation or if they blow a gasket over a little jab. If you're that easily offended then don't escalate things. Just say you don't agree or you think whomever is out of bounds but if you stand up for yourself, do it in a way that doesn't instantly confirm your immaturity or how easily offended you get. There's ways to disagree and still maintain composure.

The ones that get me are those that come to a forum... create an account, log in, etc... just to ask one question with absolutely no further interaction. Community members show an interest in your project and try to have some dialogue with you but boom... you're already gone with no plans to ever come back. Not a "thanks for the great advice", no follow up... nothing. Those folks irritate me. People taking time to help you out but you just expect it. I guess it just comes naturally for self-entitled douche-bags with the instant-gratification mentality... treating an online community like FB or IG or something.

Haha thanks! I think that's a decent assessment of me.

I also agree about there being nothing wrong with being brutally honest. But some people think that I should take feelings into account before speaking like that. My sister said it best a few weeks ago when my girlfriend and I went to dinner with her and her husband. We don't sugar coat things and why should we have to? It was the way I was raised. Now people are so sensitive and this brutal honestly and bluntness rubs people the wrong way.

I may have some sociopath traits in my personality. I have little to no empathy for the average person.

I rarely post any questions as a newbie to the hobby. I have a hunch that anything I have to ask ... someone has already done so and the searching begins through the wealth of info on here ... one of the reasons I enjoy and appreciate forums. Another, is the wide range of helpful peeps on here Forums rock, all social media can go but I am an auld git set in his ways

I should partake more though lol

Please post up questions! I don't care if it has already been asked. That was an attitude to have when the forum was busy. Now, we only have a few new posts a day if we are lucky. Anything to generate conversation is good IMO. The lack of activity will chase people away from this site more than anything.

 

[Sherman]

Loving the discussion here! I'll definitely be posting more questions when some of my hardware arrives later this week and I start trying to shorten my wheelbase. I'm already appreciative of the help I've been given so far.

 

[diezel666]

The major issue with Forums and Social media, can be put aside with ONE simple comment when posting to people.

"The way I do / Have done it is:" - Instead of coming off from a point of "My way is the only way!" one will come off as, there are multiple ways to do something, here's how I chose to do it. This solves a lot of heartburn.

I see that happening around here more and more, in different ways, and it's refreshing to see people and their take on how they do something, and not be completely egotistical about it. Hence why I'm staying.