The Decline of the BT community (Page 10)

The decline is now complete.

race bandits ruin racing for those of us who paid.

Wait... I did that?  Huh, I had no idea I was THAT good!   

They are despicable human beings and should be flogged in public it!  

Especially bandits who prancercize and have fun during a race. THE WORST.

I know, right?

I kind of think of it this way.  Does the 3rd grade teacher tell the new class "that question was asked last year, and the year before, and the year before - look it up".

OF COURSE a question is going to be asked over and over again because there are new people all the time.  Now if it was the SAME person, I would start to wonder.

Besides, I can show off how much I know again and again!   

I guess I don't understand why people get put off if someone asks a question that was asked a dozen times before.  Just don't answer if it bothers you that much.

My wife does that until she hears the answer she wants.

What do you want for dinner?

PIZZA!

What do you want for dinner?

A BURGER!

What do you want for dinner?

A steak????

What do you want for dinner?

Sushi??????????????

OK!  Since you want sushi, that's what we will get!  Great idea!

Yeah, that was my thought too.

BTW, great post, Kido!  Agree 100%!

That's funny.  Mine prefers to give me two or three options for dinner.  I select X.  And inevitably she asks, are you sure you want that, or would you like to try Y instead?  There is no good way to answer or not answer this question.

and even if a question has been asked before, it does not mean that you (no one particular) has to answer every single question post on here if you do not want too. If the topic os old to you, then move on, others will answer.

I can tell you that I get put off when people ask questions that can very easily be answered with a simple Google search. I have used LMGTFW often in replies. I am also bothered when a question is asked and a thread about the same question is still on the front page. I have more patience and respect for people who at least try to figure something out on their own, or will scroll through a few threads, or will do a search for existing threads on the same topic. To me that goes along with taking personal responsibility. Real life example that chaps my azz: there is a woman at work who has a computer with a clock, a desk phone with time of day on the display, a cell phone with time of day, and she wears a huge "stylish" watch, but she will ask anyone in earshot, "What time is it?"

Show some initiative and a bit of self reliance!!

I had to Google that (slaps forehead... hard).  No sarc font, I actually did.       (the W threw me off - that's my story, at least).

Agree that some search is a good pre-req, but the specific question can often be different than many of the previous threads.  Sometimes close isn't enough (I and admit that many times it is... just sayin'). 

I still think it's fine for people to ask even lazy questions.  Better not to respond, IMO, than flame.  Flip side, 'course, is that if you enter the interweb, you do so at your own peril (and you juuuuuuuust might get called out, so wear your big boy singlet).

Matt

And The Better Half does the same with dinner here, on occassion...

My typo is not as bad as a lazy question.......

In the asker's defense, the search function here can be HORRIBLE depending on what you are asking, as your results are limted to a link to a potentially multipage thread with no clue as to where the searched for term resides,

IMO, it's better to have newbie questions asked over and over for the primary reason that this is still beginnertriathlete, even though many here are not beginners.  It's also easy just to not open the "how do you count lap" threads if you are not interested in reading the same responses.

Yes, it is and that is part of what is contributing got the lack of involvement or engagement. I've read a few posters who share my same experience; scan the first few thread titles, see the same stuff over and over again, or see the same user names of people I don't particularly enjoy reading, and move on to CoJ or move away from BT. I have been feeling this way for a little while but never considered starting a thread about it. Not sure if it's the cyclical nature of a site like this or not. I didn't notice it in the first few years I was here but maybe the cycle is 4 or 5 years. 

Not sure I agree 100% that this is the reason participation declines (eta, just re read, and you said  "part"  of the reason, I do agree it's part) .  I don't respond because other people have answered the question already.  I do respond to those things that I have constructive information for.  I don't think "use the search" button is constructive 1.  because it's off putting for a beginner and 2. the search function sucks.

I believe participation declines because, due respect to them as I've done the job here before and it's not easy, the mods let too many trolls and non-tri relate topics exist on TT

just my ,02

Strong work again TAN!

Switch, I'm not sure where the hatred of TAN began for you, and if it's something that I did personally, then I apologize - it's never been my intention at any time to hurt anyone's feelings.  

Not everyone is going to be happy with all of the content on this website.  I personally don't like and don't agree with a lot of the views that are expressed in Political Joe (which is why I avoid going into that area of BT), but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate and value the opinions of those people when they post outside of that part of the forum.  Posting in TAN shouldn't automatically brand someone as a bad person, and the group of people in there isn't a bad group though the impression that I get is that you feel every person that posts in that forum is a disappointment, or is in some way a bad or lesser person.  Is it a fairly close group in there?  Yes it is.  TAN has been around in BT for years, and it's a bunch of people who come together on an almost daily basis to have a threaded conversation about pretty much anything but triathlons, though those comments do sneak in from time to time and the person is appropriately punished for such shenanigans.  

I guess I don't really have any solutions to offer, or even know if there's a problem here to be addressed, I merely wanted to respond.    

She's not the only one with an issue with TaN.  I'm not even a part of most of the battles, but I find the way users use that thread to mock people off-putting.

I do thank you for your post though.  You are right that not everyone in TaN is negative.

I didn't really hate it until the last 24 hours, but I have had problems with it for a long time.  I actually think I've only been in there twice in the last three months--both times were because someone else had PMed me about the behavior going on and asked me to look at it.

Again to reiterate I don't think everyone who posts in TAN is bad, and I don't think posting in TAN by itself makes someone bad.  I broke down that paragraph line-by-line in this thread, and did it again for Jim via PM, as there still seemed to be some confusion.  I'm not going to go through that again.

If someone tries to address an issue with someone, I think that issue should be addressed with that person. If you feel the need to make jokes about it, do it through PM.  If someone tries to address why race banditing is a bad idea--which it is, especially for a 40K person race that fills up months in advance--they shouldn't then be the butt of jokes in TAN (pg 69 of the last TAN thread, for reference and again here as an "inside joke").  If someone tries to address someone being insensitive about weight issues and obesity, the appropriate--or maybe I should use the word "mature"--thing is to continue a dialogue with that person calling you out.  Saying "trying to have a civil conversation is a lost cause at this point, so I will gracefully bow out" (page 3) but then retreating to TAN and joking about it with your buddies, is anything but graceful. 

This happens CONSTANTLY in that thread, and those behaviors are derisive. It does nothing to promote BT and MANY posters have left BT because of it.  Why not just do that on Facebook or through PM?  It really does seem either incredibly thoughtless or purposefully hurtful.  I could not care less about the opinions of people who repeatedly engage in such behaviors, but I think it's a problem for the site, and you seem to care about that, so maybe that's something to think about.

Four individuals have contacted me to thank me for saying something about TAN and the problems associated with it.  I wish others would be more vocal, but I understand their reasons for not doing that.  I have no problem standing up to BS, and that's what I think this is. The thread title yesterday could not have better proved my point.

I can see how TAN would be confusing to those who just pop in, read a few posts they don't understand, and leave. I am often confused or not interested in  other threads on this site and then... wait for it... don't click on them again - problem solved! No additional time wasted! It's not rocket science. And also not reason for me to immediately hate those folks. Different strokes, ya know? 

There are inside jokes, yes (which I think some people are mis-interpreting as "negative" things - everything in TAN should be read in red italics font). When did that become a crime? Inside jokes happen ALLLL over this forum, the web, and life. Do people also get upset in these situations that they aren't part of every inside joke they encounter? It seems like such a petty and immature thing to get upset about. 

Today's TAN topics:
Food
Halloween
Surgery recovery and support for said BTer
Sharpies
Food

So are you denying that mocking people doesn't happen in that thread, or are you saying it's justified because people don't have to look there?  "Don't come in here if you don't like us talking about you."  Is that really what we have here?

Here's an example:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=491068&page=84&pagesize=25#M4826829

You made that post RE: me making a comment about TaN being more of a clique where you guys respond to a certain group of each other and more or less ignore others, which does happen.  I was bothered by that, but then the above post took it to the next level.  It was additionally bothersome because I've enjoyed conversations with you in threads from the past.