Crowdsourcing: New Member Introduction Thread

That’s a great response, Hope! Thank you!

I like love the idea of a Beginner’s Forum. It could be a place where people would be invited to do an intro thread but it would be a snark-free zone where no question is too basic or whatever. A safe space to ask basic questions without judgement.

Hope says “Let’s get real, if I’m on a JV high school basketball team it’s hard to take advice from LeBron James…”

Sounds like the perfect mission statement for the new forum. People learn best from folks they perceive as peers.

and again, all the forums on BPL should be snark free.

Great post, Hope. Thanks for adding your perspective.

…a Beginner’s Forum. It could be a place where people would be invited to do an intro thread but it would be a snark-free zone where no question is too basic or whatever. A safe space to ask basic questions without judgement.

I suggest googling “the exception proves the rule” and don’t define a special space that requires civility.  :-)

Agreed. The whole site should be civil.

Agreed. The whole site should be civil.

Hard to imagine anyone disagreeing with that statement.  The written word is difficult…often open to the interpretation of the reader and that reader’s attitude/temperament.  I’m not saying there is no snark on BPL, but have many times seen a statement taken as such when that was not the intent.

I’ve learned some hard lessons about taking a moment to re-read/re-think/edit/delete before posting, I suspect we all have. Even the best intentions are sometimes misinterpreted.

Personal attacks are unacceptable, but also keep in mind that we now live in a society where people tend to be hyper-sensitive and offended by almost everything. There really are a lot of snowflakes who just look for something to whine about. It’s kind of like you find yourself walking on eggshells hoping that what you say doesn’t hurt someone’s little feelings.

Thank goodness the most aggressive and insulting posters have mostly gone away from BPL. The worst perpetrator hasn’t posted in over a year. One time when I had an idea about a shelter he replied: “that’s about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”. Roger promptly deleted his post. And then on another outdoor site recently a member wrote that my suggestion was “laughable”. But my skin is thicker than most and I find if I control my emotions and slowly and methodically think of response, I can almost always make the insulting poster look like the a-hole they truly are.

Personal attacks are unacceptable …  There really are a lot of snowflakes.

I’m guessing you didn’t see any irony in your post? :)

Perhaps you’re right bradmacmt, however there are just as many on the political right who get easily bent out of shape than there are on the left, so I’m not sure the term “snowflake” is a personal attack on any one group or person really. Maybe not PC, but if the term means someone who absolutely will not hear any other opposing ideas without getting emotional, defensive and dramatic, then the word fits.

…we now live in a society where people tend to be hyper-sensitive and offended by almost everything. There really are a lot of snowflakes who just look for something to whine about. It’s kind of like you find yourself walking on eggshells hoping that what you say doesn’t hurt someone’s little feelings.

I can virtually guarantee that this is the exact sort of rhetoric that immediately turns a lot of people off, especially when spoken in a crowd of middle-age+ white males. Exactly why I do not refer my students to these forums. The use of the term snowflake is often code in and of itself. It creates an instant vibe that a whole lot of people are rightfully wary of. And when people preface statements with “I know it’s not PC but…” maybe that’s a clue that you know what you’re about to say is offensive to some people?

If the above is part of a lecture on civility, good luck attracting that younger, more diverse demographic BPL.

++++++1

Monte, I struggled to respond to your post. I agree with what Brad and Craig said. The post felt like a challenge to be offended or hypersensitive. Since we are talking about these topics publicly I am going to respond here rather than via PM.

My feeling (and BPL policy) is that posts should conform to the Forum Guidelines. It’s hard for me to understand why we would ever cross boundaries of respecting each other when we are talking about how many grams of fuel it takes to boil 2 cups of water, how fabric stretches on the bias, or when to use electronics in the field.

Rather than making accusations about people’s feelings getting hurt too easily, why not just be nice? We are all on Team Outdoors, right?

I’m going to steal a phrase from another BPL member. I love this little disclaimer at the end of their posts and I think it is a great mindset to be in when interacting with people online:

My 2 cents.

Sometimes I close posts with YMMV.

My intention in doing that is to make it clear that I am speaking from my own perspective and that others might make different choices based on their priorities, situations, or perspective.

I wrote something responding to the initial discussion about new members not being monolithic as I am a new member, but it looks like this discussion got off track and in the weeds.  So I’ve edited it as I’m not interested in the direction it went.