Beginners Don't Respond?
 

Anyone else question why some beginners come to this forum and post a question, then after we take the trouble to provide answers, never respond?

I don't think it's that big a deal, most say thanks and we all move on. I guess some people are just rude. :rolleyes:
Dennis-

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I guess it depends how you were "brought up". When I was learning Internetting on the newsgroups, before there were many web forums, it was considered bad manners to waste bandwidth and people's time by posting messages with no real content like "Thanks Dennis thanks Fred, thanks....". Almost as bad as posting "me too" ;).

I still have the habit of not replying unless I can add something. Sorry if it appears rude to you :(. Of course if you can post something like "That 3rd suggestion Fred made was the one that fixed my problem, thanks" that might be better but then everyone who wasn't Fred would feel slighted. Tricky call ;).

Steve

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

DB,

Ive had a few use the PM service to thank me for the info, but your right, funny how they will profusly thank there instructor ,but forget the guys that helped them get their plane finished or solved the problem they had at the field ,I think its because of the anominimity of the internet,

Highlander

Just in case I'm an offender...
 

Just in case I missed anyone...

Thanks guys, for all the great info on trainers, 4-strokes, fuel tank position, and any other silly question I might have asked and forgotten to reply after having been duly enlightened!

-Rick

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

after we take the trouble to provide answers

Maybe this is your problem. I never have to take the TROUBLE to provide answers, I only have to take my generousity and apply it in a helpful manner. ;)

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

Some people are shy and it takes alot for them to ask the question in the first place. If they don't answer back, I take it as they got the info they needed and I am happy. The important thing is that the information is then on the forum for others that may have the same question and are afraid of looking dumb by asking questions. I followed the forums for three month before I got the courage to ask my first question. Now I am settled in and won't shut up. :D If your looking for some sort of gradification for answers given, then maybe you are not the best one to give advice. Let the ones that want to help and don't care about ,a pat on the back, answer the questions. Sorry if I offended anyone one with this statement. Just my 2 cents.

IFS #420

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I would rather post an answer and not get a response back, than to send someone a PM and to know they have read it and not respond back to the question sent. It is especilally anoying in the for sale forums when something goes up for sale and the seller disapears. I guess it is better for them to disapear before they have the money than after though-lol.

not responding ?????
 

hello all,
well i can tell you that alot of the posts i have seen and the ones i have posted myself, often times say THANK YOU IN ADVANCE along with there question. so if they dont respond we know they still appreciate the help. thanks for listening everyone :)


bassman

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I don't mind getting "no response" and I freqently don't manage to go back to a thread after I've posted anyway. I guess you could call it "fire and forget advice" or something. A bad habit of mine I suspect. Anyway, when I do get a PM or a response on a thread that says something I suggested helped, it makes me feel good. But I don't feel bad when I don't get a response. I also came from the old pre-web/pre-aol net, back when bandwidth was scarce. (gads, that made me think, 15yrs on the net).

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

dbcherry: I am relatively new, but don't consider myself a newbie. However, the question can also be asked in reverse. Why is it that when some newbie or anyone for that matter posts a question, that no one responds. It cuts both ways.

As far as Thank you's, I try to thank those who give me helpful advice, Minnflyer, blackie, and you too. I will try to say thanks because that is what I was taught, but it is certain I have missed someone....So THANKS

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

hookedonrc,
Good question about questions not getting answers. Personally, if I see something with out an answer, and I know something abotu it, I'll usually chime in. (another opertunity to run my mouth, how could I pass it up? :D)

Seriously, I think the "no responses" fall in to a few groups that I can think of:
- too common of a question - some questions come up over and over and over and over and over and over. I'm sometimes surprised that they usually do get a direct answer. I think a lot of folks would do better to read or use the search a bit, since there is an awful lot of good info on here.
- wrong topic - some questions go unanswered if they really belong in another forum
- too vague - not nearly enough info to give a good answer to it
- too unusual - sometimes you can ask a question, and folks just don't have a good answer for you. I've been known to generalize from areas I know in to areas I'm not so sure on, and I always try to make it clear when I do that, but even so, I've taken a pass on questions that I just don't have a good answer for.
- asked in an annoying way - this one is rare, but it is possible to ask a question in such a way that no one wants to deal with it.
- expecting an answer too quickly - frankly, I don't see many questions go unanswered. Sometimes the question takes a while, since most of us don't "live" on here. It may take a while for the right person with the right knowledge to see a question. I've been known to be away from online forums for as much as a week at a time. I don't think there's anything I can answer that plenty of other folks on here can't easily answer as well, but you get the idea.

The last thing someone should do is assume that if their question isn't answered that it's somehow personal.

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I also get a lot of people that email or PM me and thank me. More don't than do. I am just happy to help the ones I can. I have been enjoying this hobby since I was 12 and love to share it. Its my life, when I am not flying full scale which I do almost every day.

There are a lot who take others for granted, but the ones who really appreciate the help make it all worth doing.

Thanks!
 

Dennis,

I can't answer for all the newbs on this forum, but just for myself. I have never said thanks to any answered question that I have posted. But I have almost always ended a posting with a "would be greatly appreciated" and always a "thanks" at the end with my name, thats just good etiquette. I started a couple of thank you post when I first started to visit this forum, but deleted them, figureing it just wasn't needed. I'm not saying that the responces weren't appreciated, just figured that the person already knew that the time they took to answer was appreciated in advance from my closing.

Now with that said, I would like to say that I do appreciate the responces that my post have gotten, and Dennis you would be one in particular, as you have responded to just about every post I have put on this forum. But I would really like to thank everybody for the responces to postings that I had nothing to do with but read and gain so much knowledge from. I have learned more from reading others postings then from my own, I guess thats why my post are so few. I have found that the questions I generally have about this hobby have been covered many times, some questions admittedly many more times than others. And I have found a search will usually be responded with a flood of info from the past postings.

So Kirk some of us newbs do know how to use that search feature ;) .

And because of these past responces I have spared myself from making the wrong choices in equipment to purchase, trying to learn to fly on my own, and have also guided me in making the right choices in equipment so I can save money in the long run for future projects. (Although my wife still doesn't believe it and wants proof :D ), and finding a local club to fly with.

So I know I went a little off the posted topic a bit, but I just wanted everybody to know that even if I don't respond with a thanks to a post, I will reitterate, it doesn't go un-appreciated. I would truly be lost without the help of the people who take there time to answer the many questions put forth by me and others every day here on RCU. Keep it up, the great advice and knowledge given here to us newbs now can then be given by us to the newbs of the future, a legacy in the making I quess. So even if a few may not respond with a thanks, including myself, I believe that there are more of us newbs on here who feel as I do, even if we don't say it after a responce is given.

Jim Starbuck

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I know that one reason that I don't respond is that some of the questions I'll see over & over, and that "somebody else" will surely answer it. I read a post just today about instructors & the help that they give, and I believe that one person said that only three out of twenty people stay with the hobby because the others are probably just curious. I'm sure we all run across some curiousity seekers who want to know "how much" and "how difficult" things are in the RC airplane world, and if it's too much or if they feel it's too difficult, they move on. I'd like to say " Thank You " to RC Universe and to the moderators for all the time they put in for this great hobby of ours. I know it's helped me quite a bit.

Re: Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I reckon the most common reason is that, being a beginner, they don't really get the fact that somebody has actually replied to them personally.

It still takes a leap of faith for newbies to realize that there is, actually, somebody the other side of that monitor. It's a bit like asking why a person, driving for the first time, makes a simple mistake. They know it was a mistake, for sure, but it didn't register that they were actually driving.

Don't you remember having your mind a bit blown by this absurd medium?

-David C.

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

First, I'd like to thank everyone who posted answers to my question. ;)

StarBux,
I didn't have anyone in mind when I started this thread. In fact, it was in response to having read a couple of threads that I had NOT contributed to, but realized the original posted had never chimed back in. (And your "Thanks in advance" and similar endings to posted questions suffice as far as I'm concerned.)

Maybe I'm just unhappy with the general state of etiquette today, and on the internet in particular.

sdt22,
I don't mind answering questions in the least. In fact, virtually ALL of my time here is spent in 2 Forums, "Beginners" and "Questions and Answers", with a bit more in "Tips and Techniques" and "Kit Building".

The "trouble" I was referring to was primarily the 2 or 3 dozen times I've answerewd the same questions about trainers, finding a club and instructor, how to break in an engine, and the like. But I still respond kindly, seldom suggest they do a search, and usually welcome them whole-heartedly to RCU and RC flight.

So yeah, you did offend me a bit. :p

Montague & nukes,
I have trouble shutting up too. Guess that's WHY I've responded so often to the same questions. :stupid:

hookedonrc,
I don't think I've seen 5% of questions here go unanswered. I will sometimes ONLY respond by asking for more info, but....

David,
Are you saying that some perceive this to be a site like "Ask Jeeves"? Just kidding, maybe you have a point. :D

All in all, I'm not upset about it at all, and I honestly can't think of a particular time that I didn't get a "thanks". Maybe I was bored and just threw out the question because it came to me. I don't know. :(

Thanks again all. :D
Dennis-

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

What's mindblowing is the fact that someone from any part of the world could respond to your thread.

Common Courtesy
 

I get a lot of good advice at this Forum, and always try to thank the person taking the time to post an answer or suggestion.

Even the guy that said my name "said it all" and I didn't know what I was doing.

Even though I may not be thrilled with the attitude or advice given, or the manner it is delivered, I'll take the time to thank the poster for bothering with me - just as I would an instructor at the field.

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

I subscribe to too many mailing lists, read a few web forums like RCU and got involved in Usenet 20 (yes, 20) years ago. I cannot tell you how many mailing lists and newsgroups I gave up trying to read because for every good post there were 5 or 10 or 50 more like so:
thanks,
no - thank you,
you are too kind
congratulations
your mother must be proud
thank you
no, thank you
blah
blah
etc, etc, etc, etc....

It is enough to make a grown person SCREAM.

I discovered RCU a few weeks ago, read it for a while, got an ID and read some more. Depending on the subject, RCU often has a higher signal to noise ratio than Usenet. And some subjects are indistinguishable from Usenet. Even here, there is an incredible amount of no content, conversational fluff. And here too, there are way, way too many armchair experts who, "I have no experience to answer your specific question, but blah blah rocks - it flies like it is on rails, 2S's blow, 4S's blow, XYZ is better"...

Out of curiosity, I just searched "on rails" - 1241 subjects! That's kind of like searching "dude" on a surfer list. :)

Okay, having said all of that, depending on the forum, there is some really good and useful stuff here. You just have to be a little careful and wade through the fluff. I am a newbie here. I am a newbie to the hobby again after decades of no R/C joy. If I forget to post a thank you for ever person who responds to any question I may ask, please know that I do appreciate the help and I may just be trying to keep the fluff down to a dull roar for the next newbie that spends countless hours using the search function instead of asking some FAQ for the 347th time.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

thanks,
-- Jan

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

After reading additional posts, I do agree that the same questions are repeated continually. I have been here since DEC of 2002, not a relative long time, but here long enough to know exactly what you are talking about. There have been times that I have responded to the same questions on different threads the same day.

So I took a look at the FAQ's to see if there is any type of guidance on how to conduct searches, or just an advisory for new people outlining how to conduct a search. I did not find one, although there is a thread at the beginning of the beginners forum on what type of plane to buy.

I now use the search feature every time I think about posting something. If I can't find the answer, or one close enough to my question, then I post. I wonder if the site is providing enough emphasis on searching before posting? At first glance I am not so sure.

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

That's part of the reason why Marc (RCAdmin) recently made a "tweak" that causes the number of replies per thread to show up in red if there are no replies yet - that helps people easily notice that a question has not yet been answered, and then they can jump in.

As for the search option - yeah - that's definitely underused, even when you point its existence out. I recently noticed a thread (not in this forum) in which someone asked a question ... it was answered with "That's been covered several times here recently, so if you do a search for 'xyz' you will get plenty of info" ; the person who originally asked the question then responded a couple more times saying "What - no one will tell me the answer ?" - he wanted the answer posted right there in that thread so that he didn't have to bother himself with a search. Oh well - you can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Gordon

on searching
 

I have been using Google since they went online. After Google, all other search engines pale in comparison. Unfortunately, the search engine used here seems rather limited. It does not handle quoted strings or multiple fields well. So to get a good search narrowed down is difficult at best. If my search involves more than a couple of words I have been using Google instead. It is too bad that Sig name the Four Star like they did. The somewhat standard use of 4* is a real problem for search engines. "*" means "match anything".

Beginners Don't Respond?
 

They are asking you information. they don't need to respond.