[3CISSBB]

Having owned and operated my own computer security business for 11 years now and offering support ranging from email and I.M., to phone calls and remote desktop sessions, I have come to find several constants. There are those of us who are always willing to help those that want to help themselves and only need a push in the right direction. We are constantly looking to solve problems because the answers are a means to and end for us. We seek a greater understanding of the technology and devices that drive our imagination and integrate into our lives to make daily tasks easier. Sure; we come across people every day who ask stupid questions (to us anyway), ask the same questions over and over until our ears or fingers are bleeding from having to repeat the answers so many times. If you don't have the patience to answer them in a manner befitting a professional or someone with courtesy; then you shouldn't waste your time posting anything at all. Seems to me more often than not, people go out of their way to post condescending, smart comments either because they want attention or to boost their post count.

I'm not without fault either. I have posted my share of comments questioning someone on their search oversight, or lack of common sense. I am guilty myself of this at times.

I think that the members of this forum (myself included) need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. This forum was created by people to help people. Its purpose was to extend the knowledge base of the BB community. More often now it seems the threads have acquired a particular set of members that make it a goal to post unhelpful, rude, sarcastic jabs at people only seeking answers. Sure...answers that have most likely been answered already (maybe even a dozen times or more), but nevertheless, they ask only to be met with the same cr&ppy attitude by mostly the same cr&ppy people.

When you come across a post with a question that has been asked 1,000 times, simply try NOT answering at all, and leave the answer to someone who has more patience and manners and be less concerned about your ****** post count. After all.........it's about HELPING people, not condemning them for not using the search function or reading through the thousand or more pages of posts.

Day after day I see more people come here asking questions that I myself have answered a hundred times, so I simply ignore the thread and leave the answer to someone who has a bit more patience than me that day. But the same members go out of their way to promote Google over and over. Where are the MODS? Is it their intention to allow this behavior to go on and on? Too many freakin politics involved!?

Sure, you can sit back and say that if someone gets on here and asks a stupid question and gets a lot of BS answers and gets scared off, then threatens to leave and never come back; you can say so what! Who cares! We have enough members already! That kind of attitude will end up being the downfall of a great community. We need to embrace every new member; whether they ask stupid questions over and over or not.

My post count could be well over 5,000 if I spent my time replying to every single question posted with a sarcastic comment. I have my moments where I will call someone on something if I know in my professional capacity what they are saying is false amd misleading; because I don't want someone mis-informing members who don't know any better.

For the love of god people, quit being rude to other members and get back to what we're supposed to do best..........HELP.

[gritsinct]

AMEN!!! I lurk on here a lot because it's an active community with a lot of positive qualities. But I will not, in general, ask or answer questions on this board because I hate the attitudes that come up. I go to a different community to do that where bad attitudes are simply not allowed, and it makes for a much nicer experience for everyone. But it does not have a lot of things that crackberry.com has to offer - this could be an amazing forum if there were some changes made... Just my 2 cents - no one slam me please! :-)

[KurtisBertolami]

"But the same members go out of their way to promote Google over and over. Where are the MODS? Is it their intention to allow this behavior to go on and on? Too many freakin politics involved!?"

*cough* aristile *cough* lazerus *cough*

You guys are definitely among the most intelligent people on here when it comes to managing your blackberry and such, but this guy nailed it on the head. Just try sometimes to pass over the dupe thread without mocking everyone.

[ClintRo]

Lol.... I agree! If you have nothing nice to say....don't say anything.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[exzibit3]

Finally someone said it. This is the most hostile and condescending forum I have ever come across. The information is great but some of the more senior members are the biggest jerks I have had the displeasure of coming across. Thank you to all the other helpful members out there even if it is to point out a link or a gentle nudge in the right direction. Fortunately, I've managed to figure out most of what I need to get out of my device, being a first time user, without having to make too many posts here and get publically crucified.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[BLu]

Ha, so very well said 3CISS! I'm sure a lot of us have been thinking the same for a long time now.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[melh72]

Agreed - very nicely said. Helping is a choice, if you don't want to do it then move on but don't make someone feel bad for asking a question.

BTW - If you think this is bad, you should go over to the 8900 themes section, where war almost broke out in the last week or so.

[ClintRo]

LOL.... true story. IDK why it is so bad in there...LOL

[impalass96]

Very well written! Agree....

Perfect example of the annoyance of this cocky forum member who just has the urge on being very rude and making smart *** remarks;
http://forums.crackberry.com/f100/bb...9/#post3105747

[impalass96]

LOL.... true story. IDK why it is so bad in there...LOL

Cilantro, Pass me your BBM 5.0 bar-code!

[TheJonSolo]

I agree. I run a help forum with thousands of users and it is heavily modded to prevent that sort of rudeness. Not only do I make money because of it, but people return, not just because their questions get answered, but because it is a nice place to be.

It is smart **** answers that has us in the problems that exist today. No one is perfect, but could we at least try, ha?

That is why I lurk and read and search. It would be easier to ask and get an answer.

[exzibit3]

Agreed - very nicely said. Helping is a choice, if you don't want to do it then move on but don't make someone feel bad for asking a question.

BTW - If you think this is bad, you should go over to the 8900 themes section, where war almost broke out in the last week or so.

Exactly. As a senior member, if you read another post with a header saying "What is BIS?", just ignore it if you can't be stuffed to answer. Why even bother opening the thread to post a sarcastic reply? Mods should delete posts as they see fit, and everyone else of the thousands of users who can actually BE stuffed can post if they want to. No one is asking you to pretend to be nice and hold your breath as you try to impart your knowledge again. Just stop posting negative comments.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[melh72]

LOL.... true story. IDK why it is so bad in there...LOL

I know - what happened?! One day they were all one big happy theme making family and then...pandemonium breaks

I used to love going to that forum but now...

[aristile]

So clearly this was a shot at me, right? A PM would have been more "professional", as you put it, but that's fine with me if you want to be public about it. For starters I think its important here that you guys realize there is a distinction between Laz and myself. While I can be condescending and frustrated at times, I always provide a solution in some form or another. I am clearly here to help members and you can take one look at my signature to realize that. You guys also need to realize that part of the functionality of a forum is to have archived solutions that users can then search through so that the same questions are not asked over and over again. In fact, if you guys check out the guidelines of using this forum you will see that searching comes before creating a new thread. Also I think its worth noting that if you think I am bad, I can assure you that there are mods on here who are much worse and have a much higher post count that I do. On that topic, I think the lack of moderation is a big problem in this forum. I do understand there are other forums here which are much nastier on a daily basis but at the same time this one in particular could definitely use more moderation. Many of these repetitive posts would be taken care of and at the same time rudeness would also get squashed quickly - yes even sometimes from me.

Guys you really need to realize it is a two way street here. Sure its easy to point the finger at someone else and shift the blame just on them but that is not going to get us anywhere. I do realize at times that I make myself into a target and that's my bad and I do take full responsibility for that. When I started here I knew little to nothing about Blackberries so I searched and searched and searched until I learned a wealth of information. Only after that did I decide that Crackberry was so great to me, that I wanted to give back. Since then that is what I have been doing here. All the time I spend here giving people free advice and saving them time so they don't have to search for themselves is free of charge. Don't take me wrong, I do want to help as that is why I am here. People also need to realize that they are getting the benefit of peoples' time free of charge and, in general, a little more gratitude would be much appreciated. I am confident that I have helped much more people than I have rubbed the wrong way here in the forum and that's just the nature of the beast. Its impossible to please everyone and I do realize that is the case. Hopefully you guys will read this and understand a bit more where I am coming from.

[ClintRo]

Cilantro, Pass me your BBM 5.0 bar-code!

Don't I already have you on BBM?? If not here you go!!

[3CISSBB]

So clearly this was a shot at me, right? A PM would have been more "professional", as you put it, but that's fine with me if you want to be public about it. For starters I think its important here that you guys realize there is a distinction between Laz and myself. While I can be condescending and frustrated at times, I always provide a solution in some form or another. I am clearly here to help members and you can take one look at my signature to realize that. You guys also need to realize that part of the functionality of a forum is to have archived solutions that users can then search through so that the same questions are not asked over and over again. In fact, if you guys check out the guidelines of using this forum you will see that searching comes before creating a new thread. Also I think its worth noting that if you think I am bad, I can assure you that there are mods on here who are much worse and have a much higher post count that I do. On that topic, I think the lack of moderation is a big problem in this forum. I do understand there are other forums here which are much nastier on a daily basis but at the same time this one in particular could definitely use more moderation. Many of these repetitive posts would be taken care of and at the same time rudeness would also get squashed quickly - yes even sometimes from me.

Guys you really need to realize it is a two way street here. Sure its easy to point the finger at someone else and shift the blame just on them but that is not going to get us anywhere. I do realize at times that I make myself into a target and that's my bad and I do take full responsibility for that. When I started here I knew little to nothing about Blackberries so I searched and searched and searched until I learned a wealth of information. Only after that did I decide that Crackberry was so great to me, that I wanted to give back. Since then that is what I have been doing here. All the time I spend here giving people free advice and saving them time so they don't have to search for themselves is free of charge. Don't take me wrong, I do want to help as that is why I am here. People also need to realize that they are getting the benefit of peoples' time free of charge and, in general, a little more gratitude would be much appreciated. I am confident that I have helped much more people than I have rubbed the wrong way here in the forum and that's just the nature of the beast. Its impossible to please everyone and I do realize that is the case. Hopefully you guys will read this and understand a bit more where I am coming from.

Actually, to be honest aristile; I was referring to (name omitted to remain general and unbiased), but there are in fact many. Too many to name. That is why there were NO NAMES MENTIONED.

Just to be CLEAR.

[aristile]

Alright, that's kewl. I can tell some people posting in your thread had some animosity against me so I thought it was a good idea to post my thoughts anyway. Glad to hear it really wasn't a shot at me, I was surprised really since I know I've stepped into stick up for you a few times when it was necessary!

[3CISSBB]

Alright, that's kewl. I can tell some people posting in your thread had some animosity against me so I thought it was a good idea to post my thoughts anyway. Glad to hear it really wasn't a shot at me, I was surprised really since I know I've stepped into stick up for you a few times when it was necessary!

Yes you have. And I do appreciate it. My thread was NOT aimed at you or anyone else in PARTICULAR, because there really are far too many people to name. It was a general post pointing to a very prominent underlying problem here on CB.

[ClintRo]

Aristile,

I don't think it was aimed at you... I know that at times you and I both have gotten out of hand.

[ClintRo]

ok I am, slow

[impalass96]

Alright, that's kewl. I can tell some people posting in your thread had some animosity against me so I thought it was a good idea to post my thoughts anyway. Glad to hear it really wasn't a shot at me, I was surprised really since I know I've stepped into stick up for you a few times when it was necessary!

aristile is the "Bomb", this cat has been nothing but help! and like Cilantro said, i don't think it was aimed to you!

[munan]

Exactly. I've tried making this point for years.
If you have the time to reply with "Search the forum you lazy arse" then couldn't you have just as easily replied with "It's under Options, General, blah blah"???
I try to be a helpful, contributing member of the boards I follow, but it's THAT attitude that causes me to leave. Once a message board or forum is nothing bu a few elitists who will snap at anyone getting near them, what's the point?
Some of the best forums on the interent have died because a few pricks wanted to play "techgeekier-than-thou".
Thank you for saying this.

[ClintRo]

LOL @ techgeeker-than-thou!!!!

[Doctor A]

Medically speaking this is a very healthy thread!

Doc

[Caesarg]

wholeheartedly agree with the OP. If you don't like the topic/question, move on. But of course there are those that simply cannot. They have to inject their sarcasm.

As for searching - great, you enter a search topic and end up with numerous (in some cases hundreds) of hits. If the search process was more precise, maybe more would use the search feature. I know some would say you can use advanced features, etc. but many of those seeking answers do not have the computer knowledge to do this. I was an IT for many years and the level of knowledge of most users was very low. If someone cannot do simple tasks on a phone, how do you expect them to do advanced functions on a forum?

Finally, would love to hear from some of the mods as to why the forums aren't regulated more (deleting of snide/rude/crude/useless remarks)? Is it because there are an insufficient number of mods? Or is it because they enjoy the banter? Or quite possibly is it because so many of the remarks come from very senior users (high post counts or mods themselves) who the mods don't want to upset? Just curious.

My two cents for what it's worth.