From: Eric L. Strobel (fyzycyst_at_comcast.net)
Date: Tue Mar 25 2003 - 07:49:04 PST
on 03/25/03 10:24 AM, Doug Parker at dougparker_at_progressdata.com wrote:
>
>
> Simplified newbie scenario #42:
>
> A newbie buys a Newt.
>
> The newbie googles her way to newtontalk.net and subscribes.
>
> The newbie finds experienced Newt users talking about Newts.
>
> Here's an important question: Will the newbie Newt user find a community of
> experienced Newt users talking about Newts in such a way that she will
> immediately understand the discussion, or will she have to lurk for a period
> of time to hash through experienced postings before she'll learn the lingo,
> the links, the environment, the shortcuts, and the jokes, and start to get
> it?
>
> Put yourself in her shoes. If all discussions are generated with the
> understanding that every discussion is going to be read by newbies (yes, as
> well as by seasoned Newties), then the discussions will be the most helpful
> to her. In other words, every response (ideally) should be written as if it
> was the first time it has ever been answered, because we never know when a
> newbie will be reading a particular post, and every post has that potential.
> I'm suggesting that to some degree, you assume that *every* post will be
> read by newbies.
>
> It should be an understood, unspoken rule that all replies are
> simplified--directed to the experience level of the newbie. It may get
> tiring reading answers you already know the questions to ;-) , but the
> alternative is a sort of clique-ish community that gives the impression that
> newbies, their curiosity, and their enthusiasm is disliked and not welcome.
Risk: Talking down to the more experienced. When an experienced user has a
problem, often they've already checked the FAQ, etc. Potentially a big time
waster for someone who'd like a quick expert suggestion to have to wade
through fifteen rudimentary answers only to have to reply "Yes, thank you,
but I've already done all the simple stuff."
>
> So assume that every question is always being answered for the first time.
> For this, FAQs are useful, but then when a particular question lends itself
> to redirection to the FAQ, even that has to be done as if it was the first
> time it has ever been done. Compare:
>
> 1) Go read the FAQ. www.chuma.org/...
>
> is a bit abrupt.
>
> 2) Hey, I totally understand your question.
> There's a great Frequently Asked Questions
> list (FAQ) at www.chuma.org/...
>
> even spells out what FAQ means in case the newbie has never heard of it
> before.
>
Now this is a good point. And when referring to the FAQ, perhaps those not
in a big hurry could post the URL to the actual FAQ, or better yet, tell the
newbie what to do to find it.
> Tedious? Yes.
>
> Helpful? Immensely.
>
> Accommodating? Absolutely.
>
I think the real issue is for folks to simply be polite. There has always
been a mix of experience levels on this list. If anyone is irritated by the
80th instance of "What's that whine when the backlight is on?", click delete
and move on. There's plenty of other folks on here that will answer the
question. The "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything
at all" rule, while not entirely guaranteed to work, is at least able to be
implemented instantly w/o any intervention by the list dad.
- Eric.
-- Eric Strobel (fyzycyst_at_NOSPAM^mailaps.org) ===================================================================== I like animals. They taste good! ===================================================================== -- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries List FAQ/Etiquette/Terms: http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Tue Mar 25 2003 - 09:00:01 PST