Ok I came up with this grand theory of Hatrack last night somewhere in my 15 hours of sleep (stupid mono). I need to re-read Xenocide and Children of the Mind to verify, though I'm sure most of you will be able to correct or expand on the theory as it goes.
The theory is this: different ones of us treat newbies like Novinha's children treated the Descolada. Some of them were extremely suspicious and wanted to do something right away, while others (was it Ela?) wanted to try to communicate with it and kept trying long after others had given up.
I'm not saying that this is a good or bad thing, I'm just making an observation. I think OSC actually managed to demonstrate a pretty good cross section of human nature in that reaction, and we are mirroring the reaction here on Hatrack in how we treat newbies.
What do you think Jatraqueros?
AJ
Posted by policyvote (Member # 3044) on :
Personally, I don't think this community treats newbies any differently than any other long-lived forum with a fairly stable population.
Except, of course, that every newbie intro thread turns into six pages of debate about how we treat newbies.
Peace policy
Posted by HatrackChess (Member # 5379) on :
I dunno. I just like to call 'em n00bs.
Posted by hansenj (Member # 4034) on :
weird...When I read the first part of your title it brought back images of a dream I had last night. It's been years since I read Speaker, Xenocide, or Children of the Mind, but last night I had a dream that was set on Lusitania. I only know it was there because people were talking about being infected with a disease, and having it contained and not cured.
My dreams have been unusual lately. They have been set in the world of different books, movies, and TV shows, but the characters from the book, movie, or TV show aren't there.
(ends weird off-topic rant)
As to your theory, I think it works pretty well. Although I'd say the proportions are off. People are not as scared of newbies as they are of a strange virus. So, while in COTM Quara was in the minority wanting to communicate with the Descolada, here the minority are those that are suspicious.
But then again, newbies can be pretty frightening!
Edit: Ela=Quara (see, it's been years!)
[ July 16, 2003, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: hansenj ]
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
It was Quara who wanted to talk to them and she only did it to be contrary. Ela was the one who was studying ways of "castrating" it. The general concensus was to keep both lines of research open and wait and see, which, from what I can tell, is what is usually done here. There are people who are suspiscious and investigations may be undertaken, but I don't think anything really drastic happens.
Posted by Slash the Berzerker (Member # 556) on :
Umm....
I would never devour a virus.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
You have and you will again. Silly Slash.
Posted by Slash the Berzerker (Member # 556) on :
Kayla, I want a lot less 'castration' talk out of you young lady. It makes me uncomfortable.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
I guess after yesterday, it isn't such a hot idea for me to be bandying that word about, is it. Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Maybe my mono-virus is trying to talk to me through dreams....
I thought one of the girls, I don't know which one, absolutely did NOT want to kill the descolada.
I can't honestly remember the guys reactions.
AJ
Posted by Doug J (Member # 1323) on :
I just tend to ignore noob threads, what camp does that put me in?
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Ohaldo?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I made a really funny castration joke two years ago and finally I was able to tell it to an understanding audience last night.
I work at a flower shop, and when we get the big oriental lilies in, we have to pull the anthers (the pollen-producing things) off of the stamens before the lily opens all the way or else it gets orange pollen all over. Technically, what we're doing is emascualting them, castrating them, you know - gelding them.
Everyone I ever tried to tell the gelding the lilies joke to have either never heard of gilding the lily or didn't know the definition of the word geld. Last night, though I had an opportunity to tell it to my roommate and she got it and she laughed.
I love you, Susan.
Posted by Head Ditch Digger (Member # 5085) on :
Outside of Kayla, (note the smiley, I am being sarcastic), The worse that has happened to me was being ignored.
Oh and called uppity by Ethics Gradient.
And my masculinity called into question by Slash.
And Pat saying my alias was weak.
Played the fool by all the Mafia in the last game(Katharina, zgator and HansenJ)
Wait I have been treated terribly. I am going to go cry now. . . . . . . . Actually I have never felt like I was not welcome. I enjoy the sarcasm.
I try not to take it personally. I would have said I never take it personally but I had a bad day yesterday and took it out on Kayla, which I still feel bad about.
edit to add: that I still have not received the normal newbie welcome by slash or trogdor.
[ July 16, 2003, 03:32 PM: Message edited by: Head Ditch Digger ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Gotta agree with Head Ditch Digger's comments...it seems to me that, unless a newbie makes a big show of announcing themselves, they're treated congenially or ignored. At least, that's been my experience so far.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
My first few posts were all in serious threads and I was thoroughly ignored.
You know what's funny? I came and lurked here after having lurked around the Writer's Workshop for a few months, but the person that actually made me start posting was Baldar.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Don't feel bad HDD I don't believe I've been eaten by Slash either. If I was, he didn't make it a memorable experience because I don't remember!
AJ
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
HDD, I'm the worst thing that happened to a lot of people who know me.
And I feel bad about yesterday. It wasn't you, it was me.
However, in general, I am much more. . . nice, yeah, nice to noobs who know another Hatracker or two in real life. Like HDD. He and Patrick are related. So, I didn't hesitate to comment on his posts, give him a hard time, or joke with him. (Joking with him is pretty much giving him a hard time, but work with me here, I needed a third thing to complete the series!)
Noobs that are unknown take a while for me to respond to usually. First of all, because I have no idea who they are, which means they could be an alias of an old hatracker or a Ced or a troll (redundant?) or an innocent noob. I usually try to wait and see how it plays out. If they ask n00b questions, like "When is Crystal City coming out," or "When is Ender's Game the movie coming out," I might post and try to answer their question. Or if Leto is yelling at them about doing their own homework, or Slashy eats them for no apparent reason. You know. . . but basically, I just wait and see if they develop.
I fear that many just up and leave in frustration. Which is why HDD should be grateful Patrick is his cousin, who vouched for him. Otherwise, I still wouldn't be responding to him. Oh, wait, maybe that's a bad thing. . .
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I'm crankytired of hearing about "How we treat newbies," because it's a bogus topic. The topic only ever comes up after some newbie comes in and acts all obnoxious, because some people feel it is improper to respond in kind (a topic I'm not addressing in this post.)
The truth is that most of us are very nice to newbies, welcoming them, giving them virtual cookies, etc. And most newbies work their way in quite smoothly. I personally have gone out of my way to recruit new members in the parachat room, and to be kind to new members in general. I am generally one of the ones to post a "Welcome! " in a newbie's first thread. So I don't care for being characterized as suspicious of newbies when I chastise one who is deliberately rude to us and/or vulgar.
So, to be more appropriate to the debates we have had, I propose that a better title for this thread would be The Descolada Theory: How we teat rude newbies.
[/rant]
Posted by Godric (Member # 4587) on :
Megan:
quote:...it seems to me that, unless a newbie makes a big show of announcing themselves, they're treated congenially or ignored. At least, that's been my experience so far.
You just have to make a lot of loud noises so people will notice you. That or suck up to anyone who has a lot of posts... Posted by Slash the Berzerker (Member # 556) on :
Actually, HDD, *I* was the one that called you uppity.
So, two of your bad experiences are from me.
*puffs out chest*
Not too shabby.
Though I am most proud of pointing out that you had your wife come defend your masculinity. I just killed myself with that. Oh... the irony.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
If we combined this with HDD's thread about Hunting for Bambi, we could call this The Descolada Theory: How we Hunt Nude Newbies Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
quote:You just have to make a lot of loud noises so people will notice you.
<--dances and sings because someone actually responded to one of her posts!
Seriously, though, I'm not really turned off by it; my mentality is more of a lurker. It's like any stable community, though...it takes a while for people to prove themselves, if it's even possible. Some people will stick around, and others won't.
And others will lurk and enjoy...I DO enjoy reading what people have to say here, and occasionally shouting into the wind and seeing what happens. Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I was bringing this up now because while there was the troll last weekend, generally speaking it seems like heads are cool and calm at this juncture, which is the best time to discuss things. And like I said, strange things pop into your head during 15 hours of sleep...
AJ
Posted by Doug J (Member # 1323) on :
At least one a month Hatrack gets hit with a troll on the weekends.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Another good reason to vindicate my decision of "no hatrack on weekends"!
AJ
Posted by Head Ditch Digger (Member # 5085) on :
Slash- she was not defending me, she was bragging.
Posted by Slash the Berzerker (Member # 556) on :
Uh huh. Whatever keeps you from crying yourself to sleep at night on your giant pillow.
Posted by Head Ditch Digger (Member # 5085) on :
LOL Posted by Saruman (Member # 2275) on :
Scott, where? I want to see Dawn's post. Please?
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
quote: This is Head Ditch Digger's Boss Yes he is ALL MALE and he does everything he claims. Though we both tend to buy things not on the budget. We are working on thislittle habit. Just thought some of you need to hear it form the one who knows.
Yeah, I called you something else offensive, HDD. Sheesh Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Well, I never announced myself, I just kind of started posting, and nobody did anything to me at all, they just kind of a) ignored me or b) responded nicely, which is perfectly normal, of course... (run on sentence?)
*shrug*
I think it helps if you're not loud and "Here I am!"-ish
[ July 16, 2003, 09:10 PM: Message edited by: Teshi ]
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
See, when I first came here there were no newbies. I was treated like the king that I am. Ralphie made a thread dedicated to how much of a goober I was, Leo and I talked about "Our Town" and we all made merry in the pie thread. Then the stinkin' mods let just anyone join hatrack. All you had to do was "register" and a glut of newbies came in and stole my thunder!
Yup. Life was better before newbies came.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I think comparing newbies to the descolada is a little harsh... It's like saying newbies come in, figure everything out, and then try to take it apart.
Oh, wait...
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Well, when I was first here, we were all newbies and all we ever did was complain about how we missed the Big Mouth Lion forum and start Creation Vs. Evolution and Is Homosexuality Bad? threads. The closest we got to fluff was Original Potry.
You whippersnappers have it so easy these days...
*shakes cane*
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Annie, that gelding the lillie bit is great, although I bet it's hard to tell it smoothly.
And Kayla, you responded to me from the beginning, which is one reason I like you.
I think a noobie gets the respect he gives.
[ July 17, 2003, 03:38 AM: Message edited by: Morbo ]
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
I missed this. I like it. I agree with Morbo! Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: dances and sings because someone actually responded to one of her posts
Sometimes I get like that too...
♫Mr. Cellophane ought to be my name, Mr. Cellophane... 'cuz you can look right through me, walk right by me, and never know I'm there.♪
You can either make a big splash or sneak around the edges. I prefer the sneaking around the edges... I think... people notice me more often...
But seriously. How can anyone really have a proper conversation with someone they don't know and apparantly has no personality, which is how it looks with sneaking-in-around-the-edges people like myself? I do actually have a personality, if you're wondering.
It is a feature of communities to be suspicious of newcomers, and that's okay, as long as the community is not completely rude to even the polite people, which here at Hatrack, they are not. I'll say again; as long as the newbies are polite, everything seems to be fine.
I'll go away now.
EDIT: Look at my music notes! They worked!
[ August 19, 2003, 08:20 PM: Message edited by: Teshi ]
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
Newbie question--->How did you get the notes? Did you paste from Word or something?
Posted by SirReal (Member # 5257) on :
This Newbie is just checking his numerical data within the hierarchy of Hatrack, pay no attention.
Posted by SirReal (Member # 5257) on :
Hmmmm, apparently, I'm of the "lurking" subset of the newbie virus. Back to it.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
I treat newbies the way the Good Lord intented: I beat them up and take their lunch money. I just don't have the kind of dedication Slash and Pat have in sticking with the gimmick.
However, seeings how I'm feeling a bit peckish and need another ho-ho from the cafeteria snack machine: ::beats up eslaine and SirReal and takes their lunch money::
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
I was gonna buy chocolate milk with that! And a mystery lasagna too! Posted by SirReal (Member # 5257) on :
You merely had to ask and maybe I would have given you my lunch money. Although maybe a good whoopin is what I really need. Is this a right of passage? Am I in the "group" now?
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
quote:Am I in the "group" now?
Yeah - the "carries money on them" group.
We'll be seeing each other again.
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
This thread does not die yet! Posted by J T Stryker (Member # 6300) on :
Define Newbie. Am I still one?
As to the normal eating from slash and other forms of cyber hazing, I only recieved a few well meant threats from one of Raia's over protective friends (Calvin Maker does have a decent band though, so I forgive him).
I was loud and obnoxious, eat me already!!!
Man this thread is old.
[ July 16, 2004, 12:42 AM: Message edited by: J T Stryker ]
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
quote: Define Newbie. Am I still one?
lol, at a board where I am practically a fossil we always say that if you have to ask if you are a newbie, then the answer is yes.
Then again...I am a newbie here, so I'd not be the best judge of things at this board.
As for treatment of newbies...I think people have been fairly friendly here. I have been at board where "newbie hunting" was rather popular...and I have been elsewhere that people have gone out of their way to make new people feel warm and fuzy (heck, Terrygoodkind.com actually has a welcome forum).
Here...like anywhere else there are relationships that have formed over the years...and inside jokes that I have not clue what you are talking about, but it is rather friendly anyway...and there clearly are those who poke around in threads where new people have posted and make sure they feel welcome.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Wow, I was reading the beginning of this thread and thinking, "Now there's some people who haven't been posting much lately!" Then I realized it was 2003, not 2004. Posted by Temari (Member # 6708) on :
Please don't castrate me.
If you pet me and feed me food I promise I'll behave. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Have you had your shots? We don't keep nOObs that don't haev their shots yet...unless they are in the "carries money on them" group, of course... Posted by Temari (Member # 6708) on :
Money? What's that?
Needles are scary! Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
*mumbles*
bloody hell, nary an intellect in the buildin'
*grunts and groans*
fallow
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Bend over, it won't hurt a bit...
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Wow a year ago at this time I had mono. Yeah that's about right mathematically. I don't ever want to get it again though!
(I have a friend who is actually a research subject with doctors all over him because he's gotten it 7 times and doesn't get immunity though he has no other autoimmune disorders)
AJ
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
less than two months ago I had mono, I guess it's still in my system, but not too bad right now. There is no way I want to get it again, twice would be miserable seven times would be evil.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I agree with Morbo. (I also had the "yay, Morbo! crap, that was a year ago" reaction). Newbies, and oldbies, get what they give.
Though I was such a weirdo. I didn't check in on any of the threads for newbies when I was a newbie. I don't think I was overly rude most of the time. I'm one of those people who gets in trouble the second they start to do something bad. Like the time I went to 7 11 for lunch in high school and everyone got busted by the cops and I had to do in school suspension. Or the time I started posting as the grinch and it wasn't even December.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Thanks Annie - I'll never be able to hear the phrase "gilded lily" the same way again.
-Trevor
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
Another public service from The Bump on the Log.
This thread was getting near drop-off point!
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Erik, I'm honored, but I don't know that it was really worth the effort of bumping. It was pretty much a footnote at the time it started.
AJ
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
I had fun with it! It really got going after it derailed!
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
Great, I'm the Descolada. Here I was thinking I was something altogether less sinister. But of course, I understand that newbies can be awful scary. Lurking around the corner, listening to your conversations when you don't even know they're there, and then before you know it, pow! They start talking. "Who the devil is that?" Oh, don't mind me. I'm just the stranger who happened to wander into your living room and join your conversation uninvited. If you promise not to castrate me, I promise not to kill you off one by one until there's only a single poster to fill each ecological niche. Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
:mournfully: There used to be someone around here to eat the stray n00bs. . .
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
the fun thing is, us newbies (like the descolada) can completly change the tone of the message board forever
ha ha ha
Believe me, I have seen it done in the past elsewhere...and seen the oldies of a message board whine that things are not the same...and then flee to a new board only to have the same thing happen again and again. Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I just realized to my horror that Telperion the Silver has been landmark avoiding and all the newbies I have squished this week might have been him. Gives a whole new meaning to "That which you do to the least of these, you have done it unto me."
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
quote: :mournfully: There used to be someone around here to eat the stray n00bs. . .
*pats Scott*
I know, dude. I thought the same thing last night.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Great minds think alike...and we do too!
Posted by 20X6 (Member # 6447) on :
So if we're the descolada then do we help keep hatrack habitable by controlling global warming or help cooldown/heat-up things when necessary, or something like that? Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
quote: So, to be more appropriate to the debates we have had, I propose that a better title for this thread would be The Descolada Theory: How we teat rude newbies.
You nailed it, Icky man. (Though I realize now that you said it a year ago, long before my time.)
There are so many people on Hatrack, it is easy not to get noticed and easy to ignore. As for me, there are plenty of people I don't "know" yet. I read their posts, but their name doesn't really stand out in my mind. Not until something happens that makes them memorable to me.
I think that happens for me with newbies. How do you know if someone will stick around or not, be a solid part of Hatrack? I remember coming back to Hatrack after a hiatus and finding a newbie here, Space Opera, who seemed to be fitting in just like she had always been here. I felt sad that I had missed her "birth" into Hatrack. The things she had to say impressed me, so she really stood out in my mind.
People who come on and are obnoxious might stick out in my mind also, but not in a good way. I like to think that I try to give people the benefit of the doubt though.
Edit: I am snickering right now because I just barely noticed Icarus' typo. *snicker*
[ July 18, 2004, 02:37 AM: Message edited by: beverly ]
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
BTW, Bev...that is a hell of a post count for a semi-nOOb...
less that 6 months and over 1300 posts? Damn... Posted by 20X6 (Member # 6447) on :
1300 posts? *holds hands up to mouth to create more sound* NERD
[ July 21, 2004, 02:08 AM: Message edited by: 20X6 ]
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
(the Koi pond) fallow (with breadcrumbed lips)
Posted by Mr.Gumby (Member # 6303) on :
I know a girl named Koi(pronouced like 'guy'), it means "pinky" in Thai. (she was the youngest in her family)
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
*coughs with embarassment*
Mr. Gumby, are you capable of stretching?
fallow
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
quote: And my masculinity called into question by Slash.
Mine too! ....wait a minute...
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Bev: *snicker*
Posted by J T Stryker (Member # 6300) on :
Slash never called my masculinity in to question either, nor did he eat me, man, now I feel left out.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
20X6, I don't know if you said that in Strong Bad's voice, but that is how I heard it. Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
How do I treat newbies?
With a topical anti-bacterial agent, lots of rest and fluids.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
" in a newbie's first thread. So I don't care for being characterized as suspicious of newbies when I chastise one who is deliberately rude to us and/or vulgar.![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
fallow (with breadcrumbed lips)