posted
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.
posted
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!
posted
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.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
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.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
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.
posted
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.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
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.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
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!
posted
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
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.
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... Posts: 1295 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
If we combined this with HDD's thread about Hunting for Bambi, we could call this The Descolada Theory: How we Hunt Nude NewbiesPosts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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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. Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
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...
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.
posted
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
posted
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.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
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.
posted
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.
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.
posted
This Newbie is just checking his numerical data within the hierarchy of Hatrack, pay no attention.
Posts: 172 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
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::
Posts: 7600 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
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?
Posts: 172 | Registered: Jun 2003
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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 ]
Posts: 1094 | Registered: Mar 2004
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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.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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posted
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. Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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