Proper forum selection

[AE1PT]

I hate the way some riding mower steering linkages are designed. It's almost if they are supposed to fail. Mine is eating up those cute little ball joint end rod connectors. It looks like I will have to change a few things around to take care of some other frame related issues to make it go away--and I am going to need to get a large vise to do some of the work. I think that I will drive to Books A Million and see what they have...

This is the point Glen is trying to make here. Common sense and experience tells me that Tractor Supply should be my destination. This comes from how my age group social learning tells me that needs and expectations are fulfilled. But the reality is that the dynamics of the internet and the failures of our educational system have given another new set of behaviors and expectations--and it has nothing to do with ham radio. Rather it is a general thing--and all of the moaning and griping is not going to change how many people now expect to vomit out their needs anywhere they think that they will be met in seeking an answer.

The best we can do is try to educate our participants to be a little more specific and on target with needs. QRZ tech forums get far too many questions and propositions to place them into one general board--they are lost in a swamp and quickly swirl out of sight to page 2, 3, or 5 within a day or two. This is why we maintain specific boards--the post remains visible longer, and is more likely to be addressed by those with a particular interest and knowledge in that subject than in other or more general boards, and concentrate knowledge. Sort of like little mini-books.

Life was simpler once upon a time. I either bought a book about a subject (such as the ARRL Handbook) and learned what I needed to know, or asked someone in person who had direct experience with the matter. Now we have conflated both to forums and search engines, and somewhat expect everything to be spooned out like pablum. Oh well...

[N8CPA]

RLG:

Then there is the fact that humans actually have 7 senses, not just the 5 "normal" senses of taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing. Humans also have 2 others which are "common" and "horse". Unfortunately, the last 2 are rapidly diminishing in many people.

Glen, K9STH

Glen, all I can say to that is, "nei-ei-ei-gh, whinnie."

[APRIL_LUV]

i don't agree with the horse sense.

[AG3Y]

Anyone want some cheeze with their whine ? ? ?

If you think that posting in a narrower subject forum is bad, you have not been to enough forums! I also love RC airplanes, and one of the most popular RC forums out there has separate subject areas for Gas powered, Glow fuel powered, Electric Powered, Ducted Fan powered, Giant Scale, Scale Models, Sport Models, etc. etc. The list goes on and on, and you don't see anyone complaining about THAT !

Com'on whiners, grow up! We are all adults here, aren't we ? At least we should be trying to act like them, if we aren't!

You can sort it out, if you try. It ain't "Rocket Science" !

[N4CR]

People were asking for more specific forums because they didn't want to have to "weed through" all the threads about subjects in which they were not interested. So, such forums were established. However, it seems that many persons do not have the ability to determine where their posts should go.

So, it was wasting a little of their time, right?

Well, having to jump around to a dozen forums to see if there is anything interesting is wasting my time, so I don't do it. Now, you have diluted your talent pool by having people post in areas that your talent doesn't hang out in.

Asking a question about ham radio in Questions and Answers seems like the correct thing to do. Answering it there seems like the right thing to do. Moving it once it has landed seems like the wrong thing to do and only leads to more confusion and time wasting.

The problem you are trying to solve here wasn't a problem to a whole lot of people.

Having the front page be taken up by dozens of blank spots is really annoying.