Is doing your own research getting to be a lost art?

[user 37446]

Is it just me or do others wonder about the questions that are often asked on the forum. Usually not very specific questions about things that some research could answer in say, 5 minutes.

Probably half my thread replies have been answering questions posed by members who either don't know that this forum has a "search" function or that Google exists as a search engine. Maybe they just want someone else to do the work.  :huh:

I wouldn't mind it so much if someone said they had tried searches of the forum and the internet and still couldnt find the answer, but that's rarely seen.

I'm amazed at the patience of the high post members and the mods who answer "what is a good solar panel to buy" or "help me find a van, I dont really know what I want" or the famous "maybe this has been asked before but (I'm too lazy to search and read so here goes)...   :-/

So props to those of you who have answered so many of these.   :shy:

 

[AbuelaLoca]

I get paid to do research for some folks! $20 an hour!! In case anyone needs a researcher 

 

[user 37446]

I need to work for you then...  ha ha

It does feel good to help someone with an "on point" bit of information yet I do wonder why they couldn't have typed the same set of words into a search engine themselves...

Good for you that you have a paid research position!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Not a "paid position". I freelance! If someone needs research, say for a historical novel, I'm the gal to call!

 

[Queen]

I think every forum that is interest specific has endless repeats of the basic questions, it is the nature of the forums. Some folks don't know how to conduct a search, others find it all too overwhelming, and a few just don't choose to. But, thankfully, here there will always be someone willing to offer a warm welcome and a helping hand, that is the tone and practice of this particular forum.

If you are frustrated by the same old questions, it's okay, someone else will step up and answer.

 

[John61CT]

Being too harsh about such netiquette issues is frowned upon by this site.

Welcoming words and patience required.

Some are genuinely ignorant, but many just lazy.

I suspect some are just trolling.

But those who are simply handicapped are worth the extra effort, just hard to tell sometimes. . .

 

[user 37446]

I think every forum that is interest specific has endless repeats of the basic questions, it is the nature of the forums.  Some folks don't know how to conduct a search, others find it all too overwhelming, and a few just don't choose to.  But, thankfully, here there will always be someone willing to offer a warm welcome and a helping hand, that is the tone and practice of this particular forum.

If you are frustrated by the same old questions, it's okay, someone else will step up and answer.

Those are all good points.  I try to not say anything about something Ive not owned and or used. That limits most of my replies. 

I think I got frustrated with a likely troll post and shouldn't have. Consider me "scolded!" 

 

[sephson]

I'm reminded of a thread from a couple years back about an article on how unsafe 15 passenger vans were. It took me 15 minutes of searching through the NHTSA website to refute every point made in the article. The accident statistics I found showed that the vast majority of injuries and deaths in these vans were because people weren't wearing their seat belts, not because fifteen passenger vans were unsafe. Strangely enough, that thread died a quick death.

 

[DuneElliot]

Nature of forums everywhere...I just quit answering. I do a ridiculous amount of research when I'm looking at doing something and only when I've exhausted that option, and haven't found a satisfactory answer via my own extensive research, do I post a question or new thread. But then again, I like researching...maybe I need to do it as a job.

 

[CottonTexas]

I personally enjoy research, but I understand that some people don't. Some folks just want to "post & get answers," but even though I'm sure it takes up a lot of cyber-space, as times, people, and events keep changing, I think it keeps things fresh, and along with being kind to each other, newness is good for a social outlet such as this one.  I shamelessly admit that I get a kick out of critiquing CL & classified ads when someone posts a, "What do you all think of this one?" thread. I'm just always afraid of sounding too negative sometimes, as I'm never sure if my posts read the same way as I read them. Anyway, I don't mind the repeats so much, but I know where y'all're coming from too. Cotton

 

[cyndi]

This seems to be somewhat of a rhetorical question.

We're here to help others.

There's no way to know whether or not someone has used the search tool. I use it pretty frequently and rarely find what I'm looking for unless I know I posted in that particular thread so I can use myself as a perimeter.

Searching on Google brings up tons of contradictory answers.

Bottom line? If it's too much trouble to offer your help then don't.

I really want to shut this thread down. It seems passive aggressive and condescending. I'm having a rough week and might be a little more prickly than normal. My feelings won't be hurt if someone pulls rank and loses it.

 

[hepcat]

I've been on forums as a moderator, admin, and poster since the advent of the first versions of vbulletin software around 1999 or so.

It's been interesting to see forums evolve over that time. What I've noticed is primarily generational. I want to know everything about something before I make a decision, and I do my do diligence to make sure I'm informed. I want to know "why." However, when I was supervising younger folks (Gen X and Millennials) toward the end of my career, I notice a marked shift. They didn't want to know "why" they needed to do their jobs a specific way, or what the consequences would be if they did it some other way... they just wanted to know what they needed to do so they could do it. There was no thought given to 'why.' "Just tell me what I need to do. That's all I want to know."

It was a pretty marked departure from the way I learn personally.

I notice that a lot on forums now. There's no room for questions, and no personalizing or individualizing... if there's an issue, they just want someone to tell them what to do. I think that may be what you're seeing frequently today.

 

[GotSmart]

One thing I have found on this forum ~~~ Seldom will one answer work for everyone asking the same question.

While in college, I was a research assistant for a nationaly rated Speech and Debate team.  I would be given a topic, and asked to find referanced sources on all sides of a discussion.  

None of this "fake news" :huh:  but sources that had credibility.  Wikipedia was not accepted as a refference, but by going to the sources refferenced, I found my original source. Today credibility has become an opinion.  

There are times when I draw a blank on researching a subject.  I am unable to remember the "key words"  :blush:  I used to be able to close my eyes, and sumarize a paper on a subject that I read 40 years ago.  

Other times I just find it much easier to ask Stearnwake for a detail.  

I have met some of the nicest people answering questions.  I also have a couple members blocked, as I do not want to get banned telling them that they are giving extremely bad information.  

I am not as diplomatic as I was in college.  

 

[user 37446]

Ha ha, Sternwake was probably one of the high post answerers that I was thinking about.  "How do I add an extra battery" or "will idling for 15 minutes charge my dead RV battery to 100%?'

Maybe I am losing patience as the years roll on...

Thanks for understanding, not closing the query (Cyndi) and helping me see that I need to help those that ask without making judgements. 

As I had previously said, consider myself as now having been scolded!

 

[tx2sturgis]

I think many people come here (or to any forum) for the social, and informed, interaction on a subject that is interesting to them.

I might ask on here what is the best way to make coffee in a van?

Or what brand of tires last the longest?

Sure, I could google it, (actually I normally use DuckDuckGo) but I might end up with 240,738 hits....and there will be at least 120,659 different answers. It can be a daunting task to sift the wheat from the chaff.

Another reason to help out with questions, at least for me, is that robo webcrawlers mine these forums and repost the questions and answers all over the web on all kinds of ad-sponsored aggregators, and for me, I'd like to think my articles will help people all over the web, when google lands on the re-posted articles there.

And someday in the future, when I'm long dead and buried, my articles, hopefully, will live on without me, sitting on a server somewhere, just waiting for someone, not even born as of now, to ask a question.

(hey its my fantasy, let me enjoy it!)

 

[user 37446]

Learn something new every day... I didn't know about "robo webcrawlers" that data mined answers... Course I still own a set of encyclopedias, dinosaur that I am...

Seems that the consensus is: be friendly, educate those who ask or don't bother replying...

 

[tx2sturgis]

lol....the plot thickens!

Here's a simple explanation:

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/14647/data-aggregation

Or umm...

You could google it. You KNEW I was going to say that, didnt you?

I dont generally land on aggregator websites with DuckDuckGo, but you absolutely will with Google. Any ad-sponsored aggregator will spice up their rankings on Google with SEO techniques, but they usually leave generic search engines, like DDG, more or less alone.

I have been active on the web for about 2 decades and some of the articles I wrote 20 years ago STILL show up on the aggregator websites, and other places, posted and re-posted over and over again. Sometimes with my signature, other times without it.

Just look at it this way: ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you type publicly (or not) on the internet, on this forum,
or any other forum, or Facebook, or Twitter, or anywhere, is crawled over by a bot, copied, and stored somewhere else that has nothing to do with where you originally posted it.

A lot of this is added as 'content' to ad-sponsored aggregator websites, and the ads help pay for more web-crawling. It's a viscous circle. Our content has 'legs'....it can go anywhere.

Many public forums like this are banned in some countries, but the aggregators and search engines based in some other third world country can 'see' the content and make it accessible to the people there anyway.

Well that's probably enough....

So yeah, put me in the column of 'likes to type out long, detailed answers'...as if you couldn't tell!

 

[caretaker]

the way i look at it is that maybe the people asking the questions just isn't as perfect as me,,,,so i try to make allowances

 

[Lj Unlimited]

I like doing my own research. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. But we are becoming a society that wants instant answers with no work involved. Or as I call it, an "On Demand" society. As a youth I was taught that it takes all kinds to make this world go around. Turns out they were right.

 

[SoulRaven]

I think posters get sized up as to their true level of interest in the subject matter, and if they are sincerely and actively into "it", I think nearly everyone will be in there helping to iron out the issues, I see that all the time.

Anyone reading the thread should not be discouraged in asking questions. I know the "search" function can be frustrating. Some people don't actually know about the "search" function both here and the other forums. Also, the dynamics of the wording in the "search" can be tricky.

I don't see an issue with suggesting a topic to "search", even the wording for youtube I sometimes use because even there it makes a difference.

"What's the best?" There is no real one answer for that. Wouldn't it be great if it were that simple. For everything there would be the best, no more making errors in choosing, ah, the dream!

I think one of the problems is having so many choices anymore. I go to look at something and years ago, there might be 2 choices if I were lucky, and now, there are 200 choices. Overwhelmed!