I am honored. Honored, and confused.
Quote:
Originally posted by antibitch
for Griff (by day a dimwit, by night a dimwit), and especially for SteveDallas (who is probably incapable of mentally handling much besides melons).
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Honored, because I received pride-of-place at the end of The Roll of Shame(tm), with an "especially" thrown in. What a wonderful notice!! My agent (if I had one) (which is to say if some agent were enough of a clueless idiot to waste his or her time trying to peddle my measly self) could not have negotiated any better placement and billing.
And confused, because my one meager tiny contribution to this thread was so innocuous, so insignificant, that I can't imagine it left that much of an impression. (Indeed, I didn't even remember what I had written, but I figured it must have been something pretty damned scathing to receive such a rebuke. Imagine my disappointment.)
So, what do I have to say about all this?? hmmm.
It's been approximately 17 years since I made my first contribution to an online discussion group. Although that probably beats out everybody else here except for one or two folks, that doesn't mean that I'm better than anybody else or know more. What it does mean is that I've seen a lot of shit go down. And I've seen a lot of first-time posts. And oh, have I seen the flamage.
A mature discussion forum (at well over a decade in its various incarnations, the Cellar surely qualifies) naturally develops its own customs, its own cohesiveness. Newbies are always challenged to move themselves into the group. While different groups have different dynamics, the challenge of the newbie to integrate into the group is a given, and there are some things that almost never work.
One of them is asking a question that is covered in the FAQ or was discussed into the ground last week. It's annoying and it shows you didn't even try.
Another one is saying, "hi I'm new here" (and nothing else). While different groups have different tolerance for this, the sure way to make your way in is to contribute something to the discussion. And "I'm new here" contributes nothing. Everybody who visits more often than once a month will know you're new as soon as you open your mouth.
Another one is anything that smacks of trying to get other folks to do your work for you. The classic case of this is, of course, the request for homework assistance: "I have to do a report on how ethernet switches are more efficient than hubs. Can somebody help me?"
There are probably folks who would say The Cellar is hostile to newbies. Having been a newbie once (I'm now becoming curious as to what my first post was back in 1991), I can assure any newbies reading this that we are not sitting around waiting for newbies to post so we can flame them to crisps. On the contrary.... we're here because we find the stuff that other folks write here entertaining and/or thought-provoking. (You may find it to be neither, in which case I respectfully submit that this means you're probably not going to enjoy it here. This is not bad, any more than it's bad to say that people bored silly by paper folding shouldn't join the Origami Society.) So, generally, we love it when new folks show up.
All you have to do is say something. Contribute. Contradict somebody. (Preferably with some facts to back up your position.) Agree with somebody. (Preferably while expanding on the point; don't just say "me too".) Just join the conversation. You'll be fine.