This has been on my mind for a period of time, and I felt posting about it would be the best option so as to possibly enlighten a few of you and get you change your ways.

Basically, there seems to be a lot of immaturity around the site again, and people who can't grasp the basic fundamentals of what a forum and community are about. I don't know if this is down to school's being out or just something in general, but there is a contrast in differences between members from a few months ago, and now.

There's a few things I'd like to go over, the first being bone idleness and laziness. I'm of course aiming this at the members who can't use the search function or look a couple of threads down in a section before posting. Half of the threads created on the site have more than likely been posted numerous times before. Not only that but a lot of questions can be googled and a solution found in quicker time than you could post a thread. Stop being lazy, you're cluttering up the forums and wasting not only people's time, but your own also. The search function is there for a reason, utilise it to it's purpose.

I'll quickly touch on post quality also - It's poor, nay dreadful at times. Instead of posting generic, poorly constructed one line posts, how about taking the extra couple of seconds and making your posts just that bit more worthwhile? It takes little effort and sheds not only you but the site in good light.

To add on from the previous point, I wanted to talk about post count and spamming. A lot of you think that post count is important, and that the higher it is the more popular you are, the increased chance of getting promoted etc, etc. It's a myth, post count is irrelevant, it holds no significant bearing on anything and doesn't give you any more legitimacy or popularity over anyone else. Well it shouldn't. As the old and overused but never tiresome adage goes "Quality over quantity". You're more likely to receive plaudits and accomplish something with quality posts, not for having a large number. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with posting a lot, just as long as they add something. How much you post is irrelevant, what matters is the quality. This obsession of getting a high post count for the sake of it, is pointless. If you're here to solely get it up, why bother? It's a waste of time, and defeats the purpose of a forum. You don't post on a forum to add to some menial number total, you post to share, to help and to be part of a community. This notion is lost on a lot of you and I can't understand why. Why post for the sake of posting? It's spam; you should only post when you have something worthwhile to add to the topic. Spamming just ruins the forum experience for everyone and from spam, stems even more spam. It creates more unruly posts and rulebreaking and is just unnecessary. Yes, no site will ever be rid of spam, but we can all do out part to try and better ourselves and our posts.

Why spam is ruining our experience:

1. It's untidy and leaves the forums a mess.
2. It's causing way too many good, helpful and worthwhile posts to be missed.
3. It's immature.
4. It causes more work for the staff.
5. It sheds the forum and it's members in a negative light.
6. It leads to even more spam and rulebreaking.
7. It leaves members frustrated and unable to enjoy the site as they should.

Grow up, take some extra time and put some thought into your posts and add something worthwhile and useful. It's either that or you'll just wind up getting banned eventually, I've seen it happen more times than I can remember.


Some things to take note of when posting:

1. Only post if you feel it's necessary and adds something to the topic in hand.
2. Abide by the forum rules.
3. Post in the correct sections, even if they aren't as busy as others.
4. Search before you post.
5. Use the report function and move on - don't post or mini-mod, that will only makes things worse.
6. Use the thumbs up/down feature if someone answers a question correctly or if you agree with someone's opinion/post - it saves you posting the same thing as someone else.
7. Don't reply to posts that you know will get closed/deleted.
8. Read the whole thread properly before posting to save unnecessary posting.
9. Stay on topic when replying,and don't defer from the topic in hand.
10. If you cant write something that isn't greater than 20 characters - You shouldn't be posting.
11. Use other mediums of contacting members for general chit-chat/questions. We have the PM/IM and profile messaging systems for a reason, same goes for the shoutbox.

Lastly, and adding some relevance from what I said regarding post count is the obsession about thanks, reputation and ranks. These things are tools of incentive. They are here to encourage us to help out, make helpful posts and add useful resources to the site. Again to reiterate; there's no point being part of a forum if you're here just to attain these things. They're here to show your accomplishments, or what you've achieved and done a source of self gratification if you will. Just because you have a certain rank, or have more thanks or rep than someone else - it doesn't mean you're better, or higher ranked or more trustworthy than any other member. Yes, having these things is nice, but it doesn't matter. People will say they don't care about these things but they do, I see people in the SB constantly hint for people to rep them, and it's quite pathetic. Yes, I know I'm taking this a bit too seriously but it's like watching someone beg, and it's just something I've never done, and never will. I also see people saying "I'm going for this badge next" and I have no problem with that, but adding half assed videos or tutorials in order to achieve the rank easily, defeats the point of it. If you're going to do something do it right and earn it, rather than half assing it and taking the easy way. That doesn't just go for the site, but life itself. It's getting sad now, I see people ridiculing themselves by making video "apps" for badges, and while a few have been good and they provide some fun and laughs, it's just getting to the point where it needs to stop. I've never went and did anything specifically for a rank or badge, I do things because I want to do them, to help out - as should we all. All in all, do good things because you want to do them, not for anything menial. Good things come to those who do good things.

When I first joined the site I wasn't the greatest member in the world, and it took following the example of some of the older, more experienced members of the site to make me see things in a different light and to improve as a member and person. I still don't profess to be the perfect member or a great one, I've just been around the bush for a while and have a lot of experience around the site to know a few things hence why I made this, and I hope a few of you can take note and perhaps learn something. It got me to where I am today, and I must be doing something right if I've been staff and still have no warnings after nearly 4 years here. I doubt many will read the thread in it's entirety, but to those who have and for those who've taken anything in, I thank you. Stay classy and stay smart.

Forum etiquette is srs bsns.