Goldberg posted a thread a while back inquiring why people suddenly vanished from the T-forum. No, I’m not referring to the effluent-spewing cretins who were banished, but to T-forum regulars in good standing who no longer posted. Having been one of those regulars, and not having posted in almost a year, I’d like to share my humble perspective.
The main reason for me was forum etiquette or the lack thereof. How many times have one of you gone the extra mile, I mean really taken the time and posted a highly pertinent response… only to have the originator of the thread follow-up with (if they followed-up their thread at all) “anything else,” or “BUMP,” or worse yet, in-your-face contradiction? What more could a T-Form regular ask for than the “brilliance” of a neophyte, some thankless teen with the writing skills of a mentally
challenged 3rd grader who perhaps had all of 5
months training under his belt. Too much gimme, gimme, gimme, with never a modicum of thanks. All this had left me to wonder was posting really worth the time and the effort???
Honestly, here lately, I have been seriously trying to help out the newbies. It does get a little old after awhile. I see that people like Tampa-Terry have a much higher amount of patience and post intelligent, well thought out answers frequently. Well, sometimes, it just gets old, as the topic probably has been covered 100x before. “How’s my chest routine” “Help with t-dawg 2.0” etc. Things like that can be easily found using the search engine.
i stopped posting on the westside questions thread for similar reasons. and no, it not because i need a thank you. let me explain:
i have been training for 20+ years, most of that was westside. i totaled class-I in four weight divisions and achieved Master in one (198) weight division. i made a road trip to westside many moons ago and trained under Louie’s supervision for a week.
at the risk of sounding like i am whinning, just becausei am not still competing, or am not as witty or “popular” as some of the other regulars, does not mean i do not have anything to contribute.
Lately I have been noticing poor forum etiquette from the “regulars” who seem to be getting a holier than thou attitudes towards “newbies”. Of course there will always be trouble making newbies driving people away.
heavythrower: I will not get into any of my own personal
horror stories, but will share one that perhaps rivals
your experience. There was a guy named Pete who
posted on this board (about two years ago). Pete, like
yourself, was an accomplished powerlifter. He ran his
own site called Michigan Power Lifters. One day, a young
man pleaded for someone to teach him how to box squat.
Pete, who has squatted over 600 lbs in sanctioned
competition, kindly obliged, writing a step by step
detailed analysis on the box squat. It was F@#%ing
brilliant!!! The next day, when the young man followed-up on
his thread, not a single kind word was thrown
in Pete’s direction. His masterpiece went seemingly
unnoticed - the little ingrates lone comment: BUMP …
“anything else?!”
Pete no longer posts on this board… hope you’ll decide to
hang around!
char-dawg: the only reason I decided to post again is
because of your “Imortal Ass Thread!” (“Honto, yo!”)
I can’t tell you how hard I laughed!!! You silly bastard
Ahhh, Princess, perhaps the biggest ingrate in forum
history! Remember when she became sore at us for
“pubically (sic) flaming” her - ouch!
(That thread, I still have scrapbooked.)
Here is a counter point. I know you guys probably got frustrated, but those responses are saved and archived. and when someone who actually reads the forums and attempts to do some background research finds those responses, you seasoned guys’ input have proved to be invaluable. I do learn more off the forums (many dating back to the '01) than I do in the articles.
So though some retard has asked the same question THAT IS STILL ON THE TOP 5 of the T/N forum and has been answered 10 times, your response will help out for years to come.
I especially love it when you guys use biting sarcasm in response (see Goldberg, et al.) to the lame questions. always good for a laugh.
It just got ‘old’. I don’t mean to sound rude, but after a while there just isn’t anything new. You can only discuss the best way to squat so many times…
I stopped posting when I stopped seeing anything that hadn’t been discussed to the nth degree ten times over.
It took about three years to get to that point for me.
Golberg, not only are you holier-than-thou, but you are also on a high horse. Please step off of the high horse before responding again, or 10 newbies will cry every time you post. And a fairy will lose its wings.
You know someone awhile back asked about making a locked sticky thread with links to the best threads. Similar to the FAQ but for the best of the threads. I remember it got kicked around but not sure why we couldn’t do it and put it as the first subject in the T&N Forum. LowFatMatt, Our wise and all knowing IT Guru, something you might consider?
I also agree with Michelle, everything may have been disscussed to the nTH degree. But I need the board to keep me focused and on track! The support and motivation is awesome! Along with the ass kicking you get when your slacking and trying to blame it on diet or something else. Can you feel the love in the room?
Michelle’s got it right. It’s just getting old. I’m tired of the same topics that keep repeating in various incarnations, whether it’s soy protein good/bad, God is dead/alive, screw the Republicans/Democrats, check my diet, or how to squat/deadlift/curl. I need something new.
