My following responses come from the different hats I wear: as a participant in the forum, as a moderator, as an administrator, and as a business leader/manager.
Totally agree with you guys, let's face it, at the end of the day MOST of us are at least EMT-B. You've done your training and most of us have worked in the field so we have at least a little bit common sense and knowledge. Yes it pee's me off to see stupid questions that with a little thought you should be able to work out a sensible answer...OR GOOGLE IT!!! There is a wealth of knowledge out there on the net. It's not just this forum but it seems like a widespread disease (stupidity that is). I belong to another forum to do with Android phones and have got into trouble on there for answering stupid questions with a stupid answer. And no, I don't have time to answer stupid questions here or in real life, I consider it a waste of my valuable time. (Backtrack, one of my partners is a first responder who I actually apologised to for being short, yeah, I realise I can be an *** and hope I am man enough to admit it). To be quite honest these days unless the question is REALLY stupid I will look at it and think 'Really?' then go on to the next topic and not justify it with an answer.
The bolded statement is one of probably the top 3 that drives me up a wall. "Just Google it." That's the same as telling someone to 'go away'. That's the exact opposite reason Matt created this site. He wanted this to be the place people come to get answers.
As for the, "There is a wealth of knowledge out there on the net." ... guess what... We (EMTLife) is part of that wealth.
... The bottom line is if the thread or post is not to your level or interest, don't waste your time. I suggested to a forum leader a while back that maybe there should be a room where all the "intellectually underchallenged" can go to discuss the things they want to discuss. Maybe in that room they can find the recipe for world peace and fixing our supposedly broken and substandard EMS system.
And your suggestion was not overlooked. We have discussed it multiple times and it is still on the table. However, we don't feel it's the right time to create that forum, currently.
EMTLIFE.com is a great resource that provides real life experience to those who are seeking it. Don't make it so others stop seeking that information.
Thank you for that.
I honestly think some people are just too sensitive. They can't be disagreed with without getting into a huff.
The forum, like real life, isn't going.to coddle you.
I don't find EMTLife welcoming or unwelcoming.
It just is.
Certain posters are more encouraging than others. I remember when I first started on this forum, I got many encouraging PMs from VentMedic(before she lost her mind) and other long time posters.
I haven't seen any current posters who are outright nasty.
I think it's gotten better in the last six months or more.
From where I sit, a lot of Newbies come in, post ridiculous or overworn questions, get slapped down a little, react, pick up the rhythm -- kind of our baseline -- and then, once they figure out how to search, if the interest remains, they come back.
Working through discouragement is a character asset that most of us are called upon to develop, in the field as well as here. It's also a sort of "Rite of Passage" to come in, make a few bonehead posts, get corrected and then get accepted mo bettah.
Throughout this, of course, come the "Pouncers"; those who either driven by Ego or insecurity think it's cool to show how smart they are to everyone by whomping on the FNG's. Thankfully, they show themselves and after a while, they get naturally shut-up, either by the Mods or by their peers.
They come and go; it's a cyclical thang!
Overall, though, a reason I stay here is there is much more support from many different angles than there is discouragement. The resistance we offer is well WNL and those who are here to contribute to the community get ample opportunity and encouragement to do so. Those who treat it like a game or sparring partner squeeze themselves out.
Also, keep in mind EMS is essentially a transient's profession and this site reflects a lot of numbers coming through but a limited amount sticking around which accurately reflects the state of the industry.
As we all know, there are a few EMS schools out there that don't do the best job in the world teaching their students. That's why I'm glad that EMTLife exists. People can come here with the strangest questions and hopefully get an answer that makes the comfortable.
I'm always afraid, as the multi-hat wearer, that someone is going to get 'slapped down' and leave all together. :/
Look at the main forum, its full of the same posts we have discussed over and over again. Its a little ridiculous, we had like three equipment threads, another "WHICH BOOT" thread, mods need to clean it up
Clean it up how? Merge them all together? Remove them?
Come up with a few possible solutions and we'll discuss them.
I am a member of a very large tech related forum, and comparatively we welcome people with the equivalent of the Royal Wedding. They make it VERY clear that you are to SEARCH before asking a question. They will infract and ban people who make threads asking a question that has been asked recently.
I speak for all the admins here when I say, the vBulletin (the platform on which EMTLife runs on) search feature sucks. We've tweaked it the best we can, but it still sucks. There's nothing else we can do about it.
We've also looked into installing a Google Search feature directly into the site. This would help SO MUCH but there comes a cost with it. Right now, it's just too much.
The older the forum gets, though the harder it is to come up with questions to ask. You may have a thread that's five years old, where the OP is asking what boot to buy. If someone today were to as, go to the thread and look at it; the people that posted could have entirely different views on the boot they though was the best of the best. I was new to this forum a few weeks ago, but I met some great people, won a few contests and ate my slushee in front of me. i AGREE with you on how the CL's greet new members to this forum, i've been to some other forums and there will be posters on there that will run you out of the forum before you can even get your second post.
As a forum user, I try to share my knowledge with as many people as I can.
Let's take Sasha for example. A few years ago (possibly?) I remember her asking about stethoscopes. She asked a lot of questions. She got some answers, tried a couple out, and now can depart some wisdom on those who bring up similar questions. To me, that's what forums are all about.
As I recall my first post here was "hey guys I'm getting ready to take the NREMT and I'm freaking out is there anything I can do to prepare for it?" I got several snarky answers a bunch of downright rude answers and one very nice PM from someone who isn't here anymore. Guess what if the nice guy hadn't taken the time to explain why everyone else was being a jerk I would have left.
Educate don't berate, we were all new once but some of us have longer memories than others.
That should be someone's signature.
In my opinion, those of us who use this forum for a while are the kind who tend to be member of multiple online forums. I know personally I participate (some more than others) in at least 7 forums. Video games, sports, cars, tech, gaming group, EMS, aquariums, and others. My unscientific opinion is that people who use forums are a certain type - they tend to use more than one.
The decorum on EMTLIFE is no different than any other forum (or station). The user needs to figure out the way things work and adapt to them. EMTLIFE is a lot more forgiving than many other forums I frequent. Sure this may be different because it is a "professional" topic, but in the end it is still a forum.
I think it's fine.
With the exception of maybe some techy, computer related forums I've visited in the past, there is more knowledge and experience shared in this forum than any other forum. What makes this forum unique and special (to me, anyway) is that this forum deals with human lives.
I think EMTLife continues on in waves. Sometimes there's a group of people that cause problems, sometimes there's a group that consistently takes threads off topic or walk the line on breaking the rules. In the end, in the eight years that this forum has existed, there have been over 16,000 members and over 400,000 posts created. To me, that's a lot of knowledge being shared from a variety of backgrounds. To me, that's pretty cool.
