I don’t think you should worry about it either way. You being an avid reader is probably what most people here want, since you are a captive audience (Look Ma, I got published!), at least I’m pretty sure that’s why I started (this makes post number 8. Whoohoo!!)
It does bring me to a thought I had the other morning. What is the highest 24 hr. post count by one individual to date? I suppose one could make allowances for quality vs. quantity, yada yada… But who holds the record? Why do they hold the record?!
Seriously though, I think it depends on the style of the poster as to how relevant jumping into the foray is. Some here are crazy smart and are full of wonderful and accurate information. Others are great at poignant quips that make us all laugh or look at things in a new light, and still others seem to be the fodder for the rest to start the great debate.
The only people who make it hard are the ones who will blast you for being new and naive to the process. Something to do with the size of their keyboards I think…
Anyone should be able to post somewhere on the SDMB. (For example, this thread could have been posted in the About This Message Board Forum ).
Look around. If someone posts a question here in GQ and you (think you) know the answer, post it. If you’re right, Good Job! If you’re wrong and someone else recognizes your error, you’ll get some education.
If you feel passionately about a subject, wander over to GD or IMHO and contribute to a thread on that subject. In GD you may be called upon to provide references for your assertions, but we don’t come to your house and drag you out on the lawn if you can’t (well, not often, anyway). And if you just want to enjoy some personal interaction untainted by a requirement for factual support, try MPSIMS.
There are grouches on the board that will snarl at people for minor typos or for just being new, but they are in the minority.
Tom is right, (as he always seems to be). There should be something here for you. If you are intimidated by the people here in GQ, just wait. A subject will come along that you may have the best answer for. And don’t worry about making a mistake, it happens.
Go over to MPSIMS and just say hi. Or go to IMHO and answer a poll of what color socks you have on. There is something here that you can respond to. You can learn a lot by reading GQ and GD without having to respond. But, if you want to jump in, just do it, get your feet wet, don’t be afraid of the water. You can find a place that feels right somewhere on this board.
Are you a jerk? Are you someone that’s been banned before? If the answers to both those questions are “no”, I believe you’re qualified to post here.
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My personal opinion is that you shouldn’t feel guilty.
My suggestion (merely as a fellow poster, I’m not an administrator or a moderator) is that if you have something to say, do so. Be familiar with the forum rules and when opening a thread, try to make sure it’s in the right forum.
Welcome aboard to wolfstu and vertigo. I hope you both enjoy your stay here!
We had (have?) a user here called Silent_Bob. All he ever posted was smilies. Just little images, nothing more in-depth than that. If you can do him a few better, and we all know you can (your post in this thread alone proves it), we’ll welcome you with open arms. You are not being a jerk, you can follow the rules (well, maybe you slipped just this once), and you can go five words without insulting someone. In other words, you are the newbie we wish we got around here more often. You are an ideal newbie, if you ask me. Keep it up, and you might become an old hand around here, someone the newbies respect and avidly follow. Hey, if John Corrado can become a moderator, anything can happen. Anyway, glad to have you.
You don’t feel guilty about having gone to elementary or high school, do you?
As long as you can ask an intelligent question, you’ll do fine. Questioners have a very important function on the board. I mean, what’s this forum called, General Questions or General Answers? And people answer them because it’s fun, not like because it’s a job or something.
And if you don’t think you can even ask an intelligent question (but I suspect you can), there’s always IMHO or MPSIMS. Many people post only there, even if actually come here to read CCC, CSR and GQ, and that’s fine.
And Derleth, I am so glad you did something about your sig. It was making me cross-eyed.
I’m not so sure, Tom… ATMB is more for technical questions, rather than asking if one ought to be posting. I’m not quite sure what to do with this thread; ordinarily, I would think it better suited to IMHO or MPSIMS, but it seems apparent that the OP is specifically asking about reading and posting to GQ specifically.
Meanwhile, though, let me assure you, wolfstu, that there’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure that there’s some subject or subjects on which you’re an expert, and even if not, there’s very few questions here which reqire one to be an expert to answer them. Even if you still can’t find any questions to answer, you shouldn’t feel guilty for reading the board and not contributing: It doesn’t cost us any time, money, or effort for another person to read the board, and if we can educate more people with the same amount of typing, so much the better.
This is not entirely the sort of response I expected. To those of you who were concerned, thank you; and I assure you that my concern is not shyness or indimidation by the board users (my relative anonymity takes care of that). My trouble is more this:
In what manner can I be assured that my intellect and ideas are of significant worth to be allowed to exposed to others, and further to possibly influence their thoughts and behaviour. I could concievably have a significant affect on the temporary and long-term thought process of a large number of people, without any reassurance that this affect would not be detrimental.
In short, what says that i am not intellectual thalidomide?
Further, your responses have raised onother concern: There is now a significant amont of thinking that has been and is going on concerning my problems. If I am not qualified to discuss to discuss board topics, am I deserving of your thought?
‘Thank you’ to each of you for your concern, and your responses (even those who found within them nothing to say- thank you for reading).
Sheesh! All the way from being reluctant to say boo and now you are thinking of yourself as so important that you may shape the destiny of posters here.
GET OVER IT!
If you truly are the embodiment of “What About Bob?”, then seek professional help.
If you are as normal as you seem(posting 2-3 replies to the board, even as we were answering your OP,) then keep posting. Your posts seemed just fine to me.
I don’t think you have to worry about that, bucko. A hell of a lot of members have been trying to accomplish that objective day and night (some on the side of good, and others on the side of evil) without any discernable impact on the general thought processes of the board as a whole. So I hardly think you are going to accomplish inadvertently what so many others have failed to achieve despite mighty effort.
As others have said, if you make a mistake someone else will probably be along to fix it in a short time.
(this makes post number 8. Whoohoo!!)
Anyway, glad to have you.