Charl
Silver Member
I hope the moderators don't delete this thread. I am going to try and be helpful and point out some of the things I see happen that cause problems on artifact forums in general, and not simply TNet.
Here are 2 ways in which frustration complicates threads. A person, often with little to no experience, post an ordinary rock to a forum. Happens on every forum I know. There will be many experienced eyes belonging to long term forum members. It is perfectly understandable if the reaction among some of those experienced members is, to themselves, "oh no, not another rock. Sigh...". Thus, weary and feeling no need to go into detail, especially since it is near impossible to describe why a rock is just a rock in this format, rather then in person and handing the rock back and forth to explain, the experienced member may just say "It's a rock".
Now a new poster may interpret that as a bit curt. "That's all you're going to tell me?" And, it may happen, the experienced member may have answered even more curtly, due to the aforementioned frustration. "it's a rock, a waste of our time". Ouch! Bad reply! Does no good at all, gets original poster quite upset. Nothing wrong with a short and sweet answer, but it can be delivered thus: "Thanks for the post and welcome. Unfortunately your find is just an ordinary rock".
another frequent cause of frustration derives directly from the poster asking the question. They are told it is a rock, in so many ways, by so many experienced eyes. But, they become frustrated and they become upset because they are quite disappointed to have the truth tossed their way. They respond along the lines "you people are clueless", "A scientist told me it was, what do you know?, " What makes you people experts?" This is where an eventual outcome of banning may result. If the attacks continue unabated, and especially if PM's are sent to members insulting members, the site is called a joke, etc. then banning may become the only option. On another site on which I'm active, this is how we handle it. We don't ban simply because a rock or geofact is posted. The poster has to get completely out of hand with insults before we ban. That said, I've shown frustration, both here, and elsewhere in the artifact forum universe, it is a continuing problem and a direct result of the difficulties conveying not just meaning, but our attitudes, in a venue that is as far less ideal then face to face as any venue could possibly be. Every time I've let my frustration show where misleading information posted to forums is concerned, I've always regretted it. It never, ever helps.
The best results to such threads are realized when the original poster replies along the lines: "Thank you everyone for the helpful information. I've learned something and hope to find some real artifacts as a result".
Lest I be misunderstood in any way, some of the nicest artifact collectors I have ever met frequent and grace this forum with their knowledge, their generosity, and their great personalities.
Here are 2 ways in which frustration complicates threads. A person, often with little to no experience, post an ordinary rock to a forum. Happens on every forum I know. There will be many experienced eyes belonging to long term forum members. It is perfectly understandable if the reaction among some of those experienced members is, to themselves, "oh no, not another rock. Sigh...". Thus, weary and feeling no need to go into detail, especially since it is near impossible to describe why a rock is just a rock in this format, rather then in person and handing the rock back and forth to explain, the experienced member may just say "It's a rock".
Now a new poster may interpret that as a bit curt. "That's all you're going to tell me?" And, it may happen, the experienced member may have answered even more curtly, due to the aforementioned frustration. "it's a rock, a waste of our time". Ouch! Bad reply! Does no good at all, gets original poster quite upset. Nothing wrong with a short and sweet answer, but it can be delivered thus: "Thanks for the post and welcome. Unfortunately your find is just an ordinary rock".
another frequent cause of frustration derives directly from the poster asking the question. They are told it is a rock, in so many ways, by so many experienced eyes. But, they become frustrated and they become upset because they are quite disappointed to have the truth tossed their way. They respond along the lines "you people are clueless", "A scientist told me it was, what do you know?, " What makes you people experts?" This is where an eventual outcome of banning may result. If the attacks continue unabated, and especially if PM's are sent to members insulting members, the site is called a joke, etc. then banning may become the only option. On another site on which I'm active, this is how we handle it. We don't ban simply because a rock or geofact is posted. The poster has to get completely out of hand with insults before we ban. That said, I've shown frustration, both here, and elsewhere in the artifact forum universe, it is a continuing problem and a direct result of the difficulties conveying not just meaning, but our attitudes, in a venue that is as far less ideal then face to face as any venue could possibly be. Every time I've let my frustration show where misleading information posted to forums is concerned, I've always regretted it. It never, ever helps.
The best results to such threads are realized when the original poster replies along the lines: "Thank you everyone for the helpful information. I've learned something and hope to find some real artifacts as a result".
Lest I be misunderstood in any way, some of the nicest artifact collectors I have ever met frequent and grace this forum with their knowledge, their generosity, and their great personalities.
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Because I ask what it is, I am fully prepared for an answer. It may not be what I wanted to hear, but I asked and therefore invited an opinion. I prefer to be told why or why it isn't something, it's the only way I'm gonna learn. Someone on here told me to look into flint knapping techniques, which I did, and it's greatly reduced the amount of chert I post. I'm still iffy on tools, so I spend my time researching online (any good sites?), and I do apologize for posting rocks. In my mind, it does look like something and it's different than other rocks around. If it appeals to me, I keep it and try to learn more about it. I try to keep an open mind and I value everyone's opinion.
