When I first started browsing this site, I would have been quite inclined to agree with your opinion, but as the old adage goes, 'time changes everything'. As some others have confirmed, there is some bashing going on here, but most of the time its gentle and/or somewhat deserved. Yes, there will always be n00bs, we each started out as one as well, but a n00b does not an idiot poster make...
For myself, as time passed I started to see a pattern in the behaviour of posters that elicited such bashings. A few n00b-style behaviours exemplify what I am talking about.
Some folks sign up as a forum user on this site/club and immediately dive into posting up questions that have literally been answered dozens of times before. Now before you defend such behaviour keep in mind that every time someone does that, we end up with yet another thread on the same topic stored in our massive repository. This affects the ability of others to search and find what they are looking for. If you have a simple brake line question you now have to sift through hundreds of similar threads to find your answers. Searching first and finding your own answers will undoubtedly yield much more than starting a new thread on the same time-worn topic. Now one might interject here 'but I'm new, how do I know I should have searched?'. In short, READ THE FAQ. It holds the keys to success on this and many other forums.
Another n00b feature is to withhold all of the pertinent information that is necessary for the 'experts' and 'people in the know' to be able to form a coherent opinion and offer advice. (Advice is made up of opinions by the way) Things like year of vehicle, aftermarket parts on it, stock parts on it, experience wrenching and wheeling, purpose of the intended vehicle, budget, longterm plans and so on are often (if not always) necessary information if you want to be helped.
Another n00b behaviour is reactivity to feedback and information presented (your thread is somewhat a case in point). Some will blow a stack when they are criticised about something they wrote or if they read critical responses to something someone else wrote. The biggest advice I have here is to
never assume you know the whole picture. There could be history between the people posting back and forth, or someone could just be a prick of biblical proportions all the time, in either case, one cannot know what is going on without also knowing the persons and their history. Blowing up about what someone has said about you also somewhat shows your own insecurities for all to see.
Aside from n00bie behaviour there is a small but vocal contingent of persons who have already learned most of what they need to know and hence have fulfilled the purpose that they registered for, but continue to post and spend time here because they have friends or want to be part of the ongoing interrelations here (like me). Some of these folks may lambaste those who are tripping around over their own ignorance not out of maliciousness, but rather out of irritation at the same old story, same old song and dance being told over and over again; there are only so many ways one can recommend searching about a topic before one becomes a bit jaded and sarcastic.
On opinions vs. advice: opinions are all we have. I am philosophically a Radical Temporal-Socio-Contextual Micro-Constructivist so I believe that there is no factual knowledge that can be definitively known; hence I believe that opinion and conjecture are all that we have. Certainly I believe that advice is simply well-formed opinion. If you ask for advice, you are unwise to expect something of value beyond the piece of paper it is written on, and the advice you seek is only as good as the information you provide to the advisor.
Other forums: funny you would make that assessment. I can only assume that
is one of the only forums you have ever looked at. MOST internet forums are not even remotely as family friendly or are as well policed, sorry, moderated (
) as this one is, so I am surprised you would offer that criticism of this site.
8" Lift question: That one has me surprised as well. 8" and higher lifts are not terribly common on XJ's and some time searching and reading about them would make that plain as day to most readers. The person's advice to lower your rig and cut the fenders may have been unsolicited, but I would have to say it was relatively solid. If you have the know-how and skills to lift 8" or higher, you are already ahead of most others on this site and probably don't need too many questions answered here, aside from advanced guidance. Asking if you need an SYE at 8", well to me, that's akin to asking if you need new brake lines at 8". If you have to ask, you probably haven't researched it enough yet. That is not offered as a direct criticism to you however, its just to illustrate the point that sadly, you're pretty much asking to be flamed with a question like that; its practically self-evident.
My
unsolicited advice to you is to spend some time getting to know some of the names around here and figuring out how things work before getting too up in arms. This is an extraordinarily good group of people, and despite the flames and criticisms offered up, questions always get answered and the support is always there...
Once you are ready and you think you can stand the abuse, try
http://www.midwestxj.org. Bunch a pricks there, but its lots of fun! (Assuming that you know the difference between a FF14Bolt and a D60 :laugh3: )
Jeep on,
B.
