Why are there so many non-education topics here?

[Amy in NH]

I admit I spend most of my time here on the Chat Board, but I came over tonight to see what kind of interesting education topics there are and found that about half of what's on the General Education Board is not about education.  Wasn't non-education chat split off to the Chat board when we switched forums?  I thought they asked us to move these topics and keep this board for education-only?

 

Confused.  :huh:

[Snow]

I'm not sure. It seems like some of them might be by accident and I see a few that are old threads that have been resurrected from when the gen ed board was the chat board.

[Kalmia]

I think a few people fear to venture over to the Chat board because it can be contentious so if they want to post off-topic they tend to do it here where presumably discussion would be less contentious.

 

Either that or they totally forget that the purpose of the Chat board was to allow the general education board to remain about education especially for the benefit of newcomers (so they won't get scared away from classical education because of posts on teA and bOOkshelves and cupcakes and kilts).

[Hunter]

Yup, resurrected thread, mistakes and fear. To be honest, every once in awhile I tweak a general post to kinda sorta include an educational aspect to the more general question, just so I can post it here. I'm afraid of people at the chat board and I don't know most of the people over there.

 

I'm a VERY active poster at the k-8 and general educational boards, and about once a month I do allow myself a general post among my peeps.

[TracyP]

I count 8 non-education topics as of right now.

 

1 - I'm sure is an accident.

 

2 - spam

 

2 - resurrected from pre-split days.

 

2 - relative newbies

 

1 - yours. :laugh:

 

I think the resurrected threads are the most common. (maybe tied with spam, but those get removed pretty quickly) It seems to me that there has been A LOT of resurrected threads on all the boards lately. I don't know what the deal is. I haven't paid enough attention to know if a spam-bot is bringing them back or what, but this is the majority that I typically see.

 

 

[Korrale]

Why do some (not all) people have issues with resurrected threads? Especially if the information is relevant. I know I have felt barked at for posting to threads that I didn't even realize were old because someone else did a search for something and then commented.

[TracyP]

Why do some (not all) people have issues with resurrected threads? Especially if the information is relevant. I know I have felt barked at for posting to threads that I didn't even realize were old because someone else did a search for something and then commented.

 

Just speaking for myself... It totally depends on the thread. An oldie but goodie that somebody bumps with a "gosh, this was great. I wanted to put it out there for others." No problem. I find it annoying to take the time to read somebody's thread about getting her 2yo down for a nap and posting advice only to realize that said 2yo is now 6. I realize that this usually happens by accident, and I don't get angry or anything. :) I would not assume you were "barked at". That person was probably trying to give a friendly reminder so you and others didn't waste time offering advice to somebody who no longer needed it.

[Korrale]

I guess the way I see it is if a thread is resurrected it is often because someone was seeking the same kind of advice because they would have searched for it specifically. But I see what you mean about certain threads not being relevant anymore.

[Rebel Yell]

I guess the way I see it is if a thread is resurrected it is often because someone was seeking the same kind of advice because they would have searched for it specifically. But I see what you mean about certain threads not being relevant anymore.

 

I've often wondered what was wrong with responing to old threads, too. Sometimes, someone will make a new post and several people will answer "that;s been discussed here before, search the old posts" answer,  but then when someone comments on an old post we get "BRAAAAIIIINNNNNZ" and a Zombie tag.

 

Doesn;t make me mad or anyuthing...  just confused. :confused1:

[elliotterae]

 

 

sometimes, someone will make a new post and several people will answer "that;s been discussed here before, search the old posts" answer, 

I was thinking the same thing. I am new to homeschooling, WTM, all the acronyms and everything that goes along with this new adventure. I have a LOT of questions. I never know if I am less annoying buy commenting on an old thread or asking a question that has been covered already. I try not to ask much but, which is the lesser of the evils?

[LaughingCat]

I don't think most of these are actually resurrected for info - IMO what happens is the old thread gets resurrected by spam - and then once the spam is deleted the thread stays current on the new posts which causes people to read it without realizing it is old and then they post to it.

[Julie Smith]

I always search the boards by using the new button. So I don't even look to see what board I'm reading from.

 

I do admit I'm usually not sure we to put threads about books. As in non educational books.

[Rosie_0801]

I was thinking the same thing. I am new to homeschooling, WTM, all the acronyms and everything that goes along with this new adventure. I have a LOT of questions. I never know if I am less annoying buy commenting on an old thread or asking a question that has been covered already. I try not to ask much but, which is the lesser of the evils?

 

Don't care. You've as much right to be here as anyone else. :) People getting grumpy over newbie posts have been here so long they don't remember doing the same, most likely. I know I wouldn't remember and I've only been here 8 years. Do whatever you think is most likely to get your question answered.

[Peaceful Isle]

I spend most of my time on the education part of the forum. Not sure why. I have almost left non education posts here, many times, and then remembered better. :) not that it would have hurt anything.

I don't know, I know more people over here, and most of the time just really enjoy hearing about different peoples thoughts about this book, or that. It seems like a smaller group to me, and I usually recognize the posters.

[PachiSusan]

I was thinking the same thing. I am new to homeschooling, WTM, all the acronyms and everything that goes along with this new adventure. I have a LOT of questions. I never know if I am less annoying buy commenting on an old thread or asking a question that has been covered already. I try not to ask much but, which is the lesser of the evils?

 

 

I think it's perfectly okay to ask your question or bump old threads. If the search function worked better on the site, I'd saydo a search first and if you can't find it, then ask. There are so many more people who are not bored/upset/annoyed by newbies and will be helpful and welcoming! I can't tell you how much I appreciated the women who took me under their wing when I arrived.  :wub:

[boscopup]

I think it's perfectly okay to ask your question or bump old threads. If the search function worked better on the site, I'd saydo a search first and if you can't find it, then ask. There are so many more people who are not bored/upset/annoyed by newbies and will be helpful and welcoming! I can't tell you how much I appreciated the women who took me under their wing when I arrived.  :wub:

 

Since the search function has always been not that great, I will repeat for the newbies some advice I've used for a long time... Go to GOOGLE and type:

 

topic-I'm-looking-for site:welltrainedmind.com

 

Obviously, replace "topic-I'm-looking-for" with what you want to search for. ;) The nice thing about a Google search is that it even handles short acronyms. So if you want to compare Rod & Staff English to First Language Lessons, you'd type:

 

r&s vs fll site:welltrainedmind.com

 

That will bring up a number of threads comparing those two. I have always used Google to search this site, and it's always been much, much, much better. I even added welltrainedmind.com as a word in my phone's dictionary so I don't have to type the whole thing when searching on my phone. :lol:

 

As far as bumping old threads... What annoys me is when someone (often NOT a newbie) is looking for a topic and bumps 3-5 year old threads all over the board, posting as if they were posted today. It'd be fine if they said, "This is old thread, but I'm wondering if anyone has any new information to add?" Sometimes people will go to post to a thread and not even realize they already posted YEARS ago. It really is quite annoying.

 

There is nothing wrong with starting a new thread with your question! The board would be awfully silent if everyone Googled and didn't bother to post their question. Frankly, I hardly ever have to post a question, because every question I come up with has been answered before. But again, if every newbie Googled first, the board would die. We need newbies keeping things going! So posting questions that have been answered before doesn't bother me at all. If I'm sick of answering it, I'll pass by that thread and click on something else. No big deal. The resurrected threads, otoh, are easy to miss the date on, so it might seem interesting, and then I happen to see a date eventually, and it's 2008. It's also rarely the case where a new thread wouldn't have been better for the person bumping the thread with a question.

 

 

[TracyP]

I've often wondered what was wrong with responing to old threads, too. Sometimes, someone will make a new post and several people will answer "that;s been discussed here before, search the old posts" answer,  but then when someone comments on an old post we get "BRAAAAIIIINNNNNZ" and a Zombie tag.

 

Doesn;t make me mad or anyuthing...  just confused. :confused1:

 

I really hate that, too. Um, yes, thanks for pointing out that this isn't an original topic, but I actually have a question. :confused:  Sometimes I will link to past topics or suggest a search when somebody asks a question that has been discussed a lot recently. I've noticed that there will be 3 threads on what to use after MM6 (for example). Thread number 4 comes along and it creeps down, down the page. I think everybody has given their .02 and nobody feels like repeating it. Then I might pop in with a couple links to help the OP and give the thread a bump at the same time.

 

If you have a new question, I would absolutely start a new thread before bumping up an old one - for your own sake. Your question is far more likely to be seen by starting a new thread. What almost always happens is that busy people read the OP and then start skimming. The responses will not be to the new question, but the OP.

[Rosie_0801]

Well, I bumped an old thread last night because I didn't expect many people to know the answer and hoped their previous participation would trigger a notification so they'd see it. I don't know if that worked, but that's what I was hoping.

[TracyP]

Well, I bumped an old thread last night because I didn't expect many people to know the answer and hoped their previous participation would trigger a notification so they'd see it. I don't know if that worked, but that's what I was hoping.

 

Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me.

 

The "is homeschooling bad for your mental health" thread, otoh, is a mess. People are answering the OP, answering the poster that brought the thread to life, and responding to posts that were answering the OP 2 years ago. :lol:

[Snow]

As far as bumping old threads... What annoys me is when someone (often NOT a newbie) is looking for a topic and bumps 3-5 year old threads all over the board, posting as if they were posted today. It'd be fine if they said, "This is old thread, but I'm wondering if anyone has any new information to add?" Sometimes people will go to post to a thread and not even realize they already posted YEARS ago. It really is quite annoying..

ETA: I meant to quote tracyp's as well.

 

 

Just to give an example from my own experience...I did this very thing. I was searching for kids behavior problems. A woman 2 years ago was describing problems she had with her son who sounded exactly like mine. So I posted to it asking if her sons behavior has changed and what she's done about it, etc. Well, the longer a thread is, the less people read, so many people just read her original post and replied to her with tons of advice for her son's problems - from a few years ago. Some people replied to me, but it just was an awkward situation and I felt bad bringing the OP into it all.

 

So, I think on many other discussion boards people are in the habit of checking the dates more - maybe because this one is so active? Anyway, I'm now cautious of resurrecting, not for breaking some Wtm rule, but because it wasn't as helpful as I hoped.

 

In the future, I'll start my own thread with the old, related thread linked and ask people to read it and comment.