It's been my experience that knowledge on the web whether it's motorcycles, fruit, home projects and others are filled with people who "attack" one another for opinions that if said IN PERSON would never elicit such attacks. It's NOT the knowledge, its the anonymity that does it.

I don't need to research this, I belong to many other forums on classic autos, motorcycles, musical instruments, technology and it's all the same IMO, anonymity. In person these know it all folks would never be as aggressive about their "opinions"

I don't mind smart and knowledgeable people posting here in an aggressive way. I can learn from them and it's entertaining. I don't mind the one upmanship. Nothing wrong with being proud of your backyard, your tropical fruit trees and your tropical fruits knowledge, things you may have known nothing about a few short years ago. This is a test of your abilities and a challenge, that's how I see it.

If a fool was posting here in a strident manner....this would bother me but I have not seen it

A lot of people have knowledge. It's the few that don't have the knowledge AND DON'T KNOW they don't have that knowledge, are the ones to watch out for. Spend some time on the Yahoo forum now and then! If you want to be attacked, that's the best place to start.

its called being a "Blowhard"

I totally appreciate it when people will do a lot of internet research and provide answers to posted questions based on their findings. Most of the stuff asked on this forum seem to be things that people have already dealt with. What bothers me is when I feel I have to be careful about what I ask or how I ask it in fear that I will be insulted for my question. I really enjoy reading this forum, and find that most of the responses to questions are pretty dead on and provide great insight into different methods or regions. There arent many places to go on the web that allow us this opportunity. All I wish is that we display a level of respect for one another. Who knows? Maybe the connections you make on here could allow you opportunities that you would have never had otherwise.

"Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace." -Dalai Lama

HAHAHAHAHA As gnappi said, part of it has to do with anonymity. It's also partly to do with the ambiguousness of written vs verbal communication. (It tends to be quite a bit more difficult to interpret tone and emotion from written communication.) Pride rounds out the list of reasons behind the aggressiveness :-). If you think this forum gets aggressive, you should check out the yahoo fruit list :-).

There's one other interesting thing about "tropical fruit knowledge" (or knowledge of any other sort): The novice generally believes himself to be very knowledgeable, while the veteran realizes how little he really knows. If you ever sort through resumes, you see this phenomenon. You get guys straight out of college who call themselves experts in a subject which takes most people a decade to master. Not saying that anyone on this list falls into that category - just a funny observation.

Jeff

I dont know the situation with that particular poster but it is very true that anonymity breeds bad behavior. Craigslist is bad, Ebay the worst.

Totally agree with Jeff.

Also, what I have seen here ( what I think the OP is referring to), is not a big deal at all when compared to the car forums I frequent. I find this forum to be a very polite one overall. Sure there are few here that can get a bit snippy, but not a big deal IMO.

And then there are those jackasses who keep telling people to use the search function or to google stuff...

@murahilin I noticed that, a member was asking about available Mango Scions, and someone told posted in a bit sarcastic manner that he should use the marvelous search function available, i thought that very rude.

who cares if scions were available 3 months ago?

I was hoping that question would be answered because I also was hoping to find some.

As for gardening knowledge I feel i'am a "noob" still and appreciate all the time most in this forum put into helping others, as forums go, gardenweb is probably the most polite i visit, and I check in almost everyday, just reading about peoples experiences and stuff, learning as much as I can.

But if I do have knowledge or experience that would help someone, that is asking, I am happy to share.

-William

Good points all. There have been questions fielded that may have been beat on a few times in the past. Yes...a search could have been done to check if we've grown tired of the subject. We can't all judge what might be interesting and what others will find ho-hum. We've even had someone post that they were "too lazy" to use the search function. IMHO, that person was begging for a flame and he got it. Not everyone is like that and we've all been pretty good at policing the site.

There will always be squabbles and hopefully all will be forgiven in the end. And if you don't believe me...get off yer dead A$$ and go do a Google search for it you lazy fu#%s!! But I will forgive you eventually.

In unix circles, we used to call that RTFM (read the fine manual). I guess the modern version is "LMGTFY" (let me google that for you). ;-)

Jeff

Jay,
What is the best mango? I want one that tastes like mango. Please help.

Jeff,
Telling my family to RTFM never works out well..

Tropicdude,
I totally agree. I don't understand why people should have to use the search function or google before asking questions. We should be entitled to answers without doing any research ourselves. I think I found the link for the post where that guy was rude to the guy asking for mango scions. I can't stand sarcasm either.
Here is the link: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg102321573692.html

I think I found some more posts, using the search function, of this guy telling people to google. Can't get any more rude than that.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0917342325037.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0902141517416.html?10

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0919445225109.html?1

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0415224020125.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0421405630138.html

I think this forum is a good one. The people I met on this forum are nice and willing to share their knowledge. This is the reason why I'm still here after three years. I think what annoy me most is when the person who ask a question without trying to do some research first. Sometime just a little research and you'll find the answer. I think if you're really interest in what you're growing or planning to grow, you're usually interest in doing a lot of research and do a lot of reading. I know I did a lot of research on this forum when I first know about this forum and also use google. If I could not find the answer then ask the question. If that person is too lazy to research then why should we waste our time to answer question??? But then like I said...many nice people on this forum. :)

@mura I use search all the time, but in the case I mentioned previously, someone was just asking for scions, so a search would not help much, because that is something usually found when someone did some pruning or has plants that are ready so its information that should be up to date.

As for questions on how to fertilize or what to do to keep plants warm, and stuff like that, a search would give tons of Information without having to ask it again.

But then again its really no biggie to just answer if one knows the answer.

These forums are like any fan site, there are always going to be people who have spent tons of time gathering data and may conflict with one another.

Speaking of... do these forums have any form of moderation? They kind of look like they were abandoned by the company since they are so dated in design.

wizzard419 --

This dated design is great/ this way the site is not splattered with long block quotes and gratuitous images. No avatars is nice. The search function is good. The only thing missing is being able to search for a particular members posts in chronological order. If you find someone very smart and you want to find out what else he or she has commented on. You can find this via a refined google search but it would be nicer to have this built into Garden-Web

Also G-Web would get more readers if it had a current posts page that drew from all its forums (must have 70 or so)

I agree with Murahilin. Do some searches to start. If you really want to know about what you are growing, you will be doing this anyway. Then got a specific question that relates to a current situation? Fire away.

Looked up all the above links. I don't see an issue with any of them. Wide open, general questions should be researched first. Ahhh...but that last one is my favorite and it should be preserved for all time. Maybe we could start a GardenWeb Hall Of Fame Posts? That one certainly qualifies. There's others...."How to send seeds in the mail?" for instance. Pure gold.

And let's not forget the freakin idiot, as well as several other names, from New Jersey that fruited the mangosteen from seed!! There may have been a few unhelpful suggestions going on during those posts! This tool even brought that excrement to the Yahoo forum.

Most of us try not to be a smarta$$. But there is always the risk you may end up on the receiving end of some questionable comments. Is it right? Maybe not, but we will need to keep adding to our new Hall of Fame now won't we?!

I've been here on GW since the days of Spike, first on the GH forum, now mainly here. My post frequency is roughly proportional to my tropical fruit harvest, if you know what I mean. But this forum is actually one of the best. There is enough activity to keep people interested. People are civil. My only complaint recently is that those of us "up north" have taken a hiatus from posting lately it seems. ;-)

The forum design is terribly dated. To bold and italicize you have to know some basic html. I don't think you can block quote as you can with most forums. You cannot edit a post. And to post more than once in a day you have to change the title, which is very irritating. But the search is decent, as is the cost.

There are a lot of good features (aside from the usual dross) that would be nice to have on the system, such as who posted last, report post buttons, the ability to edit posts, getting rid that annoying post confirm page, etc.

It literally feels like 1996 in here.

I don't see anyone here having an attitude problem. Everyone seems to be courteous and respectful. I find this site to be very helpful even though I was warned to stay away from this forum, by a very respected and repeatable nurseryman/horticulturist/researcher etc., because it was a disservice to all exotic fruit hobbyist in Socal......boy, was he ever wrong!

JF

This is a very respectful crowd, we have folks with decades of growing/selling/eating experiences always willing to share with fellow enthusiasts. Written communication won't always be interpreted correctly, but if asked politely, I don't think there is a single person trying to push anyone around.
Joe's absolutely right with SoCal nurserymen, self proclaimed know-it-alls. Heck, even the Garden center managers at my local HD & Lowes gave me the jackass attitude when I tried to place an order for trees from La Verne nursery, got free lectures from all of them on what will work me (manila).

Best thread ever!!!

Tim

I heard that the apes from the study PJ referenced were later taught to graft, but labor laws prohibited them from finding jobs. This only made them more aggressive.

Jeff