Some very valid points, I will say there have been some very knowledgeable noobs with a wealth of information when they first joined. There is people who have been members for ages who give out just plain wrong advice.
QUALITY over QUANTITY
- Thread starter Chicxulub
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I agree wholeheartedly with all of that.
It's the reason I stepped in. The site had reached a point where our direction was questionable, and it needed to be addressed. The deference to real experience is why we've gotten our reputation for reliable advice, and it seemed to me that the paradigm was being challenged.
We can't have that.
I agree. I'm not besmirching newer members as a whole. There are tons of newer members here who fit right in.
Hendre
,
MrsE88
,
Go_redfish
,
twentyleagues
, etc are all new members who fit in and are great new additions to this site. Hell, the whole Poly section practically fits the bill now.My goal with this post is to set the newer members who are trying to present themselves as something they're not and/or generally rocking the boat on the right path. We want MFK to be a place where academic integrity is considered an important value, which is why the half-truths and sensationalism needs to be addressed.
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It's often a tankless (corny pun inserted) job, but I for one appreciate you taking the time away from your real life to address all of this. Thanks Rob.
Thank you Rob 
, and thank you RD for setting me straight when I get it wrong. 
, and thank you RD for setting me straight when I get it wrong.
To think that i skimmed right over this thread the last couple days(totally thought it was a thread related to the quality of fish purchased). Im glad to see the issue addressed. Theres far too much of the "google the answer, and post the first thing you read" going on. And when you state your personal experience on the topic, the "googler" will try to tell you your wrong, because google told them different.
I'm guilty of this and am breaking this habit.
MFK is the only fish keeping forum I am a member of but I am also a member of a wine making forum and a cycling forum. I've found that although neither of my hobbies are related to one another there is a very common theme which runs through each forum, and no doubt countless other forums worldwide. That common theme is that there is a massive difference in expertise. This can lead to problems, hence the OP's post.
You get people who are extremely knowledgeable of their hobby and are an absolute godsend to the lesser experienced on the forum. They help newbies, no matter how basic of a question they have. These type of members are like gold dust.
Then on the other hand you get people from the above category who, sadly, have no time for the novices, they just expect other forum users to be up to speed with everything related with the hobby. I've often seen experienced members of a forum (not so much on MFK, but certainly other forums) actually belittle other less experienced members.
You get people who think they know it all and repeatedly post misinformation (fortunately this category tend to get outed pretty quick, usually by the "grumpy" members, see below).
You get people who never post at all, just lurk, watching and learning along the way, until maybe they gain some confidence and experience to join in.
And of course you always get the "grumpy" members who, of course, aren't really grumpy, they just don't suffer fools gladly and have the balls to come out and say something that the rest of us are thinking. This usually happens if someone has the tenacity to post misinformation. We've all witnessed posts on here that turn into slanging matches.
And there lies the problem. A forum of any type, consisting of members with vastly different levels of skill will never be perfect.
Receiving a true expert answer from an expert with years of experience to fall back on is one thing, but getting a true expert answer from a wannabe, who's churning out a clippet from something they've read on google, and so they believe said information to be gospel, is another thing, but, unfortunately, this is where we're at.
You get people who are extremely knowledgeable of their hobby and are an absolute godsend to the lesser experienced on the forum. They help newbies, no matter how basic of a question they have. These type of members are like gold dust.
Then on the other hand you get people from the above category who, sadly, have no time for the novices, they just expect other forum users to be up to speed with everything related with the hobby. I've often seen experienced members of a forum (not so much on MFK, but certainly other forums) actually belittle other less experienced members.
You get people who think they know it all and repeatedly post misinformation (fortunately this category tend to get outed pretty quick, usually by the "grumpy" members, see below).
You get people who never post at all, just lurk, watching and learning along the way, until maybe they gain some confidence and experience to join in.
And of course you always get the "grumpy" members who, of course, aren't really grumpy, they just don't suffer fools gladly and have the balls to come out and say something that the rest of us are thinking. This usually happens if someone has the tenacity to post misinformation. We've all witnessed posts on here that turn into slanging matches.
And there lies the problem. A forum of any type, consisting of members with vastly different levels of skill will never be perfect.
Receiving a true expert answer from an expert with years of experience to fall back on is one thing, but getting a true expert answer from a wannabe, who's churning out a clippet from something they've read on google, and so they believe said information to be gospel, is another thing, but, unfortunately, this is where we're at.
I'm just here to show off my fish 
-- not my knowledge, which really isn't much.
But one reason I have nice fish to show off is due to the super helpful info I've learned on MFK from more experienced hobbyists. At the end of the day keeping happy & healthy fishes is what it's all about, so big thanks to MFK site/admin/members for helping to achieve this -- an occasional 're-alignment' as brought forth by Chicxulub can only make the site stronger.
-- not my knowledge, which really isn't much.But one reason I have nice fish to show off is due to the super helpful info I've learned on MFK from more experienced hobbyists. At the end of the day keeping happy & healthy fishes is what it's all about, so big thanks to MFK site/admin/members for helping to achieve this -- an occasional 're-alignment' as brought forth by Chicxulub can only make the site stronger.
Furthermore, given Admin's reminder to keep the site more professional -- and inspired by @fishhead0103666's admission, I make my own promise: no more flippant video posts (e.g. origins of Flowerhorn) or titles with semi-lewd innuendos 
or titles with semi-lewd innuendos - Status
