google is what brought them here

[smaug]

Google is a great tool for finding info about any subject you can think of. It should not be a club to use against a newbie. So often I see a quip that asks "have you tried google" I've done it myself but I try to reserve it for the seriously stupid questions and for suspected trolls. 99% of the new people coming here have very little experiance keeping fish but they have some sort of a problem that has overwhelmed them. The googled there issu and good ole AC popped up so they come in and look for help. Before you know it 10 of us hop on and browbeat them to tears. Slurs such as "low iq" pop up,they get accused of not caring about the fish or all manner of things. I've been here for almost 5 yrs now and the past 2yrs have been the worse for this. These newbies need your help,not internet search instruction. Btw,this is just FWIW,I'm not going to debate whether or not some of you think I'm right or wrong. Its a fact and this forum is known for it on many other forums. I do hope no one sees this as slander,I do love it here.

[Aeonflame]

It is important not to pre-judge new members, even if their questions may seem silly and elementary to us. Remember they would not be here if they weren't trying to do better for their fish. Though it can get irritating when people refuse to accept advice freely given or keep looking for the answers they want to hear.

[ScottishFish]

I agree the forum is a great place to gain and share knowledge. As you know Smaug I did ask a newer member if they had tried google yesterday. It was a very easy question they had asked and there are countless databases all over the internet and books giving the information they were looking for.

People often come here and continually ask questions instead of taking the time to do their own research, this IMO is just lazy.

[Boxerwing]

I thought I would chime in as a newbie around here, and to aquariums in general. I find your forums no worse, but certainly better, than a lot of other forums out there. I know it is frustrating when a person posts "I just got a 5 gallon tank and I bought a common pleco, two oscars, a koi and a betta yesterday. The guy at the fish store said this was okay. When can I add more fish? What is this "cycling" thing you speak of?" Even I raise my eyebrows, roll my eyes and think "really? you gotta be kidding me!"

The depth and breadth of knowledge here is amazing and outstanding, and the forums are active, which is why I stay here rather than go to other sites/forums. I am a long term member on another site with forums, and they have the same issues with new posters. The old timers get frustrated with seeing the same issues (usually controversial topics) popping up over and over again. I think it is the nature of the beast when you have forums with a long life span. Basic questions will always be basic questions (and stupid people are stupid people!), and you are going to see them over and over and over again. I agree that it is frustrating when newbies don't take your suggestions. I guess in the end people are people and not all of them will act or do the same thing you would do. Rage inducing? Absolutely.

Maybe it is because I am of -ahem- mature age, but I tend to be way more cautious about entering a hobby willie-nillie. However, even though I know how to google and do searches, there is just so much info out there, and conflicting info at that, that it gets overwhelming and confusing. Information is also very spread out, and I am still too new to know where I need to look to find information about a specific topic. I do my best, have read most of the stickies here (some multiple times), but I know I still have n00b questions. I hesitate to ask until necessary. Really, what I need is just some direction to find the answers on my own. Trying to do a search for "decreasing pH" for example, left me frustrated because I couldn't find what I wanted (should I? how do I do that?) because I don't know the right terminology.

In general, I find the members here very helpful. Sometimes a bit blunt, but that is okay too. I like it here, and want to stay and become an active member.

The one thing I forgot to mention is the concept of "informal knowledge". Like how people on the forum "know" that you need to double your filtration, or know the amount of fish that can go in a specific sized tank without using the "one inch of fish per gallon" calculations. These things are common knowledge here, but to find a source out in google is very hard to find.

eta: clarity, and stuff

[imma24]

I agree with you Boxerwing - I generally encourage people to post their questions here before telling them to google things because there is conflicting info out there - some websites recommend a fish go in no smaller than a 30gal tank, while others will recommend a 20gal.

When I 1st started researching stuff online before I became involved here, I did learn about cycling a tank and read about fishless cycling, but was so insecure about how to do it, I let my LFS talk me into cycling with a bunch of goldfish because "That's how people have always done it - you can return the fish in 2 weeks" - yeah right.

There are so many experienced fish keepers here who have kept just about everything & anything, how can you go wrong getting advice here, even if it IS annoying when people don't want to listen to you. There are those who start off saying "I KNOW I'm overstocked but I want to know what's the best kind of food for my fish" - you could just tell them what to buy but you know they aren't being responsible to the fish and need to <gently> tell them this.

[Asheyna]

As a newbie myself I'm with the previous two posters. Often even though I've Googled something I come and ask it here. Why? Because in the last month or whatever since I've been here I've had some great advice and come to trust this community.

I trust you guys a lot more than some of the crazy stuff I've seen as a result of a Google search.

[Goes to 11!]

Good posts here and there's no need wonder how I feel about suggesting people continue to use Google.

I fully understand that Google is likely how they got here BUT, There is no need to discard it as a tool once you find this forum IMO.

It can continue to be effective, But it is only as effective as the effort you put into it.

It's usually far from impossible to tell who is making an effort & I appreciate those that do. [& I can admit I have been wrong before about that ].

[Honey Badger 1]

Tell a newbie how to solve their problem and they have a problem solved. Tell them how to research and they become better fish keepers.

[smaug]

I'm a bit confused why it isn't considered research to ask the question here on the forum directly to living breathing fishkeepers but it is considered research to google?

[Asheyna]

Probably because in theory the question has already been answered somewhere.

I just prefer asking here, in addition to things I've already read. Partly for the reasons state above, and also because I like being part of the community! I like discussing things, no two situations are the same so even if I've found an "answer" odds are it won't apply totally to my question.

But it really comes back to not trusting random information I find via Google-search.