Why don't some people make better use of the internet?

[Tringa]

Internet forums are great places to exchanges views, comments and give/get advice.

Taking photography as an example, if you are thinking of buying a particular lens or camera then asking for opinions from people who have the same item is a good idea, but the answers to some question posted on forums could be found as easily and probably more quickly via a search engine.

This is not limited to photography, I have seen it on every forum I have used.

I realise that a forum post may include only a fraction of what has been tried already but in some posts it seems clear the person has done nothing themselves before posting.


Is it that some people are lazy and just can't be bothered to look for themselves? Is it age related? Years ago there was no access to the Internet so going and finding things for yourself was more the norm? Or is it a way of thinking? I would rather research for myself and if I'm unsure then check my understanding with others

Dave

 

[CaveDweller]

I have asked some questions on here that could have been googled. Although saying that I was after better/more detailed answers to what I was finding. I have a search first for what I want, if I can't find it then I ask away and sound like an idiot

If something is completely obvious and I'm in a trolling mood, I answer those sorts of questions with this...but with their question.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Does the pope s*** in the woods?

 

[Alastair]

Sometimes it's "too lazy to look it up myself", but there also seems to be a generalised loss of confidence and increase in insecurity resulting in a lot of "validate my decision" posts when it comes to equipment recommendation threads.

I can't help thinking that many of the "what lens/camera should I buy?" threads are the poster getting in an early excuse to blame someone else for the purchase recommendation when the new purchase doesn't immediately result in a dramatic increase in the questioners satisfaction with the results their getting.

 

[mattyg]

Ask google a question and you get answers going back a couple of years. Then you have to trawl through a load of rubbish.

Example is with computer issues
If you have an issue with win7. Googling the issues will bring up many many hits. Then you have to trawl through loads before finding a thread where the issue is resolved.


If i ask the same question on a computer forum I'll get the issue sorted a lot quicker.


Another reason is interaction.
You don't get interaction with google unless you go looking for trouble and then you get a knock on your door

 

[Fodrigal]

I'd say the main reason far asking here rather than just googling is that (give or take) nobody is posting with a particular bias (and you know the opinion is up to date not based on info from years ago)

And if you get 4/5 responses then usually it will give a good variance in advice

I don't post on here for yes no answers really, but more to see a set of opinions from people that I know are informed and reliable

 

[Lynton]

A review is just that.. I dunno lets pick a random product and site. ReviewX and galaxy s5. now I assume Samsung send them a box of pretty phones to play with and whilst the product is good, there is potentially a bias out there. Maybe Samsung execs took ReviewX out for an all expenses meal with dancing hippos and champagne on tap... I dunno. therefore Review X may feel compelled to say the S5 is good because if they say it's crap then when the S6 comes out, reviewx arn't going to get a slice of the trough.

Whereas on here, a mainly normal(ish) wide spectrum there, of people of all abilities , so asking for opinions may help a bit more as get real world experiences of the product questioned. However to be honest, if it were me, i'd be something along the lines of

"Been looking at lens x, y, z. Have read reviews on a, b anc , but still not sure.. I have this body, main interests are this and that. Any opinions about which of x, y, and z, would most likely suit my needs and abilities" .. then sit back and wait for some dingus to say "Fast glass"

 

[Alastair]

Ask google a question and you get answers going back a couple of years. Then you have to trawl through a load of rubbish.

That's just an inability to generate an efficient Google search.

Google Fu is a C21 life skill, but I don't think it's taught or given anything like enough prominence within digital literacy.

 

[skysh4rk]

Ask google a question and you get answers going back a couple of years. Then you have to trawl through a load of rubbish.

Why do you have to trawl through old rubbish? You can tell Google to limit results to the past year with a click of a button.

That's just an inability to generate an efficient Google search.

Lots of truth there.

 

[LCPete]

As Matt said interaction is something that you don't get with doing a general search on Google
For example I asked a question about my pc
at the time I was copying about 600 raw files onto an external drive and then going through them before editing
took ages!
I askes a question about which internal drive was best for a second drive
someone suggested changing the main drive to an SSD
the really helpful people on here talked me through how to do it as well

doing this transformed my pc it's really fast now

 

[Steep]

Lazyness - in many cases, asking on a forum is easier because you're getting others to do the thinking for you. I've been guilty of it myself, asking about something and finding the answer was a just quick read of the instruction book away.

 

[Greggster]

But also we tend to trust our forum members more than a Google search I think, and it's nice to interact with people on forums. If there's a question I can answer I always will and it makes me feel good aswell! Sadly I'm not that knowledgeable though

 

[mickledore]

It's part laziness and also part trusting the answers you get on here and part being able to have a conversation.

If you just Google then you just get an answer. End of.

I asked a techy question recently and could enter a debate with people who I know I can trust given their past record.

This gave me a more complete answer than is available just from a search. In the same limited way I try where possible to give helpful answers if I can.

 

[mattyg]

Why do you have to trawl through old rubbish? You can tell Google to limit results to the past year with a click of a button.



Lots of truth there.

Not managed it with "A" click and I'm too lazy to use 3

 

[arclight]

Internet forums are great places to exchanges views, comments and give/get advice.

Taking photography as an example, if you are thinking of buying a particular lens or camera then asking for opinions from people who have the same item is a good idea, but the answers to some question posted on forums could be found as easily and probably more quickly via a search engine.

This is not limited to photography, I have seen it on every forum I have used.

I realise that a forum post may include only a fraction of what has been tried already but in some posts it seems clear the person has done nothing themselves before posting.


Is it that some people are lazy and just can't be bothered to look for themselves? Is it age related? Years ago there was no access to the Internet so going and finding things for yourself was more the norm? Or is it a way of thinking? I would rather research for myself and if I'm unsure then check my understanding with others

Dave

I have seen the occasional reply to a request for information suggesting that the OP Google's the question. Not really in the spirit of the forum, is it. I am happy with folk posting their queries on here.

 

[mattyg]

I have seen the occasional reply to a request for information suggesting that the OP Google's the question. Not really in the spirit of the forum, is it. I am happy with folk posting their queries on here.

I hate those kinda answers too. You could pretty much answer all the questions ever posted on this forum by searching on google rendering this and many many many other forums redundant.

Sometime posters get here because of searching Google.

 

[Yves Geza]

Internet forums are great places to exchanges views, comments and give/get advice.

Taking photography as an example, if you are thinking of buying a particular lens or camera then asking for opinions from people who have the same item is a good idea, but the answers to some question posted on forums could be found as easily and probably more quickly via a search engine.

This is not limited to photography, I have seen it on every forum I have used.

I realise that a forum post may include only a fraction of what has been tried already but in some posts it seems clear the person has done nothing themselves before posting.


Is it that some people are lazy and just can't be bothered to look for themselves? Is it age related? Years ago there was no access to the Internet so going and finding things for yourself was more the norm? Or is it a way of thinking? I would rather research for myself and if I'm unsure then check my understanding with others

Dave

I agree! I see the same thing, particularly on one car-brand forum I visit.

The same two or three dumb questions are posted again and again by different people; sometimes only a day or two after the previous poster received the same patient answer and explanation of what they're doing wrong and why!

The best explanation I can come up with is that people identify with their online forum - they see it as a sort of online pub and, in exactly that way, they behave like every pub bore who comes in and repeats the same conversation that's just happened ... "Did you see the news today? ... "

Anyway, Dave, it's your round .....

 

[ancient_mariner]

It may be a question of trust. What do you, my friends, think and do about XYZ?

But sure, sometimes it's stupid questions. A mountain bike forum started the phrase 'what tyres for Kylie' (Minogue) because of the nature of a particular kind of question that was always being asked.