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Lay Off the Newbies!

I always try to keep my posts constructive, but there is something that regularly goes on here that I think is detrimental to our hobby - A newbie has a simple question and a bunch of neurotic geezers (of which I include myself) jump on the guy with a million rules and rituals he must follow to achieve his goal, which ends up discouraging the guy right out of hobby. There was one analog thread on static where I recommended Gruv Glide and you geezers started in with so much BS- humidifiers, move to another climate, expensive gimmicks, etc, that GG would kill him and his records.  The end result? By the end of the thread, he sold his analog rig because he couldn't deal with the stress.  In a recent digital thread, you guys are recommending a newbie buy 20 year old transports.  All this does is just make newbies so stressed out that you'll drive them to MP3s.  Newbies need simple answers, commensurate with their experience level.  Buy a Rega table, screw in a Rega cartridge and play records.  They have plenty of time to turn into us.  Somehow we survived, listening to our Sansui receivers and JBL L-100s in bedrooms thick with pot smoke and spilled Boone's Farm.  And we made it.  Sometimes I'm amazed as well.  Let the young have fun while they can. Be well.  
chayro
pauly
1,012 posts
 
The first thing a newbie should do is to compile an ignore list and skip over their posts. 

Life is way to precious to waste it on interacting with the folks that belong on the ignore list. 
cissado
113 posts
 
I used to be a regular on a Bodybuilding forum. When newbies come to ask the most basic questions and ask if their kitchen table or bar stool, crate, is good enough to do bench press with their 30 pound dumbells, I would always steer them in a positive direction. Of course I could have given them a list of must haves that they just couldn't live without, but newbies need encouragement at this stage. You use their budget and work with it. Note what excited them enough to get into weight training and let them flourish with that. It would be sad to dampen their enthusiasm from the start. It is sometimes better to do things not perfectly and be happy  than being discouraged and know perfection is out of reach. If they fall in love with the sport/hobby, then they can move forward more. 
Not everyone's a teacher though.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
It’s a journey. Effort and miles have to be clocked. The negatives [also] serve educational purposes and present growth opportunities.
stuartk
3,190 posts
 
@cissado:

Yes!  Great post!  

@david_ten:

That learning necessarily involves difficulty is a given. . . in every aspect of life! 

Just because difficulties cannot be avoided does not mean one must always learn "the hard way".  It is possible, in many situations, to gain knowledge without taking the most difficult path. The road may be rocky and washed out in places, but if one can help steer a newbie in such a way that they avoid falling off th eedge and into a deep gorge, I'd advocate doing that. Saying "well, they're gonna have to take some hard knocks, anway-- leave 'em be" is devoid of compassion, to say the least. 

 cissado did an excellent job of describing what I advocate-- I don't believe I can improve upon his post. 


hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,241 posts
 
A while back, I suggested that Audiogon have a FAQ category so that newbies could be directed there to thoughtful and well composed replies rather than get some of the short or snarky answers to their newbie questions, the kinds of answers being lamented here. If I recall correctly, that idea got some credit but enough short/snarky answers that it made me regret starting it. Nevertheless, I also sent it to the forum managers. Who knows? Maybe that will happen someday.
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