- Thread starter Sharlene
- Start date
Any alternatives to 'Newbie'?
Sorry, but I'm a mother first and a DR1'er second....
So, let's get this straight - basically you have to post on DR1 pretty much every other day to be considered a full time member.... That just doesn't make sense to me. I didn't come to live in the DR in order to sit using my pc constantly and it makes the 'HALO' suggestion from JackieBoo about having a life offline even more apt....
What if the 'hypothetical' member who registered in 1920 had moved to the DR in that year, logged in everyday and read every post but had only made 100 posts because they were the only subjects he or she felt interested in or qualified enough to comment on? Or what if they were the only questions he had, the others being answered on the board already. Then he'd still be considered a 'part-time newbie'? Isn't that ridiculous? It's drummed into the 'newbies' enough on here that we shouldn't ask 'stupid' questions or questions which have already been answered on previous threads, and yet now we're being told that if we log in but don't post on a regular basis that we're considered to be 'part-time'......that's just asking for a load of inane posts isn't it?
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I've only had internet at home in DR the past 2 months. Before that I used the internet cafe which was limiting. I'm an insomniac and spend a lot of time on my own in the evenings when the children are in bed so that's often when I log in to DR1. However I also email my friends around the world and do my internet banking which can take up a lot of time, so I just don't have the time to post on DR1 all the time. Even if I do want to post, more often than not, I'll get interrupted or my 2yr old will wake up wanting a cuddle and the post will never get sent anyway. Also, sometimes, I just want to play some games in the Arcade and not get bogged down in every subject that's mentioned on the forums. I don't always have much time during the day because I'm out and about walking everywhere, shopping, picking children up from school at different times etc. I like to use DR1 to find out what's going on, ask questions, read through the new posts because I find them interesting, and see if anyone new is moving to my area. If I can take the opportunity to answer any questions for new people moving here then I help in any way that I can if I have the time. I know how lost I felt when I was in the UK and thinking about moving here and DR1 was a great source of information for me then, and still is. I've had a a fair few private messages asking questions about the area that I live in, the schools, the contacts that I've made etc and I've spent a lot of time and effort answering them in great detail. However, I only answer questions that I feel qualified to answer. I'm not pretending to know more than I do or to be as 'clued up' and knowledgeable as Hillbilly, Lambada, Bushbaby, Rocky et al. My intentions are good and I realise I have a long way to go, but I'm not going to learn half of what I need to sitting here at the computer all day, plus it wouldn't make me a very good mother. If that makes me a 'part-time' member, then so be it....
In answer to my original question which was about alternatives, I quite like 'rookie' although it's not a word we really used in the UK where I came from. I know that in the USA its used to refer to 'trainee' police officers amongst other things. It just sounds less patronising than 'newbie'. I don't think the bronze, silver and gold works in terms of gauging the experience of a poster because there have been some posters who have 'bashed' out hundreds of questions, sometimes on multiple forums, in a very short space of time. Also, sometimes it's quality not quantity that counts. I always look at the date that people registered and the content of their previous posts if I'm not familiar with the poster and I have any doubts about their experience or integrity.
Anyway, got to go as my 5yr old will be awaiting my arrival at the school gate......
So, let's get this straight - basically you have to post on DR1 pretty much every other day to be considered a full time member.... That just doesn't make sense to me. I didn't come to live in the DR in order to sit using my pc constantly and it makes the 'HALO' suggestion from JackieBoo about having a life offline even more apt....
What if the 'hypothetical' member who registered in 1920 had moved to the DR in that year, logged in everyday and read every post but had only made 100 posts because they were the only subjects he or she felt interested in or qualified enough to comment on? Or what if they were the only questions he had, the others being answered on the board already. Then he'd still be considered a 'part-time newbie'? Isn't that ridiculous? It's drummed into the 'newbies' enough on here that we shouldn't ask 'stupid' questions or questions which have already been answered on previous threads, and yet now we're being told that if we log in but don't post on a regular basis that we're considered to be 'part-time'......that's just asking for a load of inane posts isn't it?
.
I've only had internet at home in DR the past 2 months. Before that I used the internet cafe which was limiting. I'm an insomniac and spend a lot of time on my own in the evenings when the children are in bed so that's often when I log in to DR1. However I also email my friends around the world and do my internet banking which can take up a lot of time, so I just don't have the time to post on DR1 all the time. Even if I do want to post, more often than not, I'll get interrupted or my 2yr old will wake up wanting a cuddle and the post will never get sent anyway. Also, sometimes, I just want to play some games in the Arcade and not get bogged down in every subject that's mentioned on the forums. I don't always have much time during the day because I'm out and about walking everywhere, shopping, picking children up from school at different times etc. I like to use DR1 to find out what's going on, ask questions, read through the new posts because I find them interesting, and see if anyone new is moving to my area. If I can take the opportunity to answer any questions for new people moving here then I help in any way that I can if I have the time. I know how lost I felt when I was in the UK and thinking about moving here and DR1 was a great source of information for me then, and still is. I've had a a fair few private messages asking questions about the area that I live in, the schools, the contacts that I've made etc and I've spent a lot of time and effort answering them in great detail. However, I only answer questions that I feel qualified to answer. I'm not pretending to know more than I do or to be as 'clued up' and knowledgeable as Hillbilly, Lambada, Bushbaby, Rocky et al. My intentions are good and I realise I have a long way to go, but I'm not going to learn half of what I need to sitting here at the computer all day, plus it wouldn't make me a very good mother. If that makes me a 'part-time' member, then so be it....
In answer to my original question which was about alternatives, I quite like 'rookie' although it's not a word we really used in the UK where I came from. I know that in the USA its used to refer to 'trainee' police officers amongst other things. It just sounds less patronising than 'newbie'. I don't think the bronze, silver and gold works in terms of gauging the experience of a poster because there have been some posters who have 'bashed' out hundreds of questions, sometimes on multiple forums, in a very short space of time. Also, sometimes it's quality not quantity that counts. I always look at the date that people registered and the content of their previous posts if I'm not familiar with the poster and I have any doubts about their experience or integrity.
Anyway, got to go as my 5yr old will be awaiting my arrival at the school gate......
Please excuse me but in my haste to respond to our fellow board member Miguel I failed to articulate that which he posted so in an attempt to do so, here goes;
Miguel, you stated, ?You seem to be a smart person, therefore you should know what the term "Newbie" means?, and ?Common sense tells you what it means?. First off let me thank you humbly from the bottom of my heart for making a self-derived observation on my amount of intelligence and the broad assertion that common sense is one of my attributes. It is because of those portions of your posts that I went out and researched the word ?newbie?. After spending untold time and energy in my endeavor I came up with the following definitions;
somebody joining something new: somebody who is new to an activity such as using the Internet or playing a computer game.
NEWCOMER; especially : a newcomer to cyberspace.
One that is new to something, especially a novice at using computer technology or the Internet.
After reading these definitions things seem to become much clearer to me but I digress.
The three definitions all have a word in common and I don?t know if you were aware of it but it became very apparent to me while reading them. They all contain the word ?new?.
Upon further research I have determined that the word ?new? is all relative to the word ?time? and that word is all relative as to what one considers to be short, medium or long term. This differentiation between short, medium and long seems to be seated in a paradox as it relates to ?opinions? and as you so justly pointed out, we all know about that word. As it seems apparent that not everyone has the same asxx, excuse me, ?opinion? then it would stand to reason that not everyone will have the same idea as to the relation to time be it short, medium or long term. Having said that then my definition of ?newbie? could very well be much different than that of another person and this all centers around the relativity of ?time? and the opinionated relation to duration as it relates to the subject at hand.
Maybe with ?time? you and I may eventually become harmonized on the same sheet of music but rest assured that this is all relative as to when I may no longer be a ?newbie? to this world of communicating with another person.
Rick
Chris, I wish to inform you that confoundedness is the world I live in and therefore welcome you to my world.
Miguel, you stated, ?You seem to be a smart person, therefore you should know what the term "Newbie" means?, and ?Common sense tells you what it means?. First off let me thank you humbly from the bottom of my heart for making a self-derived observation on my amount of intelligence and the broad assertion that common sense is one of my attributes. It is because of those portions of your posts that I went out and researched the word ?newbie?. After spending untold time and energy in my endeavor I came up with the following definitions;
somebody joining something new: somebody who is new to an activity such as using the Internet or playing a computer game.
NEWCOMER; especially : a newcomer to cyberspace.
One that is new to something, especially a novice at using computer technology or the Internet.
After reading these definitions things seem to become much clearer to me but I digress.
The three definitions all have a word in common and I don?t know if you were aware of it but it became very apparent to me while reading them. They all contain the word ?new?.
Upon further research I have determined that the word ?new? is all relative to the word ?time? and that word is all relative as to what one considers to be short, medium or long term. This differentiation between short, medium and long seems to be seated in a paradox as it relates to ?opinions? and as you so justly pointed out, we all know about that word. As it seems apparent that not everyone has the same asxx, excuse me, ?opinion? then it would stand to reason that not everyone will have the same idea as to the relation to time be it short, medium or long term. Having said that then my definition of ?newbie? could very well be much different than that of another person and this all centers around the relativity of ?time? and the opinionated relation to duration as it relates to the subject at hand.
Maybe with ?time? you and I may eventually become harmonized on the same sheet of music but rest assured that this is all relative as to when I may no longer be a ?newbie? to this world of communicating with another person.
Rick
Chris, I wish to inform you that confoundedness is the world I live in and therefore welcome you to my world.
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That's all that matters.
Newbie may sound derogatory, but it's not meant to be.
There are newbies who are knowledgeable and helpful, and some who are green.
Everyone was a newbie at one time, but like you said, the quality of their posts is what earns them respect, not the quantity.
Absolutely right, we get to know them by other names as time goes on anyway. :laugh:
aranoid: Just because I have 8000+ posts doesn't mean I know anything about anything
When I first discovered the board I thought I'd never use all those strange words and phrases like "newbie", "what [poster] said", "my bad", "YMMV" and all those other acronyms, and most of all "LOL".
I still really dislike the latter, but have ended up succumbing to peer pressure with most other message board and chat jargon.
Newbie sounds neutral to me - don't take it as a negative label.
I still really dislike the latter, but have ended up succumbing to peer pressure with most other message board and chat jargon.
Newbie sounds neutral to me - don't take it as a negative label.
I don't want to interfere in such an erudite discussion on aspirants and expirants but just wanted to say, Sharlene, you're not a newbie in my book.
on aspirants and expirants but just wanted to say, Sharlene, you're not a newbie in my book.Agreed, and even when Sharlene was a newbie, she was a good newbie.:bunny:I don't want to interfere in such an erudite discussion
Fogeys for the males, yes; how about Crones for the females?
Then there's Geezers
Nubile doesn't sound right for males - apart from its meaning in English it means "soltera" in Italian. Then again, "bimbo" means baby boy.
Could be more Dominican - tiguerito, tiguere, tiguerazo?
Then there's Geezers
Nubile doesn't sound right for males - apart from its meaning in English it means "soltera" in Italian. Then again, "bimbo" means baby boy.
Could be more Dominican - tiguerito, tiguere, tiguerazo?
Fogeys for the males, yes; how about Crones for the females?
.
Oh great, more time wasted explaining all this stuff to newbies :laugh:
In English, yes. In Italian "bimbo" is baby boy, "bimba" is baby girl. I learned this on a trip to Italy. I was staying with a friend who had a baby daughter, and people would come up to us on the street to admire the baby. They'd ask "Bimbo?" and we'd have to reply, "No, bimba!"
This could potentially be dangerous, as you ask some man how is bimbo is, and he thinks you're talking about his wife.
The next time I see you and say, "Hi bimbo", you will of course know, that I mean, "Hi baby".My first reaction was "who are you calling bimbo?"
Entendido....
PLEEEEASE don't explain it to me anymore, I just can't stand reading LOOOONG posts that at the end, 99% means nothing because the answer was given on the first sentence. Unless they are mine, haha!.
I gave MY definition of a "newbie". Whomever shares MY definition, fine, whomever doesn't share it, fine also.
PLEEEASE don't reply to this post, remember, "opinions are like axxholes, EVERYBODY HAS ONE". And again, in my case, 2!. LOL.
Indeed.
PLEEEEASE don't explain it to me anymore, I just can't stand reading LOOOONG posts that at the end, 99% means nothing because the answer was given on the first sentence. Unless they are mine, haha!.
I gave MY definition of a "newbie". Whomever shares MY definition, fine, whomever doesn't share it, fine also.
PLEEEASE don't reply to this post, remember, "opinions are like axxholes, EVERYBODY HAS ONE". And again, in my case, 2!. LOL.