Suggestion: member categories on profiles (casual/committed/professional/etc)

[billw]

Just a thought - there's a lot of advice sought and given on here, but a lot of the time the responses need to cater for the wide variety of types of member that ask.

So what if we can have a tag on our profile that appears next to posts saying what your level of commitment/involvement/etc is so that people don't respond with "this machine is great" when it's £2000 and the question is posed by a hobbyist? Now I realise there's a disconnect between the level of commitment and the budget but maybe there's a way to equate or balance them out in a scale?

 

[pe2dave]

I refuse to admit I've been committed ;-)
Other aspects(useful?). E.g. the lathe blowing fuses? "I'm a qualified electrician" would be a useful tag to an answer?
Broad categories are fine... but the long tail holds much information?
I'm a committed woodworker ... with 2 years? 60 years? experience.
As in any CV, it's not easy to get out what the writer put in?

 

[bjm]

I'm not sure how much that would help? As it's a forum you are going to get a broad range of responses to any question. Hopefully the OP's question gets answered but there are also broader snippets of information posted here that the general reader would find informative and it would be a shame to miss out?

 

[Doug B]

Taking your example Bill of a hobbyist being told about a £2000 machine it would probably be more helpful if posters were more specific about their situation be that bubget, experience etc so answers could be better targeted to them

 

[Richard_C]

I'm with Doug B on this, it's the responsibility of the poster to give context which might vary by question. Start to categorise and you end up with too many categories.

 

[Inspector]

How would the "what your level of commitment/involvement/etc" be defined, categorized and who would assign it? Self? Administrators and Moderators? Or an election of some kind? Had enough of those recently. I'm a long time hobbyist but may have more knowledge in some areas than a professional whose entire career is building kitchen cabinets in a factory. While the messages (post count) is an indicator of commitment and involvement it isn't going to tell you anything about their expertise or ability of expressing themselves. In short, I don't think any rating/categorizing system is of benefit to the forum. Even when someone asks which machine is better, A or B, how many of the responders would have actually used both to any extent? The best thing to do is, as has been already suggested, is to ask better questions.

Pete

 

[marcros]

I try to give a qualified answer when giving a response- eg I have read about this but not done it, I have done it, I have done this countless times etc. If we are talking about a tool, my usage over a year doesn't match a professionals weekly use. My procurement of useless gadgets however is probably far in excess of every seasoned pro!

If I receive an answer without this qualification, the onus is on me to check whether the responder has relevant experience and knowledge. Most advice is given with good intention but all is not equal. Some things are so unusual that nobody may have experience beyond reading/research which is fine as long as it is known.

Asking the right question with the specific context is important too. If you do that you don't get suggestions of Felder's finest when asking about your first planer!

 

[ScaredyCat]

Surely the range of opinions offered can be useful anyway. Posts aren't just useful to the initial poster.

I'm sure any hierarchy would mean some users would feel they shouldn't respond. Especially as all my posts would be marked "Useless ditherer and dreamer"

 

[Spectric]

Hi

I think an issue is that if you state you are an electrical engineer with 40 years plus experience and provide advice to someone who goes on to electrocute the family cat then they may hold you responsible, would any disclaimer cover this? On the other hand you are technically at fault by assisting an unqualified person to have a go at the job when otherwise they may have just got an electrician in. This is just an example, but Marcros's has given some context to what you could include.

 

[billw]

Yes, agree that asking better questions would help, but not everyone does that

 

[Just4Fun]

So what if we can have a tag on our profile that appears next to posts saying what your level of commitment/involvement/etc is

I guess that is basically what I have done with my user name, so everyone should know that what I write is based on nothing at all useful and hence cannot be trusted.

I don't think such a system is really needed though. Anyone who skims the forum for a week or two will surely get a reasonable impression about the regular posters that is at least as accurate as any self-awarded categorisation.

 

[AES]

Agree, "categorising" may be useful sometimes, but far too many pitfalls to make it worthwhile in most cases, let alone all the setting it up and administering it hassles. Overall, then no, NOT a good idea, sorry.

As already pointed out, one important thing is to ask your Qs as clearly as possible, and second, check who's answering (number of posts, "tone and flavour" of his previous posts), etc.

Personally I'm always VERY pleased with the willingness of the vast majority of members to help out, AND the broad depth of expertise on offer here.

 

[OldWood]

The question was well worth asking as it has encouraged an entertaining discussion on the matter.

In my case I am in the "just for fun" category - wish I'd thought up that tag myself!! But I do have professional support behind me in that my brother is a cabinet maker who to make ends meet is also quite happy to build a roof and design a piece of wood engineering, but if I do pass a question back to him, I do cross reference the answer to show that it is meaningful. It is also a bonus that he is a qualified electrician too.
Rob

 

[John15]

I've found that after a few years of reading reports and advice on here I know who to take note of and who to be wary of.

John

 

[novocaine]

I SHALL NOT BE Pidgeon holed.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I find in the main that questions to which this is really relevant are mainly electrical and that generally people answering them are quick to point out their expertise and experience or lack thereof.

 

[Lons]

Good question but it won't work and that's down purely to human nature, there are many self professed experts in various matters and even those who are convinced they know everything, mostly following a quick Google search.
As said the initial questions need enough detail and if they haven't that it's not long before the response is "please give more information" and the more sensible replies are usually as in Marcros example and as John said it doesn't take long to learn who's advice is worth noting and who's isn't.

Like all internet and social media conversations you have to sift the wheat from the chaff.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes. Ask the correct question if you want the correct answer.

Some years ago in The Times a headmaster wrote replying to allegations that children were less educated and intelligent than they were in bygone years. He said there was nothing to worry about - he had asked a class of twenty five eight year olds if they knew the name of the Prime Minister, twenty three said yes and two said no.

 

[OldWood]

'eight year old' for me was 70 years ago. I can remember the death of George VI being announced but I really doubt I wouod have known the prime minister in those days nor even what he/she did.

 

[TRITON]

I SHALL NOT BE Pidgeon holed.

I worked in a kitchen once. - Ergo Kitchen fitter