Here's an idea!

M

Matt Bo Eder

Guest
I had a brainstorm a couple of hours ago. This forum is inundated with new folks looking to make their first purchases and those questions either go unanswered, or there are too many answers, causing the poster to just do what he wants out of confusion and/or frustration.

I suggest this: when a question of "what should I get?" pops up, whoever answers first, should be the only one answering. It'll be like a Drummerworld mentoring program. The rest of us can see that someone answered the question with some thought, then we all purposefully don't answer to not add any more noise to what's going on in the OP's head already.

OR - the moderators could see these questions pop-up, and then assign them to known members who are good at answering such things, and again, the OP is only dealing with one person's help.

This could go a long way to end the confusion of the poster, and it would be like one-on-one tutoring in the ways of the drummer.

What do you think?
 
First off, let me say that I'm happy if others want to chime in and help the OP who, judging by his post count is a bit of a n00b, and prolly doesn't have much experience of buying drums 'n stuff.

Bo, the problem with the sole responder idea is that often a well intentioned suggestion will draw other, equally well intentioned but different responses.

As a f'rinstance, the mantra of 'heads and tuning' regularly comes up when dealing with cheapie drums. It's good advice and well meant, but my take on cheapie drums is buy them, smack those puppies and, if they start to feel inadequate, move them on for what you paid for them and buy something more appropriate to your tastes, aspirations and budgets. A newbie will move on from their starter kit, and money spent on it will never be seen again.

Those who are good at answering starter questions prolly enjoy answering them, and leap upon them like a hungry bear upon a salmon.
 
Everybody knows more than somebody.

The single responder only has his perspective, which may or may not provide the best information. Suitable answers to such questions are usually a combination of aspects of replies from various posters with broader experience than one person would normally have.

As for certain 'experts' for certain questions, it's just as slippery a slope. For example, do I actually have all of the answers about endorsements? Well, I'm flattered that many members here think so, but there have been some legitimate perspectives brought up by others that have broadened my horizons. So my being responsible for handling such topics is not the best idea (although I rarely hesitate to jump in and add my 2¢) It would be a rather interesting process deciding who's best-suited to address certain questions!

I think that in most cases, the OP will glean the most helpful information for them from the various responses, and can ask for elaboration or clarification if needed.

Bermuda
 
The biggest issue is that noobs and most people want instant answers. If the new people would take the time to read the prior threads on the same subject or use the search feature it would help. I have a feeling if the first responder was the only one to answer, that could be the end of the thread.
Sometimes that would be OK but the real problem is the new people not reading the thousands of posts on the subject already.
The other problem is the regular members continue to answer posts that are in the wrong section rather than guide the OP to the proper section and everyone else just dropping out. No easy answers, but a lot of work cleaning up the mess.
 
Good points. I always feel there's a certain amount of confusion going on after you've read the 49th post about what you should get, though. True, no one person knows it all on anything, but perhaps if there's just two voices going on in the conversation to begin with, then others could start to chime in later, or the poster could pose more questions inviting others into the conversation.
 
Maybe there just needs to be a Sticky on the subject. Essentially when you boil it all down the recommendations are all pretty much different versions of the same thing. Don't skimp on cymbals, don't skimp on a snare, the shells aren't as important. Go with a brand and look you like, and get good heads and tune them up good.

I agree that new posters usually seem to want a lot of answers really quickly, so I think one answer probably wouldn't go as far.
 
Maybe there just needs to be a Sticky on the subject. Essentially when you boil it all down the recommendations are all pretty much different versions of the same thing. Don't skimp on cymbals, don't skimp on a snare, the shells aren't as important. Go with a brand and look you like, and get good heads and tune them up good.

Actually this is a good idea. Pose a question like, "I have $1000 to spend on a complete drum set, what should I buy?"
Then let us respond to the question and make it a sticky in the "Drums" section.

We can then refer people to it when they ask the golden question.

The only down side is things change and new kits and equipment come on the market. But new posts to the original question could keep up with new trends.
More specific questions like "Should I buy the Pearl set or the Tama set" will never be covered buy one thread.

.
 
.... there are too many answers, causing the poster to just do what he wants out of confusion and/or frustration....


Information gathering is part of the process.
Each bit of information needs to be evaluated by the person asking for it.
Some may be pertinent to the person's situation, and some may be irrelevant.
Later posts can introduce new information that's a better fit for someone.
A new person posting usually doesn't give enough information, and it needs to be drawn out of them through subsequent posts.

Long story short - you come up with some good ideas Bo,
but I don't think this is one of them_LOL

.
 
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I agree with a sticky on the subject. Much less clutter, I think, plus then the individual who poses the question has no excuse to NOT search through the thread for answers.

I think the point of a forum is to have multiple voices on any given matter, and to have only one person answer a question negates the community oriented nature of said forum. It would become somewhat fragmented, I think. This, on top of the points already raised.
 
A sticky is fine, except what happens when the answer to a question shifts or becomes obsolete over time? Do we rely on the 'experts' to monitor and make updates?

It's like a FAQ, which is only helpful if it's current.

Bermuda
 
Information gathering is part of the process.
Each bit of information needs to be evaluated by the person asking for it.
Some may be pertinent to the person's situation, and some may be irrelevant.
Later posts can introduce new information that's a better fit for someone.
A new person posting usually doesn't give enough information, and it needs to be drawn out of them through subsequent posts.

Long story short - you come up with some good ideas Bo,
but I don't think this is one of them_LOL

.

Wow. Tough crowd.

Ok. Nevermind.
 
Didn't mean to rain on your parade Bo.
Reading through your first post, I found myself agreeing with a lot of your points.

I don't like to see questions go unanswered. It can discourage people.
And sometimes there's so many differing opinions offered that someone new to drums can't really evaluate the information or know if it's important to them.
Also agree that there are a lot of people here who have specialized information,
or knowledge about some obscure aspect or product line.

About the first person who answers - what if they're talking out of their butt? - ha ha. That probably wouldn't work so good, and might lead someone far astray.
Assigning questions to members? Are they going to be on 24 hour call?
Paid positions?
Doesn't seem like that idea would ever get off the ground. Nor do I think it should.

Forums are for people to have a voice about something they're interested in.
I think this one is working just fine.
 
welcome to drummer world. we are experts drum and cymbal purchase advisers

we tell people what to buy and we are reddy to answer your questions 24/7. we volunteer and have no agenda. we are just halpful.

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The confusion and conflicting answers things is unfortunately a reflection of reality and simply the first stage of a learning process that eventually leads to wisdom nirvana. I don't think we should create the illusion that there is only one answer to a question and even though the answer "whatever sounds good to _you_" may fit every question, it is not awfully helpful. I remember when I started I wasn't even sure what sounded good to me. It can be as intimidating as wine tasting.

Now I do agree more order will encourage people do do some searching and not just put their question on top of a pile of different issues.

A sticky may be a solution, but it's really the other extreme. What do people think of the tuning stickies? I don't really like to add a question to a thread that's already X pages long.

An intermediate solution could be subdividing the folders with the most threads a little further into subfolders? Like Gear/drums could be divided into What gear should i get?, Tuning, News and rumors, etc. We may also want to try and divide General discussion into topics.

A whole different way would be to use tags, which has the advantage that a thread can be in more than one subfolder, like #What gear should I get, #Tama and #EC2 for example. The amount of work to retrofit he existing threads may be prohibitive...
 
how about a special section for newbies ;)
i try to use search function first
in the newbie drummers area you could sticky some off the most common ask questions
and would be easy to look at old thread of other newbie questions
by the way, the site is great , and all you drummers (male and female )are a great help. i, have found out a lot of my questions answered by old threads,
and learned a lot ( i think ) and its a fun cool site
great job all !
 
Would it be possible for the moderators to create a new section where all the threads about first time purchases can be placed? Newbies can be referred to that section for more info that can help them so they don't create a thread with the forty nine confusing responses as Bo mentioned. Yes, they could use the search function instead but most posters don't seem to do that.
 
I think the most inportant point about this is that anyone wishing to respond to a "What should I buy/do" thread should.......read all the posts before responding, meaning, If your thoughts on the subject have already been covered, leave it.
 
i cant speak for all
but if i ask a question like whats the best kit for under $1000 ,answers are 20 are for x , 10 y and 5 z
then i might tend to lean more to x :) nice even to see , what someone doesnt like and why.
when i was looking to replace my stater set, i looked at a lot and read a lot of threads on here, and one brand and model came up a lot, i really didnt think off or look at before the thread
i can see that a lot of you answer the same questions by newbies over and over again ;) , but its nice to get other drummers imput ,
 
Didn't mean to rain on your parade Bo.
Reading through your first post, I found myself agreeing with a lot of your points.

I don't like to see questions go unanswered. It can discourage people.
And sometimes there's so many differing opinions offered that someone new to drums can't really evaluate the information or know if it's important to them.
Also agree that there are a lot of people here who have specialized information,
or knowledge about some obscure aspect or product line.

About the first person who answers - what if they're talking out of their butt? - ha ha. That probably wouldn't work so good, and might lead someone far astray.
Assigning questions to members? Are they going to be on 24 hour call?
Paid positions?
Doesn't seem like that idea would ever get off the ground. Nor do I think it should.

Forums are for people to have a voice about something they're interested in.
I think this one is working just fine.

No worries. I just blurt things out and see if they stick. I've read through a few "what should I buy" threads over the years and if I knew absolutely nothing at all, I'd be more confused in the long run with all the different advice. I'm partially not surprised when someone asks for advice, but is already leaning a certain way, will go the way he wants because there's too much other information to go through anyway. This is what I see happen most. I just thought there'd be a way to not have to go through that.

Next issue.....
 
I think the OP has some valid points and, as a newbie myself, am guilty of such "what should I buy?" posts.

The responses gained from such a question, as with any other interest forum, can be many and varied. Personally I try to sift through the answers and try to identify a common theme, if indeed there is one.

Perhaps a newbie sticky might be a reasonable idea that contains a selection of decent kits/hardware/cymbals within a given price bracket.

One of the common responses seems to be "buy a used kit" which, whilst I'm sure is sound advice, may be contrary to the buyer's wishes and could be fraught with danger. Anyone not knowing the front end of a kit from the back could so easily be sold a pup. This leads on to perhaps another thread, a "What to look for in a used kit, pitfalls and potentially expensive to fix problems."

Just my two cents...
 
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