A Guide for Evaluating Posts

..Just got back from the weekend and looks like there was a lot of excitement while I was gone. As many years as I've been on this board, I still don't understand the reasoning for skepticism but for those of you newbies and oldies I guess, here's how I evaluate posts.
...The only time I am skeptical of a person's intentions, is if they are trying to sell or push a product or benefit financially from the post. If the person is posting something they have tried and they aren't trying to get me to send them money, then I take the post as genuine.
...I believe everybody!!! I may not try everyting that's mentioned on this board but that's because I'm feeling pretty good these days. For some reason (back in the day) I used to be skeptical of what people said were working and then one day, I realized, "why would they lie?" And after my own experiances and the multiple triggers I had, I realized, that a lot of different things are going to help different people.
...Get you doctors opinion and keep him in the loop. Any time you change your diet or try a new treatment, discuss it with your doctor. No matter how safe something sounds, it may interfere with drugs you are taking or mess up your system. You may react to a new supplement or you may eliminate your only source of a vitamin or mineral if you eliminate foods. You've got to do your research.
...Be SAFE!!! Don't try anything dangerous. Another good reason to talk with a doctor first and stay in a doctor's care.
...Placebo effect. Anxiety plays a big part in Meniere's and anxiety can cause dizziness and Meniere's symptoms. So there's a good chance that something that is tried will help because the person believes it is helping. And I'm all for it!!! If it's safe and under a doctor's care and it helps, I'll take a bottle of placebos.
...I'm sure I'm leaving something out but that's my phylosophy and was I got rid of my skepticism and started believing people who were sencere, is when I started to see improvement.
...Bottom line is to BE SAFE and discuss everything with your doctor!!!
Rick

 

Rick,

I just love the stuff you put out here, your one of those voices of reason

 

I'll second that! :-*

 

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Good Post Rick and Pardonme,
My apologies a little long but IMHO any/all forum etiquette should be

1. POSTING: "Getting Started, Cause & Effect".

* A. Start With A Clear Subject Line.
Not everyone has time reading all forum postings. To ensure that your message reach the right people at timely manner, identify your topic clearly in the subject line. Your issue may be overlooked...

* B. In Most Cases, Don't Post To A Specific Person.
This is what Private Messages(PM) are for. It clutters the boards, and most people find this annoying. Even though it's tempting to try to get some of the "regulars" to answer, don't do it! If they're hanging out (and they always do), they probably would have answered anyway.

* C. If They Don't Reply, They Don't Know!
If you post a question and no one responds, you shouldn't take it personally. If someone knows, they'll contribute. If they don't, they won't. There are some really valuable minds in the group, but they don't have the answers to all the problems.

* D. Post In The Appropriate Forum.
Please try to use the appropriate forum when starting a new topic. It's important for those "looking for help", and those "looking to help". Not posting in the appropriate forum will only delay the feedback you desire. Browse through the forum index, which will also help you understand the use of the various forums.

2. REPLY: "The Beauty Of Giving & Receiving".

* A. Continue The Thread Whenever Possible.
If you have a follow-up issue within a couple of days of an original post, try to keep it with the original. If someone is trying to help, they don't want to search through days of other posts to find the original discussion. Keeping everything in a single thread makes it easier for others to help.

* B. Stay On Topic.
Replies should be answers to the original question. Try not to create sub-conversations in a thread as it complicates reading and really doesn't belong in the thread. If you have a discussion topic that was generated from reading a thread, just start a new thread.

* C. Trim Your Quoting.
Do not quote the entire content of the message to which you are replying. Include only as much as is necessary for context. Remember that if someone wants to read the original message, they can; it is easily accessible. A good rule of thumb is, don't include more quoted text than new text.

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: "The Motivational Tool".

* A. Post A Follow-up With Your Results (or at least acknowledge the help)!
If you take the time to post a question and someone takes the time to post a possible solution, PLEASE be kind enough to acknowledge the help AND post a follow-up to tell whether it worked or not. Many people use this board as a reference point, and it's very frustrating to find possible solutions with no hint as to what worked or not. Even if you've figured out the answer for yourself, please post the result as there are many who could benefit from your experience.

* B Use The Karma system. (Optional)
If someone takes the time to help you, especially more than once on a particular topic, then applaud them for their efforts. Even if it resolves the issue or not. If a person flames you, scolds, or even is just disrespectful, don't hesitate to smite them. A members karma level is a strong indication of the his/her reputation within these boards.

1. Be tolerant and patient when debating with someone with a different view. Your goal is to have the other side sharing the same view as yours, whether the right view is yours or his/hers. There might not be one solution or one correct view any way. Confrontation would widen the gap further. Try to think from the other party's angle. You might learn something. It would be a lot tougher to modify your position if you insist you are right all the time. If you feel the other side is more convincing, admit it. It will be more embarassing and even hurtful to hold an erroneous view. Sharing different views is better than arguing.

2. Know when to quit. When two parties are repeating the same arguments over and over without new insights, there is no point in continuing.

4. DEMEANOR: "Notion In Motion With Emotion".

* A. How You Write Your Message, Expresses Your Attitude.
Use standard size font when posting. All caps or large or small fonts or all bold or italic is not only hard to read, it's generally considered poor forum etiquette. For example, all caps is considered the equivalent of YELLING.

1. Respond to issues, not to the authors personally. This way, it will be less emotional. Use civil language and never attack anyone personally by his/her ethnic background, country of origin, etc.

2. Do elaborate your ideas if it is a new thread. Humor, sarcasm are by all means encouraged. Everyone has a different style. But make sure you have plenty of supporting evidence and information to back up your argument. A one-liner without substance is the best way to expose ignorance and shallowness.

* B. If your Post/Topic Isn't Your Common Language, Let People Know..
Often, things can turn out misleading, offensive, disrespectful, and even downright confusing. Even telling us what your common language is, may help you get more replies. Maybe even from someone with the same common language as you.

* C. No Thread Hijacking.
Thread hijacking is the act of taking a thread discussion away from the original poster. Often a person may ask a question, and another person replies with a question. Then everyone ends up helping the wrong person. Please don't hijack your own thread, it's worthless reading to those looking for a solution to the same problem.

* D. No Trolling.
What is a troll? It's a person who posts something which is bound to stir people up and then sits back and watches as dozens of people jump in and start arguing. Sometimes trolls get their friends to join in or post under different names. Generally they will do anything it takes to get attention. If you see a message like this, please try and refrain from replying to it - it may well be deleted anyway.

* E. Power Posting.
Power-posting is when board members post empty, or short useless messages in order to simply increase their number of posts more quickly. Examples of power-posting are replying to a message with only 'LOL' or 'I agree', but failing to contribute anything further to the discussion. Power posting clutters up the forums, clutters up the 'new posts' function, and uses extra bandwidth and server space.

* F. Soliciting, Spamming, Recruiting, Or Advertising.
All these things should be ignored. It is a blight upon the face of the net and nobody likes it. However, it is hard to avoid. Despite our best efforts, you will very occasionally see these things on the forums. Please ignore them. An administrator or moderator will delete these kinds posts and topic's as soon as possible.

5. BE PATIENT: "Let's Not Have Panic Attack".

Posting the same question two or three times in a row will not lead to a faster response. It just clutters up the board, splits any potential responses between two (or more) threads, and frankly irritates everyone. Also when posting, if the browser displays the error message "The server connection was reset...", refresh the browser page. Your post was probably successful.

Posting your message in more than one topic is considered cross-posting. It doesn't speed up a response, and only irritates those trying to help It may also make it less likely that you'll receive a help the next time. If you feel the need to bring up your issue in another topic, please just post a link to the topic issue you started. This keeps things organized for everyone.

6. USE COMMON SENSE: "The Common Understanding".

* A. Welcome Newcomers.
Make them feel welcome in the community. More users = more heads = more ideas & information = more issues & requests resolved.

* B. Participate.
The forum is a community, and works best when people share information and participate. Sometimes we may feel lazy, know the answer, but don't reply. This kind of behavior won't keep a community going. We must participate to keep things moving. Remaining active is contagious, and will encourage others.

* C. We Are A Public, Global Forum. We are frequented visited by people of all ages and nationalities. Different languages, personalities, and humor is in use. What you find humorous, others may very well find crude or offensive. So try to keep it clean...

Remember that people being different is what makes life worth living, and the ones who lose their tempers for no good reason are lesser people than they think. Our actions can and will betray our true personalities.

 

Teresa - excellent info! Did you write this?

 

...This and a few other message boards are my only contact with people on the internet, so I'm not sure if I qualify to answer your question. I had lots of debates but debates are kind of fun anyway. I may disagree with something and voice my opinion but it's usually a case of opinions and not someone intentionally lieing. I've been on a few boards that don't value what I say so I just post and go. I'll just pop in every so often and post about food allergies and the GI, monitor the site for a few days to see if there's questions, ignore the Nay-Sayers, and then pop out.
...I always have to remember that there's a lot of new people and a lot of people who just read and don't post. I put myself in a position of, "what if I just started having these problems and didn't know what to do?". I would probably read every post and wonder, "what's up with some of that?" but I would eventually read the posts of those who just simply state the facts(opinions) of what has helped them and then decide if I should try the same thing.
...If someone's new and brave enough to post, I try to reply of which symptoms I had that are similar to theirs, and what I did to reduce or eliminate those symptoms. I can tell by the replies sometimes that there is some skepticism on the relationship of diet and Meniere's. And I can understand that, which is why it doesn't bother me. It may be years from now when that person says, "maybe it was something I ate". I remember when I first started geting the frequent vertigo attacks and just when I got Meniere's. I wanted a magic pill that would make it go away. And that's what we're used to. Until a person gets a chronic disorder, chances are their medical history was take a pil and then they were well.
..did that answer your question, probably not, huh?
Rick

 

That's what I want to know, excellant!!
Rick

 

Good job, Teresa and Rick!

You could also add: Keep it brief and make paragraphs. People don't like reading a book, and many aren't up to it. It's easier to read in paragraph form rather than one long runon bunch of sentences.

 

Amen to that!!!

 

ROFLMBO Linda are you trying to nicely say my post was too long. ;D :-* :-*

Well I must say I would love to take credit for all that but this was the only thing I actually said " Remember that people being different is what makes life worth living, and the ones who lose their tempers for no good reason are lesser people than they think. Our actions can and will betray our true personalities."

I googled Forum etiquette and put together 2 different definitions ... I thought both were really good so I combined them.

 

Teresa - NO, your post was not too long because what you said was necessary. It did have "white space" and paragraphing, so that helps. I was referring to many other posts I've seen over the years.

In fact, I have a tendency to be wordy and I've learned to change that.

 

Thank you Rick and Teresa! Great thread and posts!

I must admit I'm one of the wordy ones ! LOL And I am also guilty of just putting in an - I agree or some such quick thing. OK now you know I'm in conflict with myself and am hijacking the thread. ???

I am glad to see that there is an etiquette to being on a forum. I like the rules, but I know I will break a few anyway. Sorry.

 

Yep I agree and will admit to being wordy ;D adding a tidbit here and there and most likely have hijacked a few ... not sure will have to pay attention and see LMBO

Also you know that old saying ...... Rules are made to be broken ;D

Well folks I'm out of here ......... hubby is outside and I'm going to sit outside and read while I watch him work with the blueberries. I love this time change ;D

Have a Great evening Everyone HUGSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[Firstly, thanks for the honour Diane of being mentioned alongside of Rick.]

I used to find it a real challenge not to get offended by some replies to my posts. It would particularly bug me if I picked up on a contradiction/untruth in a response. But then I realised that worrying about this sort of thing was at the heart of 'stress' in my real life. AND I most definately saw how stress linked to Menieres symptoms. So I had to change. I found the easiest way to do that was to focus on the intent of my own post... not on any one person's response. So long as I knew I meant well, no one could hurt me.

But in terms of your question Diane, I guess ultimately only the individual can make the judgement of when that line has been crossed, based on their experiences/morals. No real answer I know, but sometimes there just isn't one.

Lee.

 

There is one other thing that has bothered me for quite some time now ...
Over the years, I've noticed a handful of people come here and share specific strategies that worked for them. Naturally, many others oppose these ideas for various reasons (some very strongly). But here's the problem: if someone happens to find something that may help another, it doesn't mean they like controversy or debate. They may just want to share. So someone can come here with an amazing idea, and leave because they find it way too hard.

Rick and I used to be bombarded by people arguing our ideas (Rick handled this far more diplomatically than I ever did). A few naysayers were never happy to just present opposition and move on... they would bog down a thread in controversy, so knowledge would never 'expand'. We are all intelligent... once opposition has been presented, we can make our own minds up. For example, one of these was about the gluten free diet. I don't know about Rick, but I found it very stressful trying to battle against the barrage of opposition I had to this. Yet now this is recommended as something to try on some Menieres websites!

Helpful strategies/possible solutions can potentially help for a lifetime whereas a good debate entertains only for a short period of time. Why not encourage lateral thinking by presenting opposition in a way that opens up exploration of the idea rather than try to 'win' a debate that may shut it down?

Lee

 

Regarding Lee's post:

Amen and amen.

A while back a number of people (don't even remember who) ran a woman off of the boards when she introduced estrogen as a trigger. A few weeks ago, my neurologist said there was a huge link between estrogen and MAV, being explored right now. Now, newbies questioning the link won't have this person around to confirm what they suspet - that this is trigger and whether or not they should seek help with it.

SpinininOhio

 

As a newbie, I appreciate all suggestions and information. Even if it doesnt apply to me at the time it gets stored away in the memory bank and can pop out when I do need it.

I recognize in 99% of the posts here the sincere desire to help and reach out about what has worked for them--it makes me feel good--thats why I am here so much.

As much as concrete facts I appreciate the philosophical and posts about dealing emotionally with this disease. It has helped me through many a rough time, I can tell you.

The times that I can post and help--help me. They validate me at a time when I feel my whole sense of who I am changing because of this disease.
I'll reach more peace sometime, and this forum and the people in it are a part of that.

 

Thanks everyone, this thread has been very useful--I'd never encountered a forum or board before coming here, and I didn't know what the protocol was, and have just tried to figure it out as I went along. I've since tried a couple of other boards, and seen that they have permanent posts to orient newbies. Could DizzyNBlue's protocol be posted in that way?

And a question--I usually check the board at night, and it seems most people are on during the day, so a lot of posts already have many responses. Is it helpful to add one more, or only if there's something I think hasn't been said? Wait--am I hijacking a thread? is this against protocol?
Thanks

 

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