Please excuse the rant, but this is driving my nuts. I'm refraining from quoting specific examples for now but can if anyone wants to know exactly what I'm talking about.

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Fellow Junkies,

This forum is getting filled with misinformation. Please, for the future of this forum, only post "facts" that you are really sure are true. That is, if someone asks a yes or no question (or a question with one right answer) only post the answer if you know the answer. This sounds simple, but it is not always so easy. I'm wrong as much as the next guy, but here are the rules I try to follow:

1) If I am not sure that an answer is correct I look it up. Don't have the time? Then I don't post a fact that I am not sure about.

I'm seeing more and more incorrect posts that can be solved by a fifteen second Google query. If you don't have the time to check "facts" you're unsure about, please don't post at all. This forum will benefit by a higher percentage of correct answers.

2) If something is my opinion I say so. Opinions are great, and are very helpful and most always wanted when someone makes a post. What I try never to do is to confuse opinion with fact. They are very different and I try to take care to point that out in posts.

This one seems obvious, but it's driving me crazy. If something is an opinion just say so. Many, many posts here are on what someone should buy. By all means post your opinion if you wish. However, many posts here are also asking questions with definite answers as in point 1). If you respond with an opinion please say so explicitly.


Thanks for listening.
<sigh>

Questions? Comments?

 

As a previous 12volt installer/salesperson/shop manager I agree wholeheartedly, but never had the guts to post something on this topic.

 

flitcroft, i would generally agree with you.

please PM me any factual errors i have made that you have noticed.

i take my role in helping here pretty seriously and strive to be correct. if i am unsure and do not have the time to search (sometimes the google is easy, but bandwidth or time (especially at work) prevent proper verification), i try to disclaim it with statements such as 'as i recall' or 'to the best of my memory', etc.

also, i agree that opinions should be stated as opinion, not fact.





so, i would state that any unsure facts should be disclaimed as such... sure, we're good at getting info, but some (no, MANY) of the questions we answered can easily be verified by users once we point them in the right direction....

 

I think trying get people to do this is a great idea but to date it doesn't work. People post whatever the heck they 'feel' is true. I've seen it so many times its almost scary... this whole site if full of theories...the problem is there's nothing to back it up.

I like you try to post fact, or correct those that aren't posting fact or making their opinions sound like fact. Folks here in this forum may think this product is better than that, or whatever but the problem is, saying something like that here is bias... bigtime because everyones ears are different. I love Alpine, MB Quarts, Focals, Diamonds and many others. However that said... that's what 'I' like. Sound system setups are so bias to the listeners ear the best you can do is give good feedback on a particular product and that them go listen to them to make sure that's what they like.

To say only post facts in this forum is kinda hard... why because everyones ears are different and because there is always someone better at whatever it is you do.

Just my thoughts...

BTW if I'm wrong somewhere please point it out I can take it.

Also good thread topic.

 

but some things people have posted recently simply aren't true. I think it is our job as Ej's to point out to them, and to each other, when a factual slip up has been made. We can do this through references, etc., and I think we need a badge that only the qualified EJ's can obtain. This way there is an easy way to discern between those in the know and the those who don't know.

flitcroft, if i have had factual errors kindly pm them to me. The last thing i want to do is give out bad advice and steer an honest knowledge seeker astray.

-bill

 

I found the post that set you off

 

I couldn't agree more. I find it interesting that the only guys that have posted so far are the one's I tend to PM with questions. I tend not to post anything unless I know it to be factual, and I always make it very clear when it's my OPINION. I've found that lately there seems to be the same post over and over and over. How many times do we have to give an opinion on what's the best (amp, speaker, headunit).

I'm all ears if someone has an idea on how we can clean these issues up.

I do like the idea of a EJ badge that is earned.

This thread is going to the top, however, it doesn't guarantee that it will be read.

 

There were three in particular that I replied to solely because someone posted explicitly wrong information. No one here so far was in the threads I am thinking of.

To be clear, I'm referring just to facts. That is, darkknight1999, I am not talking about preferences for gear here. Any poster should understand when s/he posts a question like "I have this setup and I want this result, what should I buy?" there will be many different answers given. That's great. Collaboration, good or bad, and the occasional argument is perfect. For instance, Kodokan_4's thread is a giant mess. It's awesome. Tons of opinions, many ideas, lots of arguments. That's cool.

Here's some examples of what I'm talking about. I don't mean to trivialize anyone and this is off the top of my head:

Q: What size speakers can I put in my 2003 S2000?
A: The doors take only 4" speakers.

This is wrong. The doors take 6.5" speakers (Euro size, or whatever). The answer above is unquestionably wrong and can never be correct. It should not be posted. The second poster should A) either go to Google or the S2KI FAQs and look up the correct answer before posting B) do not post or at worst C) write "I think the doors take only 4" speakers but I could be wrong."

The first reply should never be posted and option C) should rarely be posted. If a poster needs a bump let him/her rephrase his/her question so it rises back to the top.

 

We should have our own library for people to look though.