Curious about forum etiquette - maybe a silly question

[pokeyrin]

In the months I've been here at MDC what I've always been curious about and have noticed is that some posters who decide to post in a forum they don't frequent feel the need to mention it when they respond to a thread. Such as "I don't usually post here" "I don't belong to this forum" or "Sorry to forum crash" etc...

This is not meaning to be snarky at all, but I'm really curious why some posters feel the need to announce or acknowledge when they are posting in forum they don't frequent? Is it considered courteous? Am I missing something?

[JessicaS]

I have seen people do it in the Due Date Clubs, because they are posting without belonging to that Due Date Club.

I am not sure about other instances. I don't know why they would do that.

[mysticmomma]

A lot of times people find posts from the "new posts" page. If you don't frequent the single parents board, or adoptive parents board and you see something interesting or want to support someone going through something difficult you may still want to post even though you don't "belong." They may not want to offend or just want to qualify themselves. Sometimes readers or OP'ers can then regard/disregard the information as appropriate.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by mysticmomma

A lot of times people find posts from the "new posts" page. If you don't frequent the single parents board, or adoptive parents board and you see something interesting or want to support someone going through something difficult you may still want to post even though you don't "belong." They may not want to offend or just want to qualify themselves. Sometimes readers or OP'ers can then regard/disregard the information as appropriate.

[The4OfUs]

It can also be because if you don't normally post in a form, you may not know the background that might be in other posts a member has up, or the information that might be in other threads on the forum, etc. Kind of like a "if this is already known, or I'm missing something cause I'm not usually here, I don't mean it to be offensive", KWIM?

[pokeyrin]

Ahh... okay all that makes sense now

Thanks!

[lightheart]

It may also be that the person giving the qualifier isn't really going to be back to post on the subject, that they don't keep track of that forum everyday/week but something sparked their intrest that they wanted to say something or ask something... basically if you don't ever hear from that poster again it's not that they are snubbing you or being rude it's just they have their one little say on the thing and they are off to other forums.

[Hoopin' Mama]

Originally Posted by abimommy

I have seen people do it in the Due Date Clubs, because they are posting without belonging to that Due Date Club.

I had no idea about due date clubs, but when they moved their grouped into Live With a Babe I jumped right in. Didn't know it was a club and I was so confused why everyone chatted so familiarly with each other and basically ignored me. They just didn't know who the heck I was.

[frontierpsych]

I only do it in DDC's, and only sometimes. I don't usually see the need.

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by Hoopin' Mama

I had no idea about due date clubs, but when they moved their grouped into Live With a Babe I jumped right in. Didn't know it was a club and I was so confused why everyone chatted so familiarly with each other and basically ignored me. They just didn't know who the heck I was.

aww, that's too bad. I wasn't part of the DDC with my first, but did jump into the LWAB threads that they morphed off into, and they embraced me and we all became really good friends.

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by Hoopin' Mama

I had no idea about due date clubs, but when they moved their grouped into Live With a Babe I jumped right in. Didn't know it was a club and I was so confused why everyone chatted so familiarly with each other and basically ignored me. They just didn't know who the heck I was.

Aaww....

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

I only do it in DDC's, and only sometimes. I don't usually see the need.

I participate in two pretty "specialized" (for lack of a better word) boards and it's really helpful to me to know when someone is just coming in for a "fly by" or something because I can kind of put their comments/suggestions/opinions in the context of "not sharing the same experience." That's, of course, not to say that people coming in from the "outside" don't have valid and often helpful perspectives, just that it's nice to know where they're coming from (or not coming from). Not only that, but on the two boards that I'm talking about (Special Needs and Adoption) we often don't give the whole backstory in our posts because we generally assume that most of the people reading already know us. It can be quite annoying to have someone forum-crash and give lots of very strong opinions about things when they don't have any understanding of what's gone on before. Again, sometimes it's helpful, but often it's not.

[nolonger]

I did it recently in the mental health forum to make it clear that I do not have any knowledge about the OP's condition and was only offering support and what I thought was common sense.

I appreciate it when people who do not have knowledge or first hand experience about my own less than common issues do the same. IIt is nice to know whether advice is coming from a BTDT parent or just someone who cares and is trying to help.