Think like a newbie
Think like a newbie
Think like a newbie
Well, if you are new around here, you might have experienced my brand of contact recently. I am far more busy lately than I have been in some time and time is limited, but in reading a lot of the talk around these here parts I've done some thinking. One of the primary things I have been thinking about is how to...
Think like a newbie
Now, I have said before in some previous mythological editor log that an established name on E2 will naturally gather more notice when they post a writeup. There are people who love (and hate) said user's style and will immediately check out the new offering. This is a natural thing and must be accepted. However, one should not be so entrenched in their embracing of established users that we see certain folks above fault and overlook their missteps and mistakes of the past. Is it right that a new user should have their addition to a "getting to know you" node that is a list of things or a collection of responses or random thoughts nuked while the existing writeups by established users that is little more than what they submitted stay? No, not at all. There is, by nature, greater respect extended to the established user. They have submitted a lot of good material and a long time ago they submitted something silly. So it gets overlooked or editors say "eh, that's okay." Well, it isn't okay. It sets a bad example, especially when you...
Think like a newbie
You follow by example when you come to a new place, and certainly you can accept the rejection of your submission, as you must do in any environment like this. However, I have personally heard from many new users that I contact regularly that they are upset because their addition to a node was nuked and similar type material by established users stayed. Immediately the red flags of preferential treatment go up. This seems to be a key reason why people give up on E2. They feel like they are being hazed rather than helped. They feel a double standard. The fact is, established noders would not submit such material today, but they did in ages past because it was acceptable then.
Think like a newbie
Audit yourself or ask someone else to. I will submit to an audit by anyone who would like to undertake the task. Anyone who has been here for a long period of time needs to be open to an audit. When you have a proverbial shitload of nodes, you lose track and you don't remember about the time you noded "My five least favorite vegetables" but the newbie who finds that node with three users submitting their five least favorite vegetables thinks it is okay to submit theirs. If you think like a newbie, how would you react to your five veggies being nuked and the others staying. Pretty fucking pissed. I would be too.
Think like a newbie
I believe that established users with older, sillier writeups that are not up to their usual standards have the right to be asked about the node before nuking. However, when it is a node where a new user is submitting something they think is okay because of what already exists there, all bets are off. Public relations demands a decision across the board and not just on the new addition. When the new user sees that this little patch of crabgrass is unacceptable for anyone, then they begin to see what direction to go in rather than fuming over preferential treatment and believing the bar is being raised only for new users and new writeups.