Gee, I didn't realize this was a rant-worthy issue. While such advice might not be considered strictly necessary much of the time, sometimes it's a useful reminder to those who because of the nature of their problem might be vulnerable to taking to heart every opinion that comes down the pike. Personally, I think the KT does just fine in this regard.

I fail to see the point of your post.

Oh, these 'lectures' show up on many forums. Someone will post his house plans on the "Building a Home" forum, asking for a critique. People respond. Then along comes someone who feels the need to tell the OP to ignore the replies he solicited and, "Go build the home you want!" Huh?

I agree with Vannie.
I'm not exactly who or what your post is pertaining to.

I think when we ask for advice or suggestions, we know they are coming from a personal viewpoint. I ask things of the group here because I value their opinions. I've been here long enough that I want to know what the KT'ers have to say or suggest, in response to my queries. I've come to think of them as my friends and online family. Even if I'm taken down a peg or two, I don't let it get to me (well try not to).

I don't think anyone's torn a strip off you or anything, so not sure what your personal rant is about.

I am very sorry I used up so much space when it was apparently an opinion i should have kept to myself.

l.marie

You've only been around a month give us a little time we straighten things out

Perhaps the OP of this particular thread doesn't know or realize that there are many professionals sitting around the KT. For example, there are many registered nurses, a person whose profession is anesthesiology, lawyers (even a criminal defense attorney!), information technology professionals, etc., etc. It's highly likely that there are professions represented that haven't ever been revealed. So, yes, it's entirely possible that folks may tend to rely on things posted here as being a professional opinion. To remind folks that they shouldn't rely on what's posted as being anything other than personal opinion is, in my opinion, a good thing.

I think I understand where l.marie is coming from. I think, ( and this is not cast in stone ) what she is saying is that when someone asks for an opinion about a particular subject, and then folks give their personal viewpoints, then some pessimist with a crab apple face comes along and says to disregard what the others haved brought to the table, which is pretty much saying that their viewpoints aren't worth considering...

Anyone with even an ounce of grey matter would not assume that all of the opinions brought to the table are from professionals in whatever field is being discussed...

Kitt

Blitzy - there's nothing wrong with expressing your opinion. I just think it was a little confusing - at least it was to me. As I read it I tried to remember if someone had given you a hard time recently on any of the posts but nothing came to mind.

I think IMHO is a good idea, too. The Internet is a huge place and you never know when you Google something--say for medical advice--that a forum post from here (or anyplace) may pop up. At least IMHO will tell them it isn't written in stone.

Don't be upset, okay? I ranted today because I had to hang curtains :-)

Believe it or not this is brought up from time to time here. Don't get discouraged. No matter what forum you post on there are always a few that think their opinions are the only ones that count. We go through rough spots from time to time. You will learn the posts to read and ones not. As they say you will just skip on by..

This really is a great place for asking for help, share something wonderful or ask for prayers when needed. The great people outweigh the bad ones by miles... Hope you decide to stay....

Your fine! :0) I agree that IMO is standard for a forum...

I hope she stays too.... IMHO of course.. LOL

Wow--that's a whole 30 seconds I'll never get back.

Personally I think this forum is doing pretty good after some out of control thoughts. We all have our opinions, some more some less. We do have a lot of professional people here and many of them post very little because of a couple of challenging thoughts/posts.
Many times I type something out, read it and delete it. But this is the way it has always been. We seem to survive. Some leave, some come back and we get new ones.

OK I'll play the other side. I get really frustrated when people who should be asking their doctor or vet about health issues come to a forum instead. I don't mind when people ask for opinions,or other peoples experiences, it's when they are asking lay persons for medical advice that makes me crazy.

I am not talking about the benign issues like "what do you do when you have a headache" or "what brand dog food do you like".

I mean the ones where "I have had this rash for 3 weeks and am running a high fever. What is it?" of Muffy has been vomiting for 3 days, what should I do?".

I am probably guilty of saying "what do YOU want". Why would one want a people on a forum to choose the color, style and design of their kitchen or their bedroom set?

country sunshine you got it right.

quilly: No one has said any thing to me personally. I read a posting (and a few on other forums) where someone asked every one's opinion and some were given, all in good spirits and kindness.

Then along came different followups that all but insisted that the OP should not listened to the opinions at all nor take any part of these opinions into account as these opinions were not by the correct professional and may not be fully informed on the details of the OP's situation.

After reading a few of these, I read another posting implying that the OP should ignore every one... and ranted.

I have noticed that there are some highly qualified professionals on this and other sites and I enjoy reading their input. I am excited that I have the privilege to eavesdrop on such witty, intelligent people. I am extremely self-conscience about my spelling and grammar, because I am conscience of these college graduates reading my postings.

I am extremely sorry my posting was so confusing and irritating to some. I will learn to skip over the posts by names that irritate me, because there are some wonderful people I love to read. My apologies again.

Why would one want a people on a forum to choose the color, style and design of their kitchen or their bedroom set?

I would guess lack of confidence. That was certainly the case when I found myself faced with a multitude of decisions concerning my new kitchen seven years ago, with no one to provide input. GardenWeb's Kitchen Forum was a huge help. I can't say that they made my decisions for me, but they gave me the confidence to defy the difficult kitchen designer and make my own.

Same thing with other aspects of my remodel. My color confidence was at about 3% at the time. Thanks to the Decorating Forum, it's now up to 14%. :-)

I thought the same as country sunshine regarding the OP's thread what she is saying is that when someone asks for an opinion about a particular subject, and then folks give their personal viewpoints, then some pessimist with a crab apple face comes along and says to disregard what the others haved brought to the table, which is pretty much saying that their viewpoints aren't worth considering...
I haven't really noticed that happening a lot here, although I do think I know which post in which thread 1Marie was referring to.

it's when they are asking lay persons for medical advice that makes me crazy. I don't think it hurts to ask for medical advise as long AS you follow that up with actual medical research. I've found many more answers to my medical problems through forums like this than through the many medical doctors I've seen. In the end the doctor is the one who treats me anyhow (or orders the test) ... but only because I have considered what some (possibly non-professional) person has said, then compiled the research and taken it to my doctor. That's just my own experience, I'm sure it's not that way for everyone.

As far as asking for decorating advice... I will ask for ideas on what would look better.. that sort of thing. Not because I want someone to decorate my room for me, I'm usually just looking for validation that my ideas are good ideas. :-)

I also think the KT does a great job. In fact this is one place where you can honestly ask for opinions. True..there are times when someone will disagree with you but overall the KTer's give great advice and are truly honest.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

Many people research medical information on the web. What's the difference between using some possible bogus info you found as opposed to asking for opinions here? I know that i have asked questions about vet care here and gotten some good ideas to ask my vet. This was after doing my own research online.

As to the original question I find you just have to be less sensitive about what others post. You can't control others, but you can control your reaction to them.

some pessimist with a crab apple face comes along and says to disregard what the others haved brought to the table, which is pretty much saying that their viewpoints aren't worth considering...

Or would it be that some crab apple face is offering their opinion?

Are we back to the old if you can't say something nice then shut up, your opinion isn't wanted?

I agree that it never hurts to remind people that they should seek professional advice, and there's nothing wrong with saying it! That said, I don't think people with differing opinions should be relagated to crab apple faces and sent packing.

If you would actually read what I said I qualified my statement that it wasn't ALL medical advice I objected to asking for just the serious things hat people don't take their butts to the proper professionals for.

My rant is that people don't READ the whole post or only s SEE what they want to see in it.

Spot on Tally.

The KT is a wonderful example of "The Wisdom of Crowds".

As for asking about medical problems, sometimes people need a 'push' to MAKE that appointment with a professional! Some have already had a variety of 'diagnoses' (guesses, however educated) from the pro's and are trying to sort it all out.

hmmm. I think I understand. What is hard for me to take sometimes is when people ask for advice and then others jump all over them because they don't think they're doing it right, or latch onto a very small part of the post and attack.

Or, in one particular forum, everyone is talking along happily about a subject and someone who has decided he is a professional feels the need to correct and micromanage every single tiny post and treat everyone as if they don't know what they are talking about and don't have a right to their opinion.

I can see asking about a medical problem. But as with any advice given it's prudent to seek professional help if in doubt and to know that anything given on this board, even if medical advice from a doctor at Johns Hopkins, is only advice. Since they don't have our medical history and are not able to examine the actual symptoms in person, it can only be advice...

"Or, in one particular forum, everyone is talking along happily about a subject and someone who has decided he is a professional feels the need to correct and micromanage every single tiny post and treat everyone as if they don't know what they are talking about and don't have a right to their opinion."

These are an example of those Crab Apple Faces that I mentioned in my first post in this thread. There ARE folks on forums that appear to simply live to try to make folks feel less than they are by saying their opinions aren't worth reading.

Tally I agree with you IF that person is indeed offering up some sort of informative opinion and not just trying to invalidate the other posters opinions.

If I wanted an opinion on where others would place a stove or sink or refrig or how cabinets might be configured in a remodel or such, then I would certain come to GW and ask. There are a lot lot lot of very intelligent folks here with a lot of expertise on many subjects, so why not ask?

That's exactly how I feel on that one forum. One poster has effectively killed it, and now hovers around just waiting for someone to post a new thread so he can pounce down and critique their opinion.

It's a shame.

Pay what attention to the responses that you feel is justified.

Dad used to say that it was a good idea when, having been kicked by a jackass ...

... that one consider where it came from.

I wonder what might happen if we were to suggest to some jackasses that they go fly a kite?

ole joyful

blitz - I speak your language and completely understood what you were trying to say.

"I am very sorry I used up so much space when it was apparently an opinion i should have kept to myself."

So not true! Voice your opinion anytime you like! :)

Good point joyful. Consider the source. I've suggested the particular JA in my case fly the proverbial kite but it's like wrestling with a pig, I get dirty and the pig's enjoying it!

So I just stopped posting on that forum, like everyone else. It's effectively dead now, nothing but spammers.

And Blitz... just because people don't agree doesn't mean your opinion isn't valuable. :)

Now I'm really curious - what forum are you referring to? Is it here on the gardenweb?

:) It's the Herbalism forum.

Are you talking about a perfect person?

They're hard to find ...

... but I hear that quite a few of them ...

... are darned hard to live with!

ole joyful