YoYoInfo.Com

A Guide to Being a Non-Annoying Newbie

Guidelines:

1. Lurk - lurking is the online term for hanging around and reading a forum before starting to post. Just reading and getting an idea of who is who, and what sort of language, questions, attitudes are considered acceptable by the community. It also allows you to pick up lots of information as people post about their yo-yo web sites and you of course read and visit them to gain information on your own. When you find those good yo-yo sites then you bookmark them so when you have a question that they might address you know where to find them. More on that later.

In the days before webboards were a big deal usenet newsgroups were the forums of choice, and not lurking for a while was considered a grave breach of netiquette. Generally a month is a good guide.

2. Read the FAQs - there are yo-yo FAQs all over the WWW. Read them. Many of your questions are already answered. And even if they are not people will admire that before you asked a question you gave it a try on your own. Bad form to ask a question already answered in the local FAQ. You can find them lots of places, but I have a beginner FAQ and an extended FAQ with more complicated questions and answers at www.yo-yo.org/slowyo. There are also FAQs associated with most major webboards.

3. Use available resources - Remember when you were lurking? You bookmarked all of those cool sites. Bearing sizes, different types of string, yo-yo weights, reviews, trick descriptions, videos, nicknames, email addresses, pictures of yoers, link lists, mods, crafting. It's all out there. Not in your bookmarks? Try searching message archives at the boards. Try using a search engine like Google. Look at collections of yo-yo links like Hardy's or Bobb's. Many questions have already been answered for those with the initiative to find the info.

4. Be polite - Looked everywhere and still need help. Ask by all means. But be polite. Ask nicely. Don't be demanding. Remember you are coming to us for help. We are not the paid yo-yo tech support line. We are helping because we want to. But you're not entitled to an answer. Don't slam us when you don't get an immediate reply. Maybe we're busy. Maybe we don't have an answer. Don't mock or dismiss our answers either. If you find our answer implausible, just ignore it. But you did ask. And don't get hot if the answer doesn't confirm to the format you want. Sorry there is no real answer to "How long will so and so yo-yo sleep?" Rating yo-yos? We can give you our opinions, but everybody has different tastes and favorites. 9 out of 10 might prefer one yo-yo but that doesn't mean you won't prefer something else. Several sites have good reviews. Read those. Please don't ask the same question over and over.

5. Conform to community standards - Don't curse or use inappropriate language.

6. Don't be an instant know it all. - It's always a crack-up to see the guy asking hundreds of questions one week answering them the next. Only problem is that the newer newbies don't know that you probably don't know what you are talking about. Work into it gradually, become a respected member of the forum, and then throw your knowledge and opinions around 8-).

7. Did I mention be polite?

8. Remember - When you are not a newbie don't forget what you were like when you were. Have a little pity on them. They know not what they do. 8-)

9. Think - Don't post when angry. Go get a soda. Take a shower. Listen to some music. Then if you still feel the need to post try to do so in a calm, rational manner.

Anyway I hope these are helpful. We really want to answer everyone's questions and we do remember being clueless ourselves. No harm in that. Just make it look like you are putting in a little effort too. There' s a fine line between being helpful and being taken advantage of.

Good Luck and Happy Yoing.

J-