Rants VS help seeking posts

[iamalwaysright]

I wonder what percent of all the posts here are actually rants/vents and what percent are help seeking posts. I’m sure those won’t add up to 100% as I didn’t include troll posts like this one I’m writing.

[evry1nositswindy]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

I don't post nearly as much as I used to because a lot of the OPs just don't want help.

They're right, even when they're totally wrong, and nothing anyone can say will change their mind.  Since they're not being told what they want to hear, we're all trolls, shills and Ebay employees.  I'm getting too old for that kind of crap so why bother anymore?

They don't want to hear the voice of experience, they want to hear the voice of agreement.

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You forgot cheerleaders!  And now add spies to the list.  @inhawaii cover is blown!

[iamalwaysright]

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@whorunbartertown wrote:

An interesting topic. I always come here seeking help with rare or weird situations and seeking advice.  Often, I wish responders would take the time to read and ask questions before guessing and/ or giving random and useless advice. HEY, wait, did I just start ranting?

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Haha. I’m sure we’ve all come across that when posting for answers or advice. Seriously though I think there’s a difference between replying to posters who misunderstood (regardless of how aggressively) to clarify your situation while you still are looking for an answer versus not accepting the reality of the answer to your problem just because it’s something you don’t want to hear.

Maybe much like how we all say the ranting OP should be more open minded and less sensitive to the replies, there are some people who reply with answers should also be more open minded and less sensitive when or if they hear why their answer may not help the OPs current situation

[iamalwaysright]

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@dnasilver wrote:

inHawaii is rich beyond your wildest dreams. Visit last year and here is a picture after taking a ride in his private helicopter.inHawaii's Place from Helicopter

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Where’s the helipad? 😉

[redlinear]

There's also an overlap.   Rant about an issue or something somebody doesn't understand.
Wanting an answer that makes sense in order to help solve the issue

[iamalwaysright]

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@monica-sells wrote:

@iamalwaysright  I like self-deprecating posts

"...troll posts like this one I’m writing..."

anyways....I agree with many of the responses....

"...They don't want to hear the voice of experience, they want to hear the voice of agreement.." stands out to me....

what i can't figure out is when a valid noob question is posted...one of the veterans responds within 5 minutes...an hour later there are 5 or 6 good answers to the original question...

and the OP has ghosted the thread....never returned, click a helpful, accepted an answer....it's like they forgot they posted......

I am always learning and helping out here helps me learn more stuff

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I’d like to think in those posts the OP has seem the high majority of the same correct answer, got it, but too embarrassed to return and acknowledge that given the nature of their possibly flying off the handle OP. I’m okay with that outcome as someone was helped.

[iamalwaysright]

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@redmodelt wrote:

Then there are those posts that have, for example, are nothing but a 2 word title (ok some have a few more words but you get the idea), and we have to guess what they want to know because there is no information given in the body of the question. 

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I think of those as trolls, kinda like them Sri Lankan posts that I don't miss.

[iamalwaysright]

So I'm going to go full circle and tell all of you responders that you misunderstood my original question/request in my OP lol. Despite none of the replies being what I was looking for, I found them interesting to read so feel free to keep em coming. 

Perhaps I was unclear so I'll take some fault, but I originally wanted to know from your own perspective what percentage of all the posts here seem to be simple rants to you (for approval or affirmation) and what percentage seems to be someone actually seeking advice? 

From what I'm seeing recently I think it's about 40% rant, 50% advice seeking, 10% troll.

[coolections]

Many believe it is all someone else's fault. When a person cannot see the "real" problem, or do not think it is their problem, the person is not willing to take advice and/or make changes for the better. There have been many good sellers who actually took the advice given here and have returned saying things are better.

[dhbookds]

I'd go higher on the rants........60%......and I include those that don't acknowledge any view/help to their problem.......30% seeking advice.......and 20% troll......including some long time posters.....not just hit and runs........  

[maxine*j]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

So I'm going to go full circle and tell all of you responders that you misunderstood my original question/request in my OP...  I originally wanted to know from your own perspective what percentage of all the posts here seem to be simple rants to you (for approval or affirmation) and what percentage seems to be someone actually seeking advice?...

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I didn't misunderstand.  I just can't commit to a specific per cent, a numerical value, because I do not read every thread every day. 

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[zamo-zuan]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

So I'm going to go full circle and tell all of you responders that you misunderstood my original question/request in my OP lol. Despite none of the replies being what I was looking for, I found them interesting to read so feel free to keep em coming. 

Perhaps I was unclear so I'll take some fault, but I originally wanted to know from your own perspective what percentage of all the posts here seem to be simple rants to you (for approval or affirmation) and what percentage seems to be someone actually seeking advice? 

From what I'm seeing recently I think it's about 40% rant, 50% advice seeking, 10% troll.

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Problem is, the number will vary depending on who you ask.

As someone who encountered reproduceable errors and reported them on here many times...

Often times legitimate issues will be treated like a troll post... Until that person encounters the same issue themselves, lol.

There's also one type of post that you didn't include which is a post to "raise awareness" - not actually a rant or advice seeking. Because eBay CS has been extremely open about how glitches will not be fixed unless a large amount of people have reported it - it's how they prioritize cases - upon the number of reports. So we HAVE to spread the word if we want glitches fixed.

Trolls are more often those in replies than thread starters in my experience, whos goal is to derail threads from productive discussion, to what seems like a rant, as the OP will then have to defend their own character and experience, and that will look suspect to anyone who hasn't read the earlier pages and is catching up with the discussion later on.

But at the end of the day, I would suspect far more than 50% of the community initially started coming here because of facing problems, as that's when they reach out for help, in addition to the fact that eBay advises sellers to come to the community here to seek help when they don't have an answer. So it began as advice seeking.

And there's likely far more truth in those rants than the trolls who stress out and derail the threads would like you to believe. Sellers just have to choice but to try to rally others together and raise awareness, because without that, eBay simply won't fix the issue.

[2013grotz]

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@maxine*j wrote:

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

They don't want to hear the voice of experience, they want to hear the voice of agreement.

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Very true.  Many posters just want validation.  They do not want analysis or questions.  Their minds are closed to all views except their own.  And their guns are ready and loaded to shoot any messengers who suggest they bear any responsibility for the situations they're in.  

Indeed.  I used to be a bit sympathetic because my sell rate on items I've listed is pretty poor, but I've seen original posters try to defend some pretty ridiculous stuff.  There's obviously some problem since they're going to the energy to rant and troll the boards, but at the same time they expect things to work the way *they* want them to work and don't want to hear that they could fix/improve something.  Course, the "so how's that working out for ya?" question never seems to register and they want to keep trying the same old thing that's not working and expecting a different result.  Just have to walk away when that becomes evident.

[iamalwaysright]

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

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Problem is, the number will vary depending on who you ask.

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Yes. There is no problem with that. I'm asking for opinions. That's why I said from your own perspective. There is no right or wrong answer.

One thing that's kind of cool is how differently or same all of our lines are drawn about when a post is recognized as just a rant from someone not wanting help. Something I really didn't think of much before.

[chapeau-noir]

Trolls are more often those in replies than thread starters in my experience, whos goal is to derail threads from productive discussion, to what seems like a rant, as the OP will then have to defend their own character and experience,

Trolls do not need to be responded to, or acknowledged in any way - doing so is what derails the threads and gives the trolls too much power - not the troll posting to begin with.

[dhbookds]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

Trolls are more often those in replies than thread starters in my experience, whos goal is to derail threads from productive discussion, to what seems like a rant, as the OP will then have to defend their own character and experience,

Trolls do not need to be responded to, or acknowledged in any way - doing so is what derails the threads and gives the trolls too much power - not the troll posting to begin with.

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Agree..........but I would add on the threads where more information is needed to make any sense of the question.......once someone has asked the poster for the information.....it really does no good for many of us to "guess" what the question is and try to answer it....  it's really kind of pitiful looking to see 2 pages of "guesses" and arguments with no response from the original poster........Personally, I think alot of those threads are "trolls" just trying to stir things up.......