h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've noticed lately an increasing number of threads starting, where the first post is an opinion or question about a local news event (often in the UK), but without any explanation or link about it.

My request is that people starting threads put either a relevant link, or explain what they are referring to in international terms.

Does this seem reasonable?

If it is reasonable, could it be put in the Forum netiquette section on the intro page?


Cheers,
kea.

It seems perfectly reasonable to me. If I were to start a thread about some local matter, and not supply the context for those who happen not to live in Australia, I'm sure there's be a queue of people asking for more information - or berating me for being parochial.

I agree. I'm British myself and even I don't know what in hey some British researchers are referring to when they are in best cryptic mode. Let alone some of the USA researchers. Those not part of the great UK-USA consortium do seem to nbe more polite nbout explaining context.

Good point, kea.

Being a Canadian living in Spain (for almost 15 years now) I sometimes find references to UK and US stuff here - as if *everyone* should know what they are talking about - somewhat annoying. I notice it more with UK stuff.

I guess some UK-ers think that because this site is run by the BBC that everyone should be concerned about housing prices there or television licenses (to give two recent examples). I also appreciate it when someone puts 'UK Centric' in the title of the thread, so one knows this is a specific thread.

Though it has also been my experience that most people (though not all) supply a link to what they are talking about.

I mean, if Ivan posted a thread asking - 'What do you think of the kangaroo problem?' - or if I posted - 'Why do shops still close for siesta?' - without posting links or further information, I reckon our threads would be pretty much ignored. In fact, one of my threads about siestas, even though I did provide links to what I thought were interesting articles, died a very quick death. Ho hum.


az

That's a great idea, kea. There are many conversations here that I imediately unsubscribe from because I don't have a clue what they're about.

Hyp

Hmmm...

Where do you draw the line between what you expect to be common knowledge and what relates to a specific story? If someone asks 'What do you think about the kangaroo problem?' I'd expect a link to more information because I didn't know there was a problem with kangaroos. If someone asked 'Why do shops still close for siesta?' I may not expect a link, but at least a brief post about why in the Researcher's opinion they don't need to.

But jeez people, if you don't know what something is... that's what Google's for fer cryin' out loud! It only takes a few moments to do a search And if you can't find anything relating to the thread in question, ask! Yeah, it's good manners to provide all the information when you to start a conversation, but if it's not there do a little leg work. Don't expect everything on a plate.

Give someone a fish and they can eat for a day. Teach them how to fish and they can eat for a lifetime. Same principle here - if someone doesn't give you everything, learn how to look for it.

And why should there be need for 'UK-' or 'US-centric' in the subject? It'll usually be perfectly clear from the first few posts whether or not a conversation is about something relating to a particular country, and there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every thread if that discussion is not of interest. But let's face it, with the topic drift that goes on around here, it could well be before the end of the first page.

Just because you start a thread about something related to the UK doesn't mean that no-one else around the world is going to be interested, nor does it mean everyone else around the world is immediately going to unsubscribe from any thread that has 'UK-centric' from their More Postings page without even visiting the thread in the first place.

Sometimes it may not even be necessary to know about a particular reference in a conversation. If someone makes a little comic aside and mentions, for instance, Mr Rogers (Rodgers?), it's not important as long as it doesn't become a major part of the thread, and it's not a bunch of people being exclusive and sharing an in-joke. And you can always look him up on Google. People say things to each other all the time without ever realising, or without thinking that other people don't know what they're talking about. That's the beauty of an online conversation - you can use a search engine to find out. Or you can ask. Never be afraid of asking a dumb question, and never be embarrassed by the reaction you may get.

Ivan said that he thought he'd get accused of being parochial for *not* giving full context when he started a thread... I think it's the other way around - if you avoid any thread that has a particular '-centric' tag or if you unsubscribe from everything you don't understand without ever asking, that's parochial.

I don't think Ivan said he would avoid or immediately unsub from a thread that was 'something-centric'. Just that people should take some care when posting to include the rest of the world.

I mean, why should I care about tv licenses in the UK? Or other very UK centric stuff? Turns out I am often interested anyhow, but I think links and further information cannot go amiss.

Obviously people can talk about whatever they like here - and they do! But adding information and links to their threads can only make it more accessible to others, don't you think?


az

Ivan didn't mention anything about unsubbing in his post.

And yeah, I think it's good manners to provide your readers with all information, but if it's not there I'll either ask for it or look for it. I may even point out to the person who failed to provide all the information that it's good to do so

Wait, that came out wrong...

And yeah, I think it's good manners to provide your readers with all information. I may even point out to the person who failed to provide it that it's good to do so, but if it's not there I'll either ask for it or look for it

Ah, that's better

Well, that's good. I think half the time I'd do as you say you would do and the other half I'd probably just unsub from not feeling bothered to find out. Depending on the subject matter.

az

Gosho, some of us have limited time available to spend on this site. Having to take time hunting my own information before I can participate in a conversation is not how I want to budget my time here. I assure you I know how to research a subject as well as the rest of you.

I can see how time constraints might be a problem with this sort of thing

'I think it's good manners to provide your readers with all information. I may even point out to the person who failed to provide it that it's good to do so'



Seems this thread is just a pre-emptive pointing out that it's good to do so.

That's a good idea.

Acid who has the editorial rights to The Forum, isn't around h2g2 much these days, but I reckon we need to persuade him to update the Forum Main page.

I suggest that we

a)come up with a draft and harass him, or

or B) Elect a Guardian of the Forum and grovel to the italics to get the page editing rights changed to them.



Z

It's all very well to say 'just google it' if you have a reasonably modern computer, but with my pentium1 jobby 'just googling' involves opening a new I.E.window (approx 20-30seconds), loading google (~10 seconds), typing in words and hitting enter- (depending on graphics content of page- anything up to a minute), etc, etc

Now i frequently use fast computers so i know how easy it is to forget that even using a computer from 5 years back (mine is about 8 years old i think)for surfing, can be a real pain, especially if you're on a dial-up, so in summary;

Post a bleedin' link !

Post a bleedin' link !

Um . . . yeah.

az

Sorry.. between my home computer and those at work, i am surrounded at the moment, by internet connections that, between one thing and another, just don't work. So, i'm kind of getting into the habit of trying to navigate my way around the internet using as few links as possible I tend to shy away from any unnecessary page loading at the moment!

I do realise this frugal use of the internet probably isn't the norm for most though...

Ooops, sorry Winnoch, I misread you!

I thought you were asking for links! And I thought I was agreeing with you . . .

Yes, with slow internet connections links can be more bother than they're worth. This is why I think people should also post at least a part of what they're linking to, just so people have an idea of what they are talking about.

I always do this when I post my Grauniad links (to the dismay of most people here . . . )

az

Thanks for that point Winnoch

>> This is why I think people should also post at least a part of what they're linking to, just so people have an idea of what they are talking about.<< az

I was going to rephrase my original post to say a link AND an explanation, so thanks too az

kea *passing through in a rush, on a 5 year old mac with a dial up connection and a choice of two browsers, one of which doesn't work properly, and the other which doesn't load all webpages.*

Though I do agree that explicitly explaining a context could be useful, it would have to avoid excessive quotation from elsewhere for copyright reasons. It is better to have no explanation than a thread which ends up with and the first post missing.
Also, for a more contentious discussion, there is the problem of someone who has a particular viewpoint trying to give a sufficiently balanced and comprehensive overview of the situation.