New members on Charas

From Charas Project

Revision as of 09:03, 7 February 2007

Noob vs Newbie: the Common Misconception

On Charas, and indeed on most forums, there is a certain disrespect for newer members or people with less knowledge of the forum. A few young egotistical kids that have no respect for any rules or standards of the forum get on everyone's nerves. These people get labelled as noobs (or n00bs). In short, a noob is someone who doesn't have a clue, much common sense, or any respect for anyone or anything on the forum.

Not everyone has this attitude while joining the forum of course. Newbies, newcomers to the forum, still don't really understand what is going on but aren't a jerk about it. It's not that hard to tell the difference between the two.

The following are common descprtions of noob and newbie behavior and how they compare.

• Noobs post without THOROUGHLY understanding the rules, expecting to know them already. Newbies may post without knowing the rules, but when said rules are pointed out, they generally read them and understand the basics.

• Noobs claim superiority over those who clearly are superior of them. Newbies are usually too lost or uncomfortable to get involved much at the beginning.

• In comic threads, Noobs plead for cameos, despite only being a member for 2 weeks. Newbies generally don't and just compliment the comics they like.

• Usually Noobs try to be cool by imitating other members or mentioning something that's always talked about. One example would be having Sephiroth in their name and/or having Cloud in their avatar and/or signature. (Sephiroth Rocks being a notable exception)

Everyone is a newbie at one point. It's not really a bad thing. Being a newbie just means you're new to the forum. Once some time passes and these people get comfortable the label goes away.

Being a noob is an attitude. Being a newbie is measure of time. The two labels are only partially related. Some new people avoid being noobs because they aren't insulting or egotistical. Other noobs stay noobs even long after they're no longer considered newbies simply because they keep the attitude of being a jerk.

Mistreatment of Noobs and Newbies

Unfortunately all newbies suffer under the shadow of the noobs. Noobs leave bitter memories in the minds of older members and they view every newcomer with some suspicion even if those people have done absolutely nothing wrong. The mistreatment of newbies is a major problem on Charas and is largely blamed for a slowing down of newer membership.

Noobs are a different story. Although this article may lead you to believe all those labeled as "noobs" are free game, this is hardly the case. The only group of people larger than noobs are the people who hate them and feel it's their responsibility to insult these people to either shape them up or, ideally, make them leave.

In the minority, however, are people who believe that all new people should be treated with just as much respect as older members. They see the flaming of these people as cruel and unnecessary. The idea is this: At one point in everyone's life, they were inexperienced with the internet. They didn't know the proper way to act online and simply wanted to have fun on the internet. Instead of driving potential users away, these few people believe that newbies should be pointed towards the rules and encouraged to shape up, rather than berated for their mistake.

Sadly, the number of people dedicated to helping newcomers to the website is too small to combat the excessively large amount of people who think their ridicule is acceptable.