I am not new to this board, but neither am I an old-timer. Every week a number of newbie’s introduce themselves and more often than not a new contributor is born, however, from time to time someone enters this forum with the left foot first. Sometimes the left-foot thing is a matter of simple misunderstanding and sometimes is it like a left-foot-only march.
I think that for a newbie it is (generally) tough to understand that this board has a lot of camaraderie and that there (naturally) is a little bit of a pegging order. Personally I am one of those that entered the board somewhat neutrally, but soon the left foot was walking faster than the right. I remember a post that I made just a month or so into my posting tenure where I made a bold statement (against the moderators) suggesting a thread should be closed (see
US imposes sanctions on Thailand !! - Post 130). You can argue whether I was right or wrong, but one fact remains; I was stumping with the wrong foot and the net was that I was not doing my self any good. To make a long story short about my earlier posts, I managed to go from that,h to being somewhat argumentative about little issues (some taken out of context).
Fortunately for me I took a step back, set differences a side and realized that to become a “real” member of this board I had to work myself in. This doesn’t mean that you have to agree or disagree, just that you have to make your self known in a manner that other members want to hear you. First impressions matters and unfortunately first impressions are not a few posts in your “Hi There” introductive thread. Getting to know someone in this type is setting is very tough, plus the nature of the environment can be harsh.
As stated I am neither a newbie nor an old timer, but luckily for me I managed to cool it for a while and then work myself up the ranks. Whether you agree with my posts or not is inconsequential, but I am confident that I have managed to balance the left foot with the right.
An advice from me to newbie’s and junior members: If you really want to be (truly) a part of this board and gain a ton of friends (some personal, some cyber-like), you should work your way in. That does not mean that you should not speak your mind, however, it does mean that you should diligently try to get a feel for the general tone of the board. Your chances of changing the tone of the board is slim to none and if you try you are likely to fail. Once you are in the in, you will be amazed how much help you can get and how many friend you can gain.