Attack of the Newbies

77tes

When I was "new" to MFP, I certainly wasn't new to dieting or eating healthy, so my opinion might have been helpful to some.

Also, when one is new to MFP, he doesn't realize that a topic has been discussed over and over and over on the forums.

HOWEVER
The Heckling is really NOT ok! I have no idea why people have to be so mean just because they are posting anonymously on the internet. Oh wait -- I know why people are so mean -- it's because they are posting anonymously on the internet.

scapez

Okay people, like I said, this was a rant, more to get this frustration of mine off my chest than anything else. Quit taking stuff personally or directing your comments back at me personally. It was a generalization (i.e. not meant to include every member of said group).

I know that there are people out there who have been at this weight loss thing for a long time, but have just recently joined mfp, or had to create a new account, or people who have been mfp-ers forever and still don't know squat. I just know that IN GENERAL the people who have been on mfp longer GENERALLY offer better, more even-keeled advice than other people, specific to mfp forums. I am not saying anyone who is new is stupid or uneducated or anything else.

You don't have many posts under your belt, so you may or may not realize this, but a post like this one will ALWAYS stir up a heated discussion and the OP of posts like this will ALWAYS get blasted.

There is no way to 'rant' against a particular group like this whilst avoiding the blast. Regardless of how badly you wish to vent, it's a smart idea to not do it here. Unless, of course, you're unfazed by the blast.

JCN_1103

some people may have started over fresh, therefore not really a newby after all. I know I did, therefore I lost my original start date. Not that that is an excuse for why people act the way they do, but maybe they do know stuff? Or, once an asshat....?

I know nothing and I'm an asshat. But, I've been around much longer than this profile will tell you.

CallmeSbo

lol

committomittxoxo

OP: This isn't necessarily directed toward you.. and btw, I think you're very pretty. Just a general response to the subject….

--I do think (as a newbie) it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to realize how intense and heated the threads can get in here and it can be difficult to not want to jump in and add your 2 cents.

For example: In my first week on here I got involved in one of these heated exchanges over Diet Coke, of all things.. And while it was frustrating and I got shredded by other more 'senior' members.. I actually learned something...

They were telling me there's nothing wrong with Diet Coke.. and I was saying, even though I drink it, it can have negative effects on weight loss goals.. et cetera.. So upon suggestion of these other members.. I actually researched it myself! This is embarrassing but I literally spent a combined 4 or 5 hours (My winter break from school, lol) sifting through medical research websites and countless .org's and .edu's because I REALLY wanted a legitimate answer to these questions! What I ended up finding is there is actually no published research yet to suggest that neither I the freshman, nor they, the seniors, were 'right.' Basically, these studies have been completed, but the controversy is too new to find any solid evidence or published studies to settle the argument.

The moral of this story is that we were both simply trying to help. It didn’t really matter who found the site first or who’s the biggest, baddest, chest thumping MFP user. We just happened to fall on either side of a controversial topic and we wanted to stand up for our opinions. I guess I can mentally bump the feed and revisit it 10 years from now, when the research has been exhausted, and check to see who gets the point for the ‘win.’ But bottom line, unless people are citing their posts with peer reviewed scholarly articles, a lot of the information on here should be considered opinion, personal experience, or commonly regarded opinions and theories on a subject--- Regardless of the poster.

I agree that some people on here, and in life, could benefit from working on their delivery and general social skills.. But, *eh,* maybe that’s why they’re sitting behind a computer screen in the first place. I guess I just try to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that their intention wasn’t to annoy everyone or to muddy up the forums.. Because MFP can be fun and educational when used properly and I don’t blame anyone, whether they are a freshman, sophomore, etc., for wanting to be a part of it.

*Please don’t yell at me for this post either, it’s really coming from a place of love.. :flowerforyou: I honestly just thought my valuable ‘learning experience’ might help someone else… * i.e. This would fall under the category of personal experience/opinion. *

Cheers!

naastrodamus

I'm not a doctor, but I did join an online forum last year...

Superb

Groucho Marx said "I would never join a club that would have me as a member".

Really, folks. You might have been on this site for 3 years and have lost 300 lbs in the meantime, but that in and of itself does not make you an expert at weight loss. No more than just joining this site makes you a 'newbie' with no experience whatsoever.

reaolliemama

I've been here for nearly a year and find that it's not just newbs who tout poor advice as fact.

^^^^THIS^^^^:bigsmile:

ishallnotwant

Some people are natural "know-it-alls" and they've always had a drive to share all they know with the world. patience and time can/may help them...

^This is what I was talking about. I guess I should have been more clear, or have known that people were going to misinterpret what I meant in the OP (hence the disclaimer). I'm talking about the know-it-all people who are supporting completely false ideas in the forums, or reiterating well-known and commonly discussed items like they are the first person to have come up with it.

Often, the reason for re-iterating said 'well-known and commonly discussed items' is because someone comes on the forums yet again and asks. I think it's nice that some people have the patience to explain stuff over and over again for newbies who may not have been here for the other discussions and don't know about such "common knowledge".

And that would be where the search function comes into play. I'm not the only one this annoys.

Then personally, I think maybe you get annoyed too easily. If other people have the patience and love to keep explaining to the newer people, why in the world should it annoy you?

Elizabeth_C34

Most of the newbie issues come down to this:



There will always be people with bigger mouths than brains. This is independent of newb status also, unfortunately.

Aperture_Science

I agree with you to a point. Just because someone just found & joined MFP doesn't mean that they are new to fitness or nutrition. They may have expertise and advice that is way beyond just being a member of a forum for over a year.

That is a good point and applies to me. I've only been on MFP since January but I was a member of another fitness/calorie monitoring site for three years prior to that.

Having said that I kind of see what the OPs is saying also.

ashreynolds09

wow. what a way to welcome newbies. I was one to question whether or not to eat my exercise cals....sorry to annoy all of you.....

1996gtstang

i'm an expert.

CHECK MY STATS 4lbs lost!

pauljsolie

I agree with you to a point. Just because someone just found & joined MFP doesn't mean that they are new to fitness or nutrition. They may expertise and advice that is way beyong being a member of a forum for over a year.

That

This and That

WhittRak

I would get over it.

pauljsolie

Most of the newbie issues come down to this:



There will always be people with bigger mouths than brains. This is independent of newb status also, unfortunately.

LOL, I love you Liz.

mdh1127

I'm sorry, I've never felt that way. A forum is a place to share ideas, whether you agree with definitions or tips is really up to you. If someone has an incorrect piece of information, chances are the discrepancy will be pointed out and a debate about the topic will be had until some kind of agreement can be found. I don't believe it is new people that are to blame as much as it is uninformed people.... a group that I believe you just made yourself apart of.

Agreed! I also do not think that someone should be looked down upon for asking a "stupid" question. We are all here for very similar goals.

k8blujay2

I agree with you to a point. Just because someone just found & joined MFP doesn't mean that they are new to fitness or nutrition. They may have expertise and advice that is way beyond just being a member of a forum for over a year.

Quite, but I'll add this: Some "new" people have just made another account, even. I've seen enough "veteran" members giving out stupid advice time and time again, also. One's newness to the site determines nothing other than their unfamiliarity to MFP and its' workings. Some people are serially awful at maintaining their figure/fitness/whatever it is they're trying to do, no matter their time spent doing it, here or elsewhere.

Fact is, a lot of the fitness/diet thing is a very personal thing. What reacts terribly for one will be just the thing for another and all advice is just speculation to some extent anyway, informed or not.

The stupid know-it-all attitude and bad advice thing goes hand-in-hand not with newbies, with MFP, but with the internet. Sad, but trueness.

I agree with both of these statements.

alex6971

I think it works both ways.

I am quite new here and posted a topic about something i didnt understand. The way someone responded was as if i was an idiot for asking.

MyaPapaya75

How is this topic related to General Diet and Weight Loss? ....

si_puedo

i totally love how this turned out.....
just saying....

CalJur

I completely disagree as this forum topic is based on assumptions. We know the oft-repeated saying about assumptions which I need not repeat.

First, this forum unfairly targets "newbies" as being misinformed. Who is to say that someone who is new to MFP is automatically new to fitness, nutrition and/or a healthy lifestyle or striving for the same? Many folks come to this site with great experience in these areas. The only thing I would say is that newbies as well as others make better use of the search function as topics come up over and over which have been addressed and answered ad nauseum.

Second, everyone on this site was once a newbie. Instead of singling out newcomers to the site, it seems more prudent to welcome everyone and make them feel part of this journey we are all supposedly striving on.

Third, I've noticed a tendency for some regardless of time on the site to "preach" to others that you must do things a certain way or your soul may as well be damned for eternity. I've said it over and over that everyone is not cut from the same sleeve nor does one size fit all. There are so many variables and factors which make everyone's journey different. While some things are common sense and likely apply to all, not everything. Bottom line to this response is respect and inclusion for all.

lemonjune

I think newbies who have less than 3 months on their account can still know about starvation mode, eating back exercise calories, and knowing the definitions to weight loss terms. What makes them a know it all just because they know these basic things? MFP is designed to be laid out so that people can learn these things quickly. It's not like it takes months to figure this stuff out. Chances are, anyone who's tried to lose weight before has learned a lot about this on their own. It seems like you're jumping to conclusions and just giving all "newbies" who try and give advice a bad name. If they're posting these definitions and bits of advice for other users, doesn't it matter more that they're trying to help other people?

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

Even when I was a newbie, I did what I do now: Stick to sarcasm. Always works.

Scott613

All I know is I'm good I have....

Farfourah

0.o

solodancer

i rarely add to these long threads but this has annoyed me a little, im a well educated person and no quite a lot about nutrition, afterall I have studied many different aspects of the human body for about 5/6 years....i just havent put my knowledge into practice myself, however i do like to pass on what i do no to other people and let them use it as they wish. There are always different things that are recommended, one minute they say this is bad for you then they say its actually quite good for you then they say you need to have it with something else, and not 1 person on this site, myself included, read every single nutritional research article and therefore none of us are experts, even nutrutional 'experts' dont know everything, so anything that is posted on here is personal opinion or what has or hasnt worked for u, or misinformed information, or old information that is no longer considered true as new research has voided it. in my opinion people who have been on mfp for years and years tend to give misguided information as they seem to think that what has worked for them is the only right way to it. as another person has said everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for another. i think slating newbies like this is a bit out of order whether you were generalising or not, we are all here for one reason and we should all try to help each other rather than makin certain people feel unwelcome or make them think they shouldnt put their opinions across

mcrmsi77

That is a good point that I hadn't really thought of, I just crack up when people say, "Well I joined two weeks ago and I'm doing X diet and I've already lost 7 lbs!" I'm like really? Cause that was probably mostly water weight, not proof your diet works.

They are just happy to lose any weight! Let them have that! Everyone starts out as a "newbie" but most people here have tried all kinds of things to lose weight. Some people have lost weight before they joined, some have lost weight before and gained and joined, and some are just losing weight for the first time. I look at it this way: if I am asking for advice I want to know any and every piece of advice I can get. You don't know the full story until you know that person. However I do not agree with the people who come on here and attack people that is just plain stupid! But I will say I don't think you should have put this in the newbie section! This just makes it even harder for those new people to get out there and find friends on the site or even to ask a question. I just don't think you should judge anyone. I am not trying to be mean... I just don't agree.

staceyb2003

I'm just excited that after a year, MFP is going to make me an expert on health and fitness. Do I get some sort of certificate, sucker, a sticker? bwahahahaha!!! :laugh: You really shouldn't let the small things bother you, life is way to short.

JacksMom12

Human nature. I don't loose sleep over it.

Nor do I lose sleep over it.

:flowerforyou:

Hahahahaha