How do you respond to posts seeking advice?

MrsLVF

hookers and blow...my universal response to everything.

That's all you ever think about.:drinker:

HiKaren

hookers and blow...my universal response to everything.

love it, and you need more cowbells

Don't fear the Cowbell.... Thats my best advise from the band, and from me too. Good Point. !! Haah.

treetop57

If it's something related to diet and fitness and it's something I know anything about, I'll answer with my experience, trying to make clear it's what I have found to work. I also tend to put in lots of caveats like, "for someone like me who doesn't have diabetes or other metabolic disorder." I'll also start the post with "My opinion?" or "My experience?" Sometimes I quote the disclaimer at the bottom of the page about how nothing posted by MFP staff or other users should be considered medical advice. I also sometimes end with: "That's my advice, worth exactly what you paid for it."

If it's something I don't have any personal knowledge or experience with, I sometimes research the question for my own edification, but I rarely post the results. If no one else posts a response to an important question that doesn't have anything to do with me ("What should I do about the calories used up breastfeeding my baby?" "Are there other MTF transgendered here?"), I might search for a group for whom the question does apply and post a link to that. In that case, more than anything else, I'm bumping the question hoping a breastfeeding mom or a MTF transgendered person (or both!) will see it before it disappears.

Off topic relationship questions? I usually lurk (and smirk). One time when both partners in a dysfunctional marriage were posting about their problems with each other, I said, "MFP may be cheaper than couples therapy, but it is much less likely to be effective."

What I find most troubling is when MFP friends post questions or little cries for help on their newsfeed, especially if they are someone who has very few or very inactive friends. If I don't have experience or knowledge, I will do a bit of research and post a link, trying to be supportive without claiming more knowledge than I have. I definitely don't say things like "Here is what you should do." Like the original poster, I don't want to take responsibility for someone doing something that may turn out to be a disaster!