Go Gently.

byBridgetS

278 followers

9 years ago

I read a blog here the other day. A ranty type blog. A blog that went on about what types of questions are suitable for live chat and those which are not; and about how to ask questions. That blog made me leave here for a while. Why? Because that blog pretty much went against everything community. And let's face it. The "awesome community" here at WA is what is touted as a draw card on so many WA affiliate sites.

I am not saying these issues should not be addressed. I am just saying a ranty type blog is not the best way to address them. To rant means to speak or shout at length in an angry impassioned way. A rant is thus fueled by emotion rather than understanding .That's a sure fire way to alienate and offend people. Why?

Because it connotes that the ranter has the right to feel offended or peeved and that the ranter is right and that who/what they are ranting about is therefore wrong. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Anger clouds our rationality and our ability to think empathetically about others.

Rationally we can only know as much as we have seen or heard.

So if you haven't seen how many times a person has tried to figure out their niche by asking questions in the appropriate discussion area either without response or with response that just still doesn't quite get to the heart of their issue then don't get offended by them bringing that question to the wider audience of live chat or by the way they choose to word that question.

If you haven't seen how many times someone who is freaked out by a lot of money going out of their account has asked what the heck is going on via the correct channels without response don't be upset by them asking in live chat and don't assume that live chat was their first "go to".

Be gentle. Not everyone here is as intelligent as you; not everyone here has had the same level of education as you; and not everyone here has English as a first or second language. Be gentle. Choose to remember that here at WA we are actively encouraged to reach out for help whenever we need it and while some of those questions might seem unbelievably ignorant / basic/ frustrating to you they are unbelievably important to the person asking them. If they weren't important, they wouldn't have been asked in the first place

How should the issue of how to ask what questions be addressed - that's the beauty of a private message with a gentle "hey, how are you doing? Can i show how to...". This approach is far more ambassadorial than a ranty blog.