Hobbyist/Serial Posters

[ScouseBoy]

I think "Commercial Exploitation Profiteers"    would be a better name for it, actually.

[*Sandra*]

But they are not all of the commercial variety. Some hobby posters are contributors to other forums connected to their hobby and some of us have seen at first hand how they claim credit for info they post on those forums - even though it's come from RC.


Sandra

[groom]

Pity someone can't then post on that forum a link back to RC to where they were given the information.  Perhaps if that was done a few times it might stop them.

[MadaboutRoses1883]

I'll be honest, this thread worries me.
I am a relatively new poster here, I used to be on another site.
I have asked for help with a look up for Westmorland and in Lancashire, my particular family moved from one to the other. And I have been immensly grateful to the contributors in helping me finally break down a brick wall that I had wrestled with for over 1 year now. The simple fact that a member suggested that the transcript was wrong, which had resulted in me previously trying to find a gr gr grandfather who had been mis-transcribed, gave me the breakthrough I needed. I didn't have enough experience to realise that transcripts could and very often are wrongly transcribed.
But anyway back to the thread, it worries me greatly that I may have been thought of as one of those hobbyist posters.
I thought long and hard before I posted for help, I had tried and tried to search for my gr gr grandfather, on free sites as well as FindMyPast pay as you go without any luck. It was not until I asked here that I got that breakthrough, for which I really appreciate the time and effort that members put in.
Thankyou again for those members who helped me.


 

[groom]

The same applies to you, MadaboutRoses as I said to Xin earlier today. If you've tried for yourself and come up against a brickwall, then asked for help that doesn't make you a hobby/serial poster. If you look at the examples given, you don't fit any of those categories, you are an ordinary poster as are most people on this site. So keep posting and asking for help and don't worry about it.   

[MadaboutRoses1883]

The same applies to you, MadaboutRoses as I said to Xin earlier today. If you've tried for yourself and come up against a brickwall, then asked for help that doesn't make you a hobby/serial poster. If you look at the examples given, you don't fit any of those categories, you are an ordinary poster as are most people on this site. So keep posting and asking for help and don't worry about it.

Thankyou groom, for your reassurances.

[Jool]

I have watched this thread since the start and feel I now have to add my opinion.

Most Rootschatters are not hobby/serial posters, if they have searched all of the free sites for the information they need and then come to Rootschat for help with a brick wall then I see no problem with that, no matter how many posts they make.

The problem as I see is it the deceitful people who claim their research is their own family/friends when in reality it is not, they are using Rootschat  to do the work for them and then using the information for their own gain.  A certain member of this forum (who now seems to have disappeared) who's posts have been mentioned earlier by CaroleW was a typical offender.  I helped him in one particular thread until I was advised by CaroleW of his motives.  We later discovered that he had bought a photo album from ebay and claimed it to be from his late mother's belongings (as mentioned earlier by CaroleW).  I was disgusted that he claimed it to be his late mother's album when clearly it was not.  He was just trying to gather information (much of which he could have found for himself from the free sites) from Rootschat for yet another book.

I have no problem whatsoever with people who post lots of threads when they have tried to find what they can from the free sites, I am more than happy to help if I can.

[a-l]

Call me naive but I didn't know these people existed and neither would it have occurred to me before reading this thread.                                                           That's abusing RC and it's members and shouldn't be allowed, it's plain wrong!       

[cocksie]

Have read thread from start to finish, wrestled with the concerns raised and resonated with some of the responses. Considered responding, discarded thought due paranoia about my relative inexperience and then reconsidered.

"RootsChat has some 222,865 members" (early post on this thread). From my observation I would think that the  genuine "offender" % is minuscule. The enormous majority are either extremely generous with their time, resources and knowledge and/or are interested in history (family, community, geographical) and/or cluelessly thrashing about trying to work out how to economically and practically research OR are somewhere in between and are very grateful for any assistance and direction.
If one "gives" then give without expectations of receiving (be it a "thank you", or an acknowledgement or reward). To "give" with any expectation can often lead to disappointment. It's a personal decision to give - we all have this choice.
If a person is concerned that a rchatterer is "up to no good" then we all also have choices:
1. Note, ignore and move on (like turning off the television)
2. Confront (having weighed up your evidence and assessed the likely consequences)
3. Alert (either hit the "notify" button on this site or email site of concern elsewhere)
Am now off in paranoid fashion to re read all my posts to see if I could be misconstrued as the minuscule % offender.
Cocksie