I can't believe I am going to complain about this but I feel I have to as something needs to be said and action has to be taken by Admin.

The treatment of new posters on this forum is on occasions nothing short of disgraceful.
One simple example is an innocent question being asked by someone maybe new to Switzerland or new to the forum. (Remember, it's only simple if you know the answer)
The smartass replies are shocking, it's seem to be a competition to see who can get in there first with the most smart ass answer.

Yes people can use the search function, yes people should maybe do a bit more research, yes people should maybe know the answer etc etc but the bottom line is that not everyone is as confident as posting on a forum as 'you' are.

The reason it pisses me off so much is that I am pretty sure there have been countless new posters who have never returned because of this, or countless posters who don't post because of this.
I see it as detrimental to the forum.

Any forum always needs new blood otherwise it becomes a 'clique' with the same posters agreeing constantly and ganging up on those not in the 'clique'.

I am a member of several forums and have been for a long time however not everyone is as 'experienced' in using forums and don't quite know how to use search function or be up to date in forum etiquette.

As I said, I see this having a major negative impact on the forum and the forum potentially losing some good people who will bring something to the forum.

In simple terms this place is not very welcoming in certain occasions.

P.s. We were all newbies at some point!

Too late.

EF already has a "I belong to a forum" social group feeling and, just like any circle of friends, people are suspicious of any new posters until they "prove" themselves.

However, it's always good have a heads up about this kind of behaviour so thanks for starting the thread.

This has been brought up 2 or 3 times a year for as long as I have been a member here and it never changes. What you say about it putting new members off is true, I've said it before, I've met countless people in real life who, when I mention EF, say things like "I posted once but never again, it's such a nasty place!"

What's to be done about it? I don't think anything can be done, it seems to part of the fabric of this place. But thanks for reminding us.... maybe we need a reminder every week, it might make a small difference.

If they try to sell a car here, their fate is already sealed. Even forum veterans seem to get a good hammering.

About 5% of posting info is useful but I would not post a real serious question on here since I would be more worried about the answers being totally false. The EF reputation is certainly that its ok for general stuff but has degenerated a lot in last 1-2 years

To some extent I agree, however the information that the 'car guys' give and pass on is excellent.
It would maybe not harm the forum if the info was passed on in a less sarcastic, arrogant manner but as I said the info is invaluable.

And 9 X out of 10 they are usually right.

Degenerated? Not at all. There's just much more information available on the forum making it harder to find serious questions to ask.

To be honest, reading snarky but witty comments makes great entertainment, which keeps people coming back. If this was a boring "info only" forum, the amount of traffic here would have dropped a long time ago.

And hell, if the British can't use their quick, dark, sharp witty humour here, then we might as well close shop.

There are two sides of the coin of course.

I think that some newbies don't exactly help their cause due to the way with which they carry themselves during their first few posts. I think we've all seen a number of stroppy newbies that throw their toys out of their pram when they're not getting exactly what they demanded. In fact this happens so often that I think that newbies are presumed to be guilty until they've proven themselves otherwise. Not a good situation really.

In short the best approach to a newbies question would be to answer it, provide a relevant link to another thread on the subject, or if the question requires more information ask the newbie for it.

If you really can't avoid being sarcastic and insulting to a newbies innocent question then just ignore it.

__________________
...allegedly.

I disagree with this completely. The snarky comments might make the regulars laugh and keep them here but it puts off new posters coming back and that for me is the problem. You need a constant influx of regular new posters who will bring something to the forum to prevent it from getting 'stale'.
Yes you can have fun with new posters and be sarcastic with them, it's great fun but it needs to be in a welcoming way not a 'what the hell do you think you are doing coming on here and asking a stupid question like that' way'.

And one other thing, you need to remember not everyone on here is British and not everyone gets the British 'humour'.

A good idea. Humility is indeed a virtue.

Generally the throwing the toys out the pram if due to how the question was answered not what the content was and this is the problem.

The bold part of your post is exactly how it should be.

I look at it as I would in real life. Would I go up to a group of strangers and launch in with "Where can I renew my permit?" with no further information, no pleasantries, and no effort to check up the information by myself?

No.

In fact, if I walked up to a group in, say, Paddy Reilly's and did that, one or two would be taken aback, one might ask a question to try to work out what I was waffling on about and someone else would most probably say "WTF? Who are you?" Not forgetting those in the group that would probably turn their backs and carry on with their pint.

Pretty much a reflection of the EF.

If a newbie is polite and gracious in their first post, they will receive kind remarks in return. It goes both ways, Connor MacLeod.

I've read this before and I don't think it is a good comparison at all.

Writing on a forum is not the same as meeting people in real life, how people write things may not necessarily be what or how they are trying to say something. When writing something you try to be be as less complicated as possible especially if it is something you are not sure about, hence asking the question.

One thing is for sure , some of the sarcastic replies that posters receive to questions would definitely not be the same answers face to face in Paddy's !

They usually are, I have never seen a first post that's not been rude or arrogant.

So how do you answer a question from Geneva, "Where can I buy bath towels?" help [Where to buy Bath Towels - GE]

Is this person from outer space - probably not as the English is faultless. There have been shops selling bath towels around for a hundred years. The OP must have visited some shops in Geneva, even Coop and Migros sell towels! The only reasonable excuse is if the OP is blind, but then usually they have some help already.

Newbies getting slagged off have only themselves to blame. If they cannot read again and correct the stupid things they have written, then I can't save them from the resulting sarcastic posts.

Sometimes it is difficult searching for an unusual aspect: it all depends if the tags at the bottom of the first post are set up correctly. Sometimes important information is not in a new thread, but buried in another thread, so we do need to give them some leeway.

However often I can search for a single noun on EF and come up with the answer to the OPs request. In this case I just give the link to the EF thread, with no comment. Maybe it's seen as arrogant behaviour by me, but people have to learn to help themselves in this world, and I am not prepared to spend hours typing the same stuff out, over and over again.

If you get the bus into Geneva town centre there are plenty of shops, like Manor, coop, Migro.

Like post 5 on the thread.

She reacted badly to your post and quite rightly so, she might have stepped off the plane that day and had no idea where to go, maybe she had never posted on a forum before.

There is a really, really simple answer to this. Don't!

Hazing exist in all communities and has always existed. Why should it be any different here? If you can't handle the sarcasm of some people here the first days you're not going to be around for long time anyway: it means you take it too seriously for a virtual forum.

I think people's replies are a reflection on the question.
If the question is percieved to be arrogant, some replies will be sarcastic.
Personally, I can't stand bad manners.
As Sbrinz said, what can you do with something like this?

help [Where to buy Bath Towels - GE]

Totally. But I was stating it from my point of view. I try to act online as I would in real life. How others do it is up to them but should remember that we all react differently so sometimes playing it safe and not launching in with demands and not shooting down anyone that doesn't give them a wholly relevant answer might be the way to go.

If you get the bus into Geneva town centre there are plenty of shops, like Manor, coop, Migro.

If that was the first reply, who knows she might have been someone that came back and added value to the forum. She could have been a head hunter, someone in insurance or tax etc etc, someone that can give info back into the forum.