I asked a question on a forum about why a command wasn’t working. They said I didn’t have an interpreter installed on my computer and were making fun of me. I showed them that I had one installed and that wasn’t the problem, but they continued to talk sarcastically to me without explaining anything. Only one of them suggested the cause of the problem, and he was right, so I thanked him. Then another guy said that if I couldn’t figure it out myself, I should do something else and that he was tired of people like me. After that, I deleted my question, and now I’m not sure. And I don’t think I want to ask for help ever again

  • it_depends_man@lemmy.world
    7·
    18 days ago

    In short, this is a social faux pas that you didn’t know about, because you’re new to asking questions online.

    And as you can see from the existence of that wikihow page: it’s a common problem and you are not the first or the last to run into this. Sorry.

    https://www.wikihow.com/Ask-a-Question-on-the-Internet-and-Get-It-Answered

    Learn the culture of the forum. Every community on the internet has its own style and set of rules (both written and unwritten). Spend some time reading through other posts before making your own. This will help you learn the etiquette for that specific forum. Knowing how to ask your question in a way that fits in with that culture can really help you get the answers you need.

    Make your title a succinct version of your question.

    Go into detail in the body of the message. After writing the title, explain the details in the body. List specific problems and what you have tried so far.

    Describing what you have tried so far, is extremely important.

    Writing it out can make you go through the thinking steps necessary and you will answer your own question in the process of asking it. That’s so common it’s called “rubber ducking”. Everyone does it. But if you don’t do the writing, people can be cross because you’re asking a question you didn’t need to ask.

    Keep an open mind. There’s a chance that you won’t like the answer you receive. There’s also a chance that the answer that you don’t like is the only available option. Make sure to keep an open mind about your responses, and try to avoid getting defensive.

    Don’t give up. If you don’t receive any responses, or the responses are not satisfactory, take some time to examine your question. Was it specific enough? Did you ask too many questions? Was the answer easily obtained through a web search? Is the question even answerable? Rework your question and ask it again, either in the same place or a new one. Never believe that you are entitled to an answer. Responders volunteer their time to help out other users. No one owes you an answer, so you should avoid acting like they do.

    There are different kinds of communities that have different levels of professionalism and question asking culture. You picked one at random at the wrong level.

    I promise you not every community online is like that. Try a different one.

    And also, you didn’t do your research for this question either. Or you could have found the wikihow page. 😜