Exposing forum expertise and experts.

[Peachfaced]

One more thought: I don't know if this would violate privacy boundaries, but as, in my own experience and observation, a large number of inexperienced advice givers are underage there could be a "Minor" banner. Would be a bit of a warning to new posters that the advice isn't coming from years of experience. And I suggest this as a minor. I'd be thrilled about any measures taken that lessen the amount of bad advice followed by unsuspecting members. Then again, what I like most about this forum is that the overwhelming majority of members are experienced and knowledgeable. And they are often willing to take the time to politely and factually challenge bad advice. So in a way this problem is dealt with by members, as it arises. Even though sometimes it is difficult or it can turn into an argument, which is always unfortunate.

That would put a target on our underage members for predators.

 

[Kassiani]

And who evaluates the level of expertise? Some people here have valid but differing opinions and experiences, so who becomes 'the expert'. It really would be, in my opinion, and over-engineered solution when the forum members typically steer people in the right direction. It also sound like something that could lead to hard feelings among "experts" and "non-experts". I've gotten ideas here that have worked wonderfully from people who just had a clever idea but no more bird experience than I.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

That would put a target on our underage members for predators.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Mizzely]

I think the idea has merit, but what qualifies someone as an expert? I get tagged a lot but I don't consider myself an expert; I'm usually just handy with Google!

I read once that, "The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer."

And I think on Avian Avenue that is usually true Yes, sometimes people post incorrect information. There is always someone who will come by and correct them. Usually several someones. And usually there is a report involved for the moderators stemming from that

We do limit posting in the Emergency 911 area to Veterans and people who have proven that they can answer questions in that section safely, because in those situations the wrong info can be deadly.

Avian Avenue is full of a wide range of people of all ages and all over the globe with a wide variety of knowledge and experience. I wouldn't want someone's good advice that hasn't established themselves as an "expert" to be discounted because they don't have a banner.

I think for the most part our members do a good job of sifting through incorrect information without an Expert having to weigh in. I understand wanting to help people by tagging in a member or group but usually those of us that have information to share will be by eventually regardless if we are tagged or not. We know where we are needed

 

[saroj12]

I ran into an online access to avian vets yesterday. Tried out one vet with two questions. It’s not free but to me it’s a way to get second and third opinions from practicing avian vets. I posted it in the comment court.

 

[Pat H]

I agree that something where you can select which species you own/have had experience with would be helpful, especially when discussing rarer species. It wouldn’t even need to show up as a banner, just a tag-able thing.

For example, someone is taking about Ringnecks, the tag “@ringnecks” could be used, and anyone (probably active in the last 30 days to prevent tagging tons of people) who has checked off in their account owning or having experience with Ringnecks, will be tagged. That way you don’t have to go digging for people who know about Ringnecks, you just use the tag

As long as a person has not used that tag previously... I like it tho...

 

[redindiaink]

As flattering as having the confidence of others would be I'm not sure I would want to be singled out as an expert if that were to happen. I think the label would carry with it a responsibility (something akin to a duty of care) I'm not sure I'd want.

 

[Zara]

That mechanism also relies on you seeing the need and manually taking steps.

It´s worth noting that the staff team read everything. So sooner or later staff will read the post and if needed, tag someone who can help. We make sure no threads go unanswered.

in my own experience and observation, a large number of inexperienced advice givers are underage

We did put out a message to the minors advising they participate, read, learn and have fun, and leave the advice giving to the site veterans.
Almost always, a more experienced member will correct any bad advice put out by minors, or anyone for that matter, anyway.

Honestly, when I think ¨expert¨, I´m thinking, a vet or a professional expert like Pamela Clark or Barbara Heidenreich.

There´s a lot of members who have a great deal of knowledge, and I think if you spend some time, reading around, it is clear who those people are

 

[Pat H]

@Zara -- WELL SAID...

 

[faislaq]

I never feel like an expert in anything and am always surprised when I am tagged. I agree with @redindiaink's feeling of "duty of care" and wouldn't want it either. On one hand, it would be a shame for helpful advice to be disregarded if the person offering it didn't have the right tag by their name, but it would be worse if anyone opted for an Expert's advice in lieu of veterinary care.


To be fair, we've been fortunate to have several young members who have been experts in my opinion. They've amassed such an impressive about of good information coupled with experiences of their own and those of others that I'd completely take their advice. And there've been a few "Avenue Veterans" with less to contribute than newer members.

 

[JLcribber]

The "Hive Mind" that the forum provides is the expert because everything is vetted by everyone else. (This does not hold true for Facemob groups be because people who actually know stuff are greatly outnumbered and drowned out my the Mob)

Post some bad advice and you will be schooled swiftly.

 

[The_Mayor]

The "Hive Mind" that the forum provides is the expert because everything is vetted by everyone else. (This does not hold true for Facemob groups be because people who actually know stuff are greatly outnumbered and drowned out my the Mob)

Post some bad advice and you will be schooled swiftly.

I thought I'd commented on this thread, but apparently I thought better of it.

But John brought up something I wanted to expand on as a newbie who's learning bird stewardship as I go.

My experience with a simalar interest group site was that it had agree/disagree buttons. I don't recommend importing that here because, wow, the number of people who think disagree = dislike made for some interesting threads.

But, my carry over from that was that I pay attention to the feedback a post gets. Lots of thumbs up, including some from people whom I'd pegged as knowldegeable tells me that it's, if not necessarily good advice, at least generally what people believe. A wow, or sad face, for a post that on its face isn't obvisouly astounding, or sad, to me is a clue that there's a problem with what was said.

I mean, we still have to reality test things against other information and our values (Frex: if I posted for ideas on how to get my birds more hand friendly so I could get them in their travel cage so they can go outside and enjoy the summer breezes, and someone else replied that I need to have their wings clipped so they can learn who's boss. I wouldn't care if everyone on this board posted a thumbs up. That's against my values of having a relationship with my birds, so I wouldn't accept it.) but reading the feedback helps figure out if something is generally accepted within this community.

 

[Clueless]

We have particular forums for the birds also. Occasionally I check out the amazons forum to see if I missed anything.

 

[Zara]

We have particular forums for the birds also. Occasionally I check out the amazons forum to see if I missed anything.

I have lovebird Lane added to my watch list so I get alerts for new threads.
So members can add forums of the birds they have/had to their watch list and help out that way

edit;

How To: - How to watch or unwatch threads / forums

How to ¨watch¨ or ¨unwatch¨ threads/forums If there is a forum or thread that you are interested in, and want to be alerted every time someone posts something new in, you can ¨watch¨ the thread/post. How to ¨watch¨ a thread; By participating in a thread or starting a thread, it will...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Rain Bow]

The biggest problem is...

The information for each species or situation is out there & thumb tacked. Most new members don't take the time to read this information initially. IF they stick around, take the time to care & read. Days/months worth of hours in my case, & many others here also... The info is there, correct & if a posting is incorrect & they have been schooled by veteran members as @JLcribber stated. IT'S all here.

People want fast answers, don't want to research & read or often (I've found) take all the extra time. I'm even guilty of this.

I have found I re-post the same info, over & over just in different ways.... Some of these things take good search words & google as @Mizzely has stated... Something that doesn't take a veteran owner, just 5 - 10 minutes if skimming thru to find & post accurate links.

Also, as with anything sometimes the answer is the easiest one. The old school KISS mantra applies. Excuse my language here, but science class taught me the answer to what KISS actually stands for,
KISS ='s;

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

On some of this stuff, this is the right answer, our brains just think it's going to be complicated so we make it this way.

I think the idea of special tags is a good one, in theroy but, due to TRUSTED manpower, a difficult task for AA in general. I have an extensive background dealing w/ database's & management of staff. There still has to be a human @ the other end, making said database, giving the authority to others flipping a cyber switch (so to speak). Knowing how the mangerarial totem pole works here on AA, we don't have said, manpower to handle this. Add in the word TRUSTED & that complicates things even further.

Plus, IMO much of what had actually taught me was reading, posting these "10" minute google searchs, tagging others & reading their responses. Also, it doesn't resolve issues of members being away, being hospitalized, or sad to say death... In these cases of death, due to the way AA works, the persons postings are memorialized because these things do not get purged from AA but stay, forever. Often the members, moderators & owner don't even get notified of things like this until another member of AA finds out or the family member comes & notifies us of illness & death which is probably only a 10th of the time where illness or death has occured.

Over time, & learning, reading everything out there you can, a sense of this occurs where you know sho to tag & when. Because our feathered friends often outlive us, I don't know if any of us feels that we are true experts, because even the experts have said, "hmmm, I never thought of this" or "I'll have to try that".

 

[Dartman]

I'll post something if I think it will help, if I'm not sure I'll say if I'm wrong someone will correct me or post better info.
Usually there's plenty of good answers or opinions to get what you need from your questions and there's always the tags.

 

[tka]

I think what we often see is a point at which a member has developed confidence in their knowledge and is very keen to show it off. They sometimes don't realise that they're giving out poor information.

What I often see with newer members is that they gain a bit of experience. They've successfully got their bird to like them. Maybe they've target trained them, maybe they've successfully switched diets, maybe they've dealt with the bird's first hormonal season. They think "hey, I know some stuff!" and they do! They have learnt a lot in the months that they've had their bird, and they can look back on where they were six months or a year ago and see how far they've come.

However, there's the temptation to overstep and offer advice on situations that they don't have any experience with. They link to poor quality websites or suggest things that won't work. They've simply not had first-hand experience with some situations, especially more complex issues like long-term health problems, aggression, sudden changes in behaviour, breeding and similar. This is where it gets dangerous and where I see people giving advice that simply isn't good. A brand new member doesn't know that this member is relatively new themselves - they just see someone on the forum who appears to be helping them.

I'm more aware than ever of my own limitations. There are so many things that I don't know the first thing about: chicks, handfeeding, long-term medical issues, care of elderly birds, palliative and end of life care. I simply don't post on those threads even when I am tagged in them: I really have nothing of value to offer and I don't feel comfortable recommending anything beyond "take your bird to an avian vet" because I simply haven't had to deal with these issues myself.

 

[Zara]

There are so many things that I don't know the first thing about: chicks, handfeeding, long-term medical issues, care of elderly birds, palliative and end of life care. I simply don't post on those threads even when I am tagged in them:

I get tagged a lot in things I have no idea about. I think it´s because I´m so active and people think I might know who to tag? I´m not too sure. But like you, I read, see if there´s anyone else I could tag, and don´t comment on the topic/question.

 

[ConureGuy]

As a member who has had kept birds for 10 plus years now from African Grey's, Amazon's, Senegals, Indian Ringnecks to Conures I still don't class myself as an ''expert''

More so when would one class themself as an expert? I mean we live and learn new things about our beloved feathered friends everyday,

So therefore I would only class someone an expert if they knew every bit of infomation down to the dot, But as new infomation and findings pop up everyday could one really call themselves an expert?

I get there is a fair bit of misleading and incorrect infomation passed around but that's why we are here to begin with,

And saying that I don't discredit any member of this forum new or old as life has taught me that even though someone is new they may know something you did not,

I also have a lot of respect for most of the members here on AA who have been kind enough to pass some of there knowledge over to me and I enjoy finding out new and interesting facts everyday.

 

[Hankmacaw]

To add another old bromide to @Rain Bow 's "KISS theory". New ideas are great, and changes have been made to this forum through the years, but "IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT".