Remember Back To When You Were A Newbie

Please stop and reflect for a few minutes on the days when you were a newbie to this site. What problems or questions did you have? Who did you go to for answers hoping when they had to repeat the answers ten times they wouldn't get upset. After all it appeared to be a confusing site until you got the hang of it.

Then we have the HTML codes which for some of us we never thought we would master but after repeated attempts we did! Thanks due to a fellow member taking the time to walk us through the steps most of the time.

Have you thought about our newbies on this site? They need mentors, they want someone to read and review their writings, they want a friend to discuss with and share with. Some of them are to shy or scared to approach us to ask for help, so they stay in the background then eventually drift away.

In chat the other morning I met a newbie. Upon asking several questions I asked if they had met any new friends on the site. Their answer was, "just you and XXX on here right now". To me that is sad! I was so glad that I had saw this person standing in chat not speaking, and that I had spoken up and said hello first.

I realize there are a lot of things aimed at making the newbie feel more involved but lets not forget to reach out on a "one to one basis" and make a new friend.

Thank-you for reading this.