Topic: Benefits of asking questions as a newbie (Read 375 times)

Asking questions should never be frowned on by more senior members, because it is the foundation of building a knowledgeable member. A lot of senior members have issues with "newbie" members repeating the same questions that has been asked several times on this forum and that is also justified.

When I started out on this forum, we had very patient forum members like DanniHamilton that would explain the most complex Bitcoin subjects to newbies in the easiest manner, just search for his old posts and you will find a treasure chest of good information.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/dannyhamilton-60820

Those were the days my friend.....  

The focal point is not to be shy or reluctant to ask the question: no matter how stupid, it will mean something, shyness is the cornerstone of non-learning as the forum is open to all questions, no matter how silly but do not publish SPAM.

Also, make an effort to ask to find out in detail the answer, there is nothing free.

Learn how to browse the internet is the most fastest on learning more. Asking questions is not bad as you are trying to learn but some people are asking questions here even if it is discussed here in the forum or the one who asked the question is already know the answer to his/her question but still asking. Here is a tip to newbies who ask question many times.
1.) Avoid asking questions you already know or learned.
2.) Ask a question if you still lack for more information regarding the matter.
3.) Search or browse the internet if there is already a discussion about the topic you are looking for before asking questions.
4.) Do not get discourage if someone who will only criticize you.

AFAIK asking questions does not just benefit the "newbie" this is a learning process that extends to everyone and helps sharp the forum with new features, possible changes and the alike as these are bound to come from such conversations.

Asking questions also shows interest and the willingness to learn

Being inquisitive is part of the learning process, and one can play it by either searching around for the answers, and/or by placing them for others to answer.

What is normally appreciated is that the questions set forth show to some degree that the person asking them has made some prior effort in trying to get an answer on his own, giving a certain context to the question that distils this fact, and avoiding ultra-reiterated questions that have been answered dozens of times.

What is less appreciated is to have a “hey boys, tell me all about it” attitude, with the feet crossed on the table whilst puffing away at a cigar.

Ask by all means, but attitude normally can be read between lines in the formulated question, and the right one goes a long way ...

That part is very important, most newbies miss that part, maybe because we have smart newbies and slow learner newbies, that differs a lot.
Therefore, in our part as old member, we have to be patient, be nice to them so they will continue their journey here being inspired by helpful members.

In as much as you encourage newbies to ask questions so they with benefit from the four points you listed above and many more benefits not listed, you should also informed the higher ranked users to welcome this guys with open hands instead of attacking them at every given chance they get. Such acts will only discourage more people from asking questions. Asking questions is also a form of research and people tend to understand better when their questions are been answered instead of threating them like fools who don't know how to make use of the google search functions.

I definitely agree on this part.  Though as a newbie before, I experienced a problem of not knowing where to go in this forum.  I did not even know that there is the "beginners & Help" section for the newbies.

I think it would be best if there is an easier navigation for the newbies to go to this section?
what do you think?

Even for that we have a thread explaining how to do it : [How-to] the Search button

Always use google search for finding the information at faster rate which I am always doing...

There is a bot created by Piggy. You will get notified either over PM or telegram every time someone quotes one of your posts or mentions your name in a post. For example IPVPIRL or @IPVPIRL.

Take a look here and subscribe to the bot
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/beta-mention-notification-bot-open-for-testing-now-with-telegram-5023605

If you don't like the on-forum search function you can search for posts on google.
Add site:bitcointalk.org followed by the content you are searching for to get google to display search results from this forum only.

I've always had problems with the search function so I rarely use it. Most times it takes too long to load and sometimes it doesn't provide results. I understand the database must be huge but there are ways to make this faster. I have problems finding out if I got any replies too. Is there a way to know if someone quoted me without looking back to every post I made?

This is very correct this will help to avoid double thread which lead to spamming, as a newbie your first task is to learn and in doing that the first stage is to search for the informations you need when you can not fine them you then may ask on the forum for other members to help you with the answers.

You can add one more point:

Before asking any questions,people have to learn the usage of search button on this forum this might help the member without waiting for someone to post on the new thread and also reduce the spam comment on the new threads.

Then don't forget to lock the threads if you find the answers from the comments.

  The newbie stage is a foundational stage for everyone and everyone currently in the forum has been at that stage at a certain time here. This stage can to a large extent determine the nature of member you would be in future here in the forum.
  It's an eye sore when seeing a newbie make post that he/she barely knows about,

         Benefits of asking questions
1. To learn: although learning process is endless but the process should be at its peak at the beginners level. There can't be a complete learning without asking questions, as a newbie it's believe that the whole area should be some what new to you. And you can familiarise your self by asking questions( don't be shy about how it's going to be taken by others), your a newbie and not so much is expected from you at that stage.

2. To avoid breaking the rules: in recent time here the massive ban wave was felt by everyone even grey hair members felt the heat as well, they mostly err from activities they did at a lower rank stages which came back to hunt them, so now as a newbie you can avoid the mistake they made but asking questions about the rule of the forum. Here is the rule
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/unofficial-list-of-official-bitcointalkorg-rules-guidelines-faq-703657
And if you go through it and it's still not clear always feel free to ask questions (the embarrassment of asking a question that seems so easy to decipher is better than breaking the rules)

3. Makes you a better poster: After you must have inculcated the habit of asking questions in you and have gained knowledge about things you weren't familiar with, this would help improve you as a person and a poster. You also get to increase in rank by making good post and getting the needed merits and activities.Your post quality would at least be at an average level and you can also be of help to others.

4. Improve your confidence: this might sound little but never play down the value of confidence. This is a forum and it consist of different people some of which are hot tempered and make a meal out of someone that makes a low quality post which makes them to either give up the forum or stay mute. But after series of seeking knowledge through asking questions(it could be a pm or post) you confidence level increase you get to have a say in threads with out having any inferiority complex.

In addition here is a thread about terminology in cryptocurrency and the forum, so it doesn't confuse you when used
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/terminology-126798


Edited:  learn how to browse the internet or seek some information from it.