brianarn wrote:I have to say, I'm a total newbie to these boards, as well as CPAP usage, but such topics being the first ones I run across, and such seeming hostility towards someone who'd said they just want to help, well, it doesn't exactly make me feel like I should stick around. Doesn't seem like people should have to have a thick skin to add their thoughts and opinions, professional or not, so long as they're not telling people they're stupid or being jerks about it.
I understand that reaction. And I respect it. And I agree with the sentiment. But what Willie is talking about, I think, is the long history of people (usually guest posters) coming to this board and saying something like: "I just stumbled onto this sorry forum. All you people on this board don't have a clue and are spewing a bunch of garbage and misleading people. You should all be banned from the internet. I know this because I am a professional and I know everything about CPAP and you people are saying things that can kill people without having a license that allows you to do that." Or the like.
So the reaction I think Willie is describing is more a reaction here to the hostility shown by a few guest forum trolls who like to come here and claim to be RTs or sleep techs or doctors, but obviously know very little and have nothing to add other than attacking the fact that a board like this one is even allowed to exist. Whenever one of them says something that someone else rightly questions, the guest tends to say: "Look, you can't question me because I am a [whatever]. You people need to shut up and listen while I tell you how things really are."
It puts a bad taste in the mouths of many in forums when someone walks in and thinks they can earn respect by flashing a badge or bragging about credentials. Anyone who does that is likely to get quizzed, in any forum, to see if there is any chance what he or she is claiming to be is remotely possible. Such credential-flashing posters tend to take that as hostility or flaming.
A few, a very few, on this forum tend to take out their own personal frustrations on those claiming to be professionals. This is basically an unmoderated forum, so the fact that it happens, and that Willie has explained one reason why, should not be a reason to judge the helpfulness of many others in this forum.
So, please, do not misread this thread, or any similar one, as widespread disdain for professionals. Some of the longtime posters here ARE professionals in related fields and some even in the sleep medicine field. Others are very experienced users who have helped me a lot as well. So stick around and judge for yourself. You will quickly learn who has helpful advice and who doesn't. And it won't matter to you how they got to be so helpful; you'll just appreciate the help.
jeff
[edit: corrected some of the worst misspells, left the rest]
