Anyone else want to help but feel overwhelmed by the Community?

[Awu1]

I want to help people answer questions, and give my feedback but every time I'm on, I feel really intimidated and overwhelmed by the number of responses on each post. Even when the posts have only been up for 1 hour! This really discourages me to share my opinion because I know someone else would've said the exact same thing somewhere else already. I want to participate more on this community, but really just don't know how. 

[Anonymous]

 @donuts_waffles 

I think the negative comments about duplication are only half right. To post something well after is not preferable. But often it's within the same minute or two of the OP.

Or later on another person asks another question or has their own same question and the subject runs again.

I think the observations from the seasoned Oracle above are likely spot on wrt diverging traffic. I also think the company has made improvements in systems that has lessened the need for people to ask in the first place.

As for community...customers come here looking to fix their problem. Not talk about the weather. The regulars will jump in. Then someone says something and a little kibbitizing ensues. I think that's where a lot of "community" happens. Otherwise, there's always the Lounge to talk about the weather.

 @Naepalm : you arrived around the time of a total frenzy due to the lock downs and unemployed folks. It has definitely dropped a LOT since that period of time.

So @Awu1 : when you wish to kill some time and sit down and maybe give this place some focus, load the All Posts page and check out what's going on. Go to page two if you like. See if there's anything that catches your eye. Sometimes some questions go unanswered and slip through. Click the little see more link to open more of the post. Read the answers. Think whether you can add some nuance that hasn't been said yet. Or jump in when it's a new question. Others will too but I think it's all perfectly fine in those first few minutes.

Then refresh again. Watch some tv, refresh again. Read some other forum and refresh again.

Do this because you like to. It's not monetarily worth your time to do it for the reward. You should be able to get into a buck or two with some level of participation throughout the month though.

[donuts_waffles]

I agree with this. I joined not too long ago and saw how people competed to get the Bravos and stuff. The sense of community seems lost. It‘a quality information that PM is looking for, not duplication of info.

[will13am]

@Awu1 , the community is a hotbed of competition for rewards these days.  I have been on this community for a little over 4 years and I have seen a major evolution during this time. 

Back in the day, there was a tiny moderator team of half dozen.  The service was new to everyone and online activation was the only option.  The size of the customer base was small.  As a result, there was a lot of questions posted in the community with a very small number of customers having answers.  The ingredients for competition was not present.  Questions could go unanswered for hours.

Fast forward to today.  The moderator team is huge.  There are retail partners that look after many of the new customers.  The knowledge base in the community from which customers can draw information has grown.  Consequently, the number of questions posted in the community has virtually dried up.  The number of customers willing and able to help has grown commensurate with the size of the customer base.  The ingredients for competition are now present.  The outcome is numerous support responses in a short period of time.  

I suggest that you not be discouraged by this.  Help when you can.  There are situations where first, second or even third responses may not have covered the entire question.  You can jump in and fill in the gaps.  Always be mindful that overloading a customer needing help with a ton of responses can be overwhelming and counterproductive. 

At the end of the day, helping the community should be enjoyable and not an occupation. Don't feel any pressure to perform.  

[Naepalm]

@Awu1 it can be a bit much. But I think if you want to contribute then contribute. Back in march when a post went up there were like 10 responses in under a minute. lol 

[rezagee]

HellO! ;);) U can partisipeyt more by helping to uhllay my kunsern. If under Add-Onz I have a boNus of 1Gb and 'one-time' bonus uv 5GB are these going to be useable and audomadikly "Bak me up" when my plan's stanDurd 500+500MB runz down? ThanK u kindLy eevin if there's no massIve telecomm reward in it for ya' the gUuud deeed stanDz siir

[HALIMACS]

@Awu1 

I bet alot of people feel that way.   There will always be replies by people who are brief and to the point and others who will go to great lengths to respond.  There will be replies with inaccurate or incomplete information and others who expand on the question and provide additional information. 

The key is to give it your best shot if you feel you have something useful to add - NO ONE will criticize you for trying.   

And if you are beat to the punch by an earlier similar reply by someone else, no worries.   If anything, it'll allow the person who posted the question to have faith in the proposed solution.

Great question @Awu1 !!!

[darlicious]

@Awu1 

         Weve all been a new user at some point. Some of us have a background in tech or cell phones or are self confessed geeks and others like myself had just graduated from a flip phone to a smartphone when i joined a little over a year ago. If you're interested in learning about your phone, managing your account and public mobile you've come to the right place.  We're always happy to help.

          Right now you're at the mostly ask questions stage. I had a tonne and a steep learning curve. In fact i finally grasped the concept on how to hide a link behind a word two days ago.....it only took a year or so. Now i can direct someone to a post in the lounge  and not be sheepish about it. That's thanks to @CFPartDeux  and a few others that tried but i failed them til now.

          Ask away.....and you will find threads to post in that ask for an opinion rather than needing direct help. You'll see easier questions you can try to help with. The search bar is your best friend. You can literally type the question being asked in there ( or just the key words) and hit "go" and a slew of threads come up. If there's a green check mark it means there's a solution. Check out a couple....if you get the same solution then it will almost always be the correct solution. Go back and post your findings.

        This can be a little less intimidating during the off peak times.....if you're a night owl it will work to your advantage. Or just read thru a thread and you pick up on something that has been missed or see where you can add your own spin on things. Find your own niche like @Nezgar  the first viscount of voicemail or @LurganIeUk  whose an iPhone guy. I like to collect stats and disseminate them to the chagrin of an oracle or two....tee hee....or work out the math for the best deal. And I have a bad habit of having long wordy posts!

       You'll be given constructive criticism along the way, compliments, the odd snarky comment but soak it all in. The community can be like family at thanksgiving dinner sometimes with heated discussions , passionate diatribes, gentle ribbing or be humorously silly jokesters. Learning, teaching and helping is the focus but some of us like to socialize a little too....mostly in the lounge but a little here and there depending on the subject of the thread.

      Award a solution to your questions when you can but don't feel rushed and not all threads have solutions that come easy or at all. Just avoid the self solution....while possible its frowned upon so best to let an oracle come along and assign them to you if that's the case. Bravo posts you learn from, that helped others or you agree with or sometimes if gives you a good laugh or puts a smile on your face.

      It takes a little while but you'll soon feel comfortable and feel like you've always been here. Feel free to private message the members you hit it off with or you trust if you want a private conversation. My mailbox is always open if you need a friendly ear, some advice or a quick answer. Welcome to public mobile and the community you'll do just fine here.

[RobertQc]

@Awu1 No one knows everything and everyone who does know something had to learn it before they knew it. Your words can only help, if not them, maybe you. If you are wrong, its a learning experience. If you are right, its a way to enforce your existing knowledge. It's all a win win. This place is what you make of it and its made up of old timers and first timers. Welcome to the party and don't be shy!

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@Awu1 wrote:

Thanks Robert. I don't know much about troubleshooting and solving problems related to public mobile, so all I can do is give my general perspective, opinions and thoughts. Maybe it'll help someone, maybe it won't. 

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[cellphoneuser1]

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@Awu1 wrote:

I want to help people answer questions, and give my feedback but every time I'm on, I feel really intimidated and overwhelmed by the number of responses on each post. Even when the posts have only been up for 1 hour! This really discourages me to share my opinion because I know someone else would've said the exact same thing somewhere else already. I want to participate more on this community, but really just don't know how. 

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Help when you can but don't repeat others on purpose. The small rewards aren't worth stressing over. There will chances to participate if you're here enough.

[Awu1]

Thanks Robert. I don't know much about troubleshooting and solving problems related to public mobile, so all I can do is give my general perspective, opinions and thoughts. Maybe it'll help someone, maybe it won't. 

[RobertQc]

I understand. All you can do is voice your opinion and thoughts, it will get read, or it wont. It will be a duplicate post, or it wont. Maybe someone else will duplicate your post.

Don't worry about being #1. Just do what you feel is right.

Or be like me.... *Hides*

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@Awu1 wrote:

I want to help people answer questions, and give my feedback but every time I'm on, I feel really intimidated and overwhelmed by the number of responses on each post. Even when the posts have only been up for 1 hour! This really discourages me to share my opinion because I know someone else would've said the exact same thing somewhere else already. I want to participate more on this community, but really just don't know how. 

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