[Blue Diver]

This is a forum that helps others but many are cautious with new people here.
Many times we get trolls with ulterior motives so forgive these guys for not being all warm and fuzzy.
Oh, welcome to "the hood"

Maybe I'm naive but what would qualify as an ulterior motive on a welding forum? And what would a troll.... troll for? Anyone is more than welcome to PM me with answers if they are not meant for open forum talk. I'm obviously missing the cloak and dagger portion of the site?

[Superiorwelding]

This is a forum that helps others but many are cautious with new people here.
Many times we get trolls with ulterior motives so forgive these guys for not being all warm and fuzzy.
Oh, welcome to "the hood"

Maybe I'm naive but what would qualify as an ulterior motive on a welding forum? And what would a troll.... troll for? Anyone is more than welcome to PM me with answers if they are not meant for open forum talk. I'm obviously missing the cloak and dagger portion of the site?

The Forum Moderators might explain a little better but there are those who would use this platform to sell a product or service (sererate from the for sale section) They might just be spam, advertisements for purses or sunglasses or general things that don't belong. Then there are those who search out posts and comment for their entertainment. Another ulterior motive is those who join a forum just to get a question answered and never thank us for our help and answers and/or never post again because they have their answer. If you watch closely those of us that have been here for a while are usually reserved when a new member posts just a quesion without any introduction. You can usually tell if they want to be a part of the family or are just wanting a answer and that's it. They might start a fight, post profanity, nudity or just post something completely off the wall. The worst, in my opinion, are those who have not been a member and sign up to post once their opinion that is clearly meant to offend and start a fight and they never post here again.

I want to be clear about your last statement. We as active members will NEVER stab a member in the back nor is there a secret club of us that put others down. We might not agree but we are professional and respect each others views. This is the best welding forum on the web and I can say that in all honesty. I am a member of almost all other welding forums and post on them on occasion. The love and respect found here is second to none. As Steve S says it is like a backyard BBQ. This goes to everyone who reads this, NEVER be afraid to post a question no matter how many times we might have answered it, how "stupid" you think it is or even send us a Private Message. Collectively we can usually answer every question in time. It amazes me how quickly questions are answered. There are times I will read a new question and go about my day thinking of the correct answer for them or looking up the answer and come back to find multiple posts where someone has beat me to it. There are also questions that are asked that I have no clue how to answer or am unfamilar with the machine or process yet eventually someone answers it. Hope this helps.
-Jonathan

[GreinTime]

Trolling is one of my favorite hobbies. Except I do it in real life instead of on the welding forum

[Blue Diver]

Touche' Grientime and thank you Jonathon for the well thought out explanation. Not being a big forum guy, I have never really thought about the situations that may come up and I probably would have eventually done one or two things wrong myself so its all good to know.

[Otto Nobedder]

Jonathan has summed it up very nicely.

Some people use forums like this for commercial purposes, personal agendae, or to skirt the rule of law.

We have a great neighborhood here, and we tend to protect it.

No offense is meant to anyone; That's not how we do things. However, we will defend our little corner of the internet, so if your post is questionable or your motive unclear, you will be questioned. If your motives are in line with our purpose, I'll apologize for any inconvenience or offence.

I suppose it's a bit like a "homeowner's association"...

Steve S

[jwright650]

I ran into a situation one time that made me think twice about using SS#'s on welding certifications. I have qualified/certified literally thousands of individuals during my previous employment.

One day I was called into the field to review a problem that was associated with our shop's work and here I stood in the job trailer waiting for someone to come show me around and I see a stack of my guy's welding certs spread out all over this desk in front of me where anyone could copy them down and use the name/SS# for purposes other than intended.

So before I sent out a welding submittal package to those GC's, I revised our welder's ID to be 3 initials and last 4 digits of the SS# to try to keep my guy's info a little more secure.

[jwright650]

We have a great neighborhood here, and we tend to protect it.

No offense is meant to anyone; That's not how we do things. However, we will defend our little corner of the internet,"...

Steve S

I hear ya man...I'm a moderator on another welding forum so I understand completely.