FAQ Board

[Space Samurai]

(shrug) I think the puerh thread is getting a little snooty. And of course our other discussion concerning Oni and Britt.

[Victoria]

Yeah, I saw that. But it's an easy thing to do when your cause is an underdog and you have a triumph. I felt that with my promotion of oolongs. Once oolongs really did start to take off again and sweep ALL (lol) the polls, I sensed it was time to sort of enjoy the victory and not play it too much further.

Chip and I always had that Green is Best/Oolong is Best rivalry going and although I think it was accepted and even expected - we both knew we were just kidding. And I think we both hoped everyone else did too. We hoped that the spirit of the levity created by the mock rivalry would create a more fun and lively atmosphere. And although it seems I'm rambling, I am coming to a point. That is now I am sensing an increased sensitivity to "tea snobbishness" for lack of a better term. Treazure with her humorous but pointed jabs at this subject, in my opinion, is actually accentuating the problem. It is one thing to have a subtle perception that a situation exists and quite another to have it pointed out.

[Geekgirl]

Interesting conversation.

One problem with a forum like this is that MOST participants will be enthusiasts that go FAR beyond the normal "oh look! this store has LOOSE LEAF TEA! How quaint!" So where do you draw the line between enthusiasm and snobbery? Is it attitude? Then how, on a discussion board, do you qualify that?

I'm not saying I disagree with any of what has been said here. I believe that the minute someone starts saying "this is the RIGHT way to do this, YOUR way is DUMB," the line has been crossed. But is the line equally crossed if someone says "Check out my Lipton bags in my EasyBrew Giant Mug, suckas!"?

My personal opinion is that the line is crossed when controversy arises that stops conversation. If someone says (or insinuates) "THAT subject has been discussed already, we are so far beyond your level," that is tea snobbery. If someone suggests that if you are not spending exorbitant amounts of money on "authentic" teawares, or buying ceremonial grade teas, you are not a "true tea lover," that's snobbery.

The kind of joking around we've seen, friendly rivalry, is not the same at all, because Chip would never disdain oolong, and Victoria doesn't refuse green tea, just because they have a "side."

I have no idea what the solution is, but this IS a moderated board, we ARE subject to "censorship," and I personally would not object to it being stepped up a bit before this board slides into incessant squabbling and competitive snobbery.

[Salsero]

before this board slides into incessant squabbling and competitive snobbery.

Do I hear you right? You think there is a current risk of sliding that way?

[Geekgirl]

It seems in the last few days there has been more than a little, how shall I put it, "classism" regarding tea. Yes, I think there is a current risk. Over the last few days, I've been saying "WTF?" quite a few times as I read through certain threads.

Most of the *ssh*ttery has been ignored, but it only takes one person to take it a little too far, and another who gets their feelings hurt, to turn things into a battleground. While that potential exists on a low level in the online world at all times, it seems to be running a bit higher around here at the moment.

Maybe I'm making (potential) mountains out of molehills.

[Space Samurai]

I think what you both said is interesting, and lets not forget the the quite possible possibility that I am simply being too sensitive.

It always bugged me when Mary spoke of the complaints she received during green tea's hey day, and yet when oolong was big and now pu, no one seemed to cared.

I see now that this is a bit silly on my part.

While there is a potential for them to become snobbish, they probably haven't done anything worse than we did in our time.

Oni is still an odd little asshole, though.

Geekgirl, I think you're right. Its a fine line between passion and snobbery.

[Victoria]

I think my - "now I am sensing an increased sensitivity to "tea snobbishness" for lack of a better term" equates to Geek's - "It seems in the last few days there has been more than a little, how shall I put it, "classism" regarding tea."

We both are sensing something, as are you Space.
Maybe it is just Oni building his molehill.

[ABx]

I think that the problem is that while joking can be obvious to people that have been around a while and know the players involved, newcommers can't necessarily tell. I think the games go a little far sometimes, and it would be nice to see more of a "tea is good, let us help you no matter what your tastes" without even joking about "my tea is better" while helping them. How are newcommers supposed to know that apparent in-groups and out-groups are only joking around?

I also view tea as the Chinese tea culture: a humble but refined drink and ritual that is used to cross social and socio-economic barriers. Everyone involved drinks and appreciates the tea, and it's used as a social equalizer to give everyone common ground. So even the richest and poorest man/woman can share and appreciate the same tea and be on equal ground, as a way to put aside prejudices and personal judgements so that everyone can enjoy each other's company without differences getting in the way. Using tea to create artificial differences just goes against that.

The green tea thing really did go too far. I know that there were newbies that got driven away for not drinking the "right" tea. The people that did that may have been joking, but the newbies didn't know that and they came to discuss their passion. I spoke to one individual that will never return to the forum because someone said to him: "You just don't understand (zen/tao/something), otherwise you'd drink green tea" when he, in fact, had a very thorough understanding of the subject.

And yes, the same thing happened with oolong. I don't know who or when, but someone new got turned off when they discovered Tie Luo Han and asked how it should turn out in the chat, only to be snubbed and called a noob.

Joking around can be fun and create a friendly atmosphere, but I think we have to be careful to keep it in context. When we state things light-heartedly, knowing better as experienced tea drinkers, it will be taken literally to people that don't know better and know us and our personalities, and that can result in misinformation at best and hurt feelings at worst. It also has the potential to feed those people with an overly aggressive personality with ammo if they actually feel the way that the joke pretends to.

[ABx]

As to the original subject, though, I think a FAQ board would actually be a good idea It could at least give people the basic info, and then they could start new threads on the finer points. I'm thinking that the FAQ would probably just give surface information, so there would still be plenty of opportunity (and need) for more in-depth discussions.

[hop_goblin]

As to the original subject, though, I think a FAQ board would actually be a good idea It could at least give people the basic info, and then they could start new threads on the finer points. I'm thinking that the FAQ would probably just give surface information, so there would still be plenty of opportunity (and need) for more in-depth discussions.

I say giving Chip more work is always pleasing!

[ABx]

As to the original subject, though, I think a FAQ board would actually be a good idea It could at least give people the basic info, and then they could start new threads on the finer points. I'm thinking that the FAQ would probably just give surface information, so there would still be plenty of opportunity (and need) for more in-depth discussions.

I say giving Chip more work is always pleasing!

Ah, you make a convincing argument. You're right, chip should write an extremely thorough FAQ to cover all possible newbie questions. It's only fair

[Space Samurai]

While we are at it, one might think of including stuff like how to post pictures. I've seen new members have problems with that from time to time.

[Proinsias]

I think an faq would be a good idea, other boards I'm on have them and they are useful.

I'm quite happy to entertain n00b questions on occasion if they have some sort of substance in their post. It would be nice to offer my advice and add a link to a general consensus faq article, to include some lesser opinions on the matter from some tea snobs. On the other hand if someone posts a question with no context which I'd usually ignore I could gently point them towards the relevant part of the faq without feeling I've wasted time on someone who can't be bother putting together a post.

To, slightly, contradict my opening comment; I don't really see the point in keeping chip from his sencha to design an faq when wikicha is already up, running and has some damn nice pics. Surely it would be easier to build on what's already there than start afresh? possibly even a bare bones faq with links to wikicha although I'm not sure Adagio would be comfortable having an 'anyone can edit' webspace associated with them. Hmm, I seem to be going in circles.

I have seen some of Wyardley's run-in's with others but I think the pros outweigh the cons. He seems like a tea encyclopedia who might benefit from some private chat space.

[Proinsias]

You'll probably notice if you take the time to read my original post that this thread is not exclusively about high fire TKY. It's about my experiences with a few teas I've had lately. I respect your opinions and your tea expertise wyardly, but seriously, we have moderators, there's no need to be the forum police.

This made me smile.

[Chip]

This is not the first time wyardley has tried to police the forum in this manner and is one reason I would have voted no when we were discussing him previously. This latest attempt was more tactful than his last, but still ... touche Cheaton.

Back to the original discussion, FAQ's. The header topics currently under Pu-erh, and soon to be added to Green Tea could be used somewhat for this purpose. The Green Tea stickied header will likely roll out towards Sunday.

Since this is a forum, I like the idea of offering topics covering FAQ's versus singular answers. So, under green tea, there will be a header topic that will link to other topics in answer to FAQ's. As more FAQ's are brought up, they could be added to the header.

This is an experiment but worth a try.

This could be done for other forums as well.

Comments?