(Editor’s note: This month we are
presenting a guest column by AMA’s
technical director, Greg Hahn.)
hatever happened to the saying,
“If you have nothing good to say,
then say nothing at all”? I
remember growing up in Middle America
during the ’60s and hearing that very thing
often from my mother, trying to impress on
me that there’s no good in negative
reinforcement.
In small towns like mine, a small tidbit of
gossip would soon snowball into an
unending megastory fit for a Spielberg
blockbuster. The only positive about gossip
was that it had to be done by word of mouth
and often face to face, which promoted
social interaction.
In today’s Internet environment, gossip,
or what I like to call “pseudofacts,” can be
passed and discussed between people who
have never met and probably never will meet
face to face. With that in mind,
“pseudofacts” are not only bad but can
become downright dangerous.
The social interaction involved with
passing gossip gave it at least a small
amount of implied accountability.
Nowadays, without that feature, the sky’s
the limit. You never know what the person
you passed the “pseudofact” to might end up
doing with it. In the absence of that
accountability, things can get destructive in a
real hurry.
Much of what is written on the modeling
Web definitely fits into the category of
“pseudofact.” That may not be where it
starts, but 25 pages of posts later, the real
facts and issues have essentially
disappeared.
What began as a simple question posted
by a newcomer, or service bulletin posted by
a manufacturer, soon became the Stay Puft
marshmallow man, complete with scarf and
hat, towering over Gotham. Considering
how the modeling Web took the recent
manufacturing problems with both Spektrum
and Futaba FASST spread spectrum systems
and turned them into fairy tails of doom and
gloom, I’m surprised anyone is still willing
to commit a model to the air.
If a newcomer to our hobby were to log
on and read a few threads prior to either
purchasing equipment or flying for the first
time, he or she would probably end up going
fishing. If you were to read many of the
threads and accept them as fact, success in
this hobby would sound difficult at best and
often impossible.
If we are ever going to grow this hobby,
we need desperately to attract more young
people and keep them interested and focused
once they make the initial effort. It’s up to
experienced modelers to help promote
success in newcomers—not drown them in
negativity and gloom.
Editor Michael Ramsey
W
The “gotcha” attitude of many on the
Web nowadays needs to stop and stop now!
If everyone in the hobby understood just
how small of a speck we are in the real
world of manufacturing, they’d no doubt be
more careful when it comes to slamming the
manufacturers of hobby products and
blowing issues way out of proportion. Most
do not realize how easy it would be for
Futaba or JR to one day stop making
equipment for our hobby use.
The attitude we display and lack of
patience when problems arise is a great
burden on everyone involved. How much
will it take for Futaba, JR, Hobbico, or
Horizon to finally stop dealing with
hobbyists because it isn’t worth the hassle?
No one really knows where that point is, but
do we wish to test those waters?
I hope not; I happen to enjoy this hobby
and I know I’m not alone. Of course, it is
human nature to make sure the minority
ruins it for the majority!
Next time you’re on the Web and getting
ready to jump in on a thread, stop and think
about what you are doing; make sure you
consider the bigger picture. Are you helping
or hurting? Are you promoting or
aggravating? Are you sure you know what
you’re talking about? Do you really have
the facts? If you can’t instantly answer all
of those questions, then it’s best to leave
your 2¢ in your pocket.
As a reminder, there should be a header
at the top of every thread page that reads:
“If you have nothing else better to do, don’t
do it here!” MA
—Greg Hahn
The Inside Loop
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To Web crawlers and
other bottom feeders ...
6 MODEL AVIATION
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Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/04
Page Numbers: 6