New to Mamapedia

A very wise woman drew my attention to the need to read the member profile & previous ?s/posts before answering questions....a very, very wise recommendation!

& I think the most important element of this forum is honesty. You have to be able to give & take it!

Welcome....

Be polite, be honest, and don't hesitate to take the great advice others give, ignore the ones that are not productive...like anywhere online or off line, there will always be people who don't get along

.

S.:

Welcome to Mamapedia!

I'm not sure if there are cliques or not...I've been on mamapedia for 3 years or so - since it was Mamasource....

There are a lot of people who do NOT tolerate politics.

Hot subjects are usually:
breast feeding vs. formula feeding
politics
sahm vs working mom

If you have your own business, such as Avon or Mary Kay or something else - you cannot post a question saying "are you interested in xyz?" If I ask a question about make up or whatever you sell, then you may give a link to your web page.

When you ask a question insure that you give as much information as possible..so that responders can give you a better response...

This is a public forum - you will get responses that you love, like and don't like...so you might need to have thick skin. Some people can be mean. I am BLUNT about my feelings. If I hurt or offend you, please PM (that is a personal message) by clicking on my name and it will say "send personal message".

Welcome again!!

Aww we won't help you, just kidding.

Okay you can't give flowers for the question though I had a question about whether people would like it and apparently everyone thinks we should be able to give the question a flower. I give flowers to answers I agree with or like. I am not sure how long I have been on here but I think I have reported three people. All of them were advertising their businesses which is against the rules.

I don't really think there are people you should avoid. See I could tell you avoid this person but they may actually be someone you agree with, ya know?

Oh if you think you are pregnant, just pee on a stick. That question is a head scratcher. :)

Politics can get heated, oh and breast feeding.

Welcome! I wouldn't say there are cliques, but you will have your favorites...I have mine! :) It's highly addicting and wonderful!!! PLEASE be generous with flowers, they are appreciated!

S.!!! For the love of life! Run while you still can! It just takes once, and then you could get HOOKED!!!

((Oh the days before mamapedia! When I checked my e-mail and then turned off my computer!!! There's no going back NOW!))

HA HA HA. Just kidding (kind of).

For me, our differing backgrounds and perspectives are useful. I don't always like or agree with what I read, but I'm glad I get to *choose* to read it. There is often a chance for connection and conversation. I really appreciate the women on this site. Some have been more helpful than they know. It's neat to watch people grow and change and become more themselves. We've gotten to "see" many of our own marry, have babies, divorce, grieve, celebrate. To me, that's pretty special. Especially since *most* of us have never met in person.

Sure, there are tense moments...but those are opportunities too. I've gotten to hear voices that I otherwise wouldn't. If I were at the park, for example, I might not ever talk to someone who HERE I get to hear from. Thus, I've read intimate and real experiences, from folks I otherwise wouldn't know. It helps me understand where folks are coming from better, and to see our human-ess.

Also helps me look at myself in the mirror and remember what's important to me. And to remember funny/hard/beautiful memories that otherwise get swept away in the day-to-day. AND I learn some fantastic tips (want to know how to get rid of cat urine smell...I KNOW HOW!!)

Ha ha ha, I probably take it all a bit too seriously ;-)

Welcome!! It's actually quite a ball, even when we are tense and disagree.

Welocme! We answer how we see it.

I haven't used other sites, I've been happy w/the mamas! Generally no topic is off limits, but we try to stay on mom subjects and avoid politics as that just gets out of hand very quickly and really, this is a mom/parent-advice site, not a political soapbox site.

I only flag someone when they are really harsh and horrible to someone. Disagreeing is totally fine, even getting angry while disagreeing, but insulting someone personally is something I'll flag.

I'll flag a question if it seems like it's being asked to deliberately trash or be nasty. One thing you can do to "check" if a question is real (if it seems too strange) is to click the question-asker's name and see what else they've asked. A "real" person and not a troll will usually have a question history, so even if their question seems odd, you can be more comfortable knowing they've asked honest questions.

Give flowers for stuff you like, agree with, etc. I have no idea about cliques - you do see some people often and get to "know" them by their answers, but it's not like we "hang out" :)

If a poster says something really meaningful or cool, I send them a private message. I do wish we could do flowers for the questioner.

You can't really "avoid" a person, but you don't really need to. And if someone is awful to you - sending obnoxious personal messages, you can report them and I think they get blocked.

Enjoy the site! I do :)

It's true it can get heated, but I used to be on cafe mom and I switched here because at cafe mom I was being yelled at for being naive when it came to breastfeeding. Here people are very helpful.
It's also true that there are cliques, but we are all friendly towards one another (most of the time). There is a lot of honesty and bluntness. Get used to it and you will get a lot out of this group.
Another topic to avoid is circumcision or not. That one you can just go do your research and decide for yourself. It can get HEATED big time.
There are some mom's on here that start arguments just to start one and create drama. Ignore them. You'll figure out who those are.
Ummm Just be honest and don't get offended if someone is blunt or honest. Remember that this is a PUBLIC forum and so if you ask on here, you will get a multitude of answers.
WELCOME!!
***Also don't bring up peanut allergies and kids having a peanut free school. MAN! That was one awful day here.

Compared to CafeMom.com, we are all like Sunday School teachers here!

tehehe

Welcome!

:)

Welcome!
The site is great and very addictive!
You will quickly figure out who the drama queens are.

hello and welcome, this is a great site, informative questions, honest answers. Everyone on this site has something in common, we are all parents. Just being part of this site makes you a SuperMom, you might be inspired by lots of questions and answers, you might also inspire a lot of people. It takes an intelligent person to be open minded and respect the person who agrees or disagrees with you. Welcome and please share your experiences and please share your wisdom. "We don't see things how they are, we see things how we are"

Welcome!

Dawn did a great job and yes, if you like an answer give it away.. The search engine on mamapedia is cumbersome.. so if you ask a question we may send you a link from another mom that asked the same question earlier so we do not have to retype it for you..

Keep in mind it is hard t read and get the correct emotion on some of the posts.. Some moms get defensive when there is nothing to be defensive about and was not intended. So do not be surprised if someone takes your answer wrong, but on the other side, try to read the suggestions to you without thinking they are beating you up.

Remember to offer your advice. It takes a village.

Dawn B. explained it very well. Pretty much, it is what you make it. It's great to know you can offer advice as well as receive it. You will notice people from all walks of life, which is great because everyone has something different to offer, so you can learn a lot. Yes, there are definitely people that are a little ridiculous, but you'll see who they are. The search window is rarely helpful. Oh, and JFF stands for "just for fun."

Welcome!

Welcome and i second (or third) the highly addictiveness, consider yourself warned.

My suggestion/plea is that you give an indication of what your post is about in your subject line. If you just put "Advice needed" i don't know to skip over yet another --I might be pregnant --question or to take the time to open and read if you need advice with a book recommendation for your fourth grader which i would so love to answer. I'm busy and waste far more time on here than I should but knowing the subject lets me know ahead of time if i might have something to offer. So if your question is "Could i be pregnant?" put that in your subject. If you question is "Can anyone recommend a good chapter book for my fourth grade son" put that in the title and then go on to explain what types of books he has liked in the past and if he struggles to read or loves it.
HTH you and everyone else

have fun!

I've been on this site before it even became mamapedia.
People come and people go.
I personally find there are far fewer rude people than mom's that get their feathers ruffled if they aren't agreed with.
As far as flowers, sometimes I give them when the person wrote basically what I would have said myself, or, I absolutely agreed with their opinion. You don't have to give flowers at all, if you don't want to.
There are vaied scenarios and questions posted.
Some are too long and involved for me to try to sort it all out.

This really is a great site though.
The number 1 thing, in my opinion, is not to get offended if people give you advice you don't want to hear. I don't think people should get reported for that. You have to know that you are opening yourself to the opinions and advce of others and you can get a really mixed bag.

Best wishes.

All the answers posted to your question are really good. One more piece of advice: watch out for the trolls! I had no idea what a troll was until one night I logged on and there were all these crazy posts and then posts about those posts and I was trying to figure out what the H*$% had happened that got everyone all upset. Then almost all the questionable posts got deleted. I finally learned about trolls - kids or other people who get on here and ask really weird questions / submit mean answers to get everyone all riled up. That is why looking at the person's profile before answering is important. Anyhow enjoy the site! I have certainly received some great advice here and always appreciate and respect everyone's input. Also remember to search if you have a question - chances are the question has already been asked and answered. WELCOME!

Hi S.! Welcome. I have a love/hate relationship with this site. I was so excited when I first learned of this site ...as a new mom, at the time i was very disconnected from many of the friends and people I thought would be my support network, and it was so helpful to have this site to go to for random questions, support and especially information. And you get answers quickly too! Things I love about this site: not only endless, useful information right at your finger tips but also personal experiences that are more varied than one is likely to get from one's own network of mothers. Also reading other women's experiences and sometimes being able to say, "OMG! That really happened to you?" And other times being able to say, "I guess I am not alone in this one at all, like I thought." I love all the mamas on here who are caring and supportive and actually take time out of their day or night to help, share and connect with you. They make up the majority of the posters, thankfully.

But not long after joining I started realizing that there always seems to be someone who gets off on flapping hers gums in unsavory ways. I have been so offended at times, mostly for others as i haven't posted many questions, especially for the poor insecure first time moms who get picked on from time to time. I realized that unless you are 100% secure in what you are talking about (and let's face it you probably wouldn't be posting here if you were) then you cannot post anything that leaves you vulnerable. Which is too bad. Like other mamas warn, you need to have thick skin. Now mind you I'm not talking about people disagreeing with you, although sometimes that can be hard to hear, but I'm talking about people who don't have much consideration for your feelings and are very judgmental and nasty.

At least once I have "taken the bait" and gotten into online arguments - how corny! Then I realized that is so not why I'm here or why most people are so better to just ignore it. Keep the questions vanilla. I've found that the majority of questions I'd want to post have already been answered many times. For all it's worth Mamapedia can be a great companion on a lonely night.
Hope to hear from you soon!

Welcome :). Avoid anyone you don't agree with - LOL. It is easy to read advice of others who see things from a different perspective and get all heated. Just take everything with a grain of salt and you'll get the best advice ever here!

Hello, I don't know anything about cliques. I just read the posts and answer the ones where I feel I have something to offer. I have only gotten one response to my advice where I was shocked. I just ignored it. The other ones have sometimes written back to thank me and/or I have gotten flowers. I have a bunch. It 's nice to know I may have helped. Anyway, I hope you have a good experience.
K. K.

Welcome!! You will gain your own unique experience.
B. k