Redditor asking why people on bitcointalk sound so dumb. What is your theory?

[Elwar]

One of the responses in this thread on reddit lead a newbie to bitcointalk. His reaction:

I've just started reading a lot of bitcointalk to expand my knowledge but I swear, most users in there sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries. Not that I have anything against that, but is that accurate or is there some kind of inside joke language used on the site?

What are your thoughts on why there is such a reaction?






#: I am self-moderating this thread because most threads end up getting spammed by people that sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries that add nothing of value.

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[prometheum]

It could genuinely be a language barrier issue, but probably more so the fact that as the popularity of cryptos increase then so do the different types of people that start expressing interest.

[HeRetiK]

I guess because many Bitcointalk users are teenagers from non-English speaking countries? Well, actually you don't even have to be that young to sound like a teenager if English isn't your native tongue. Bitcointalk is pretty diverse after all.

Also it probably doesn't help that some of the boards are riddled with account farmers and would-be scammers asking for handouts.

[Elwar]

I guess because many Bitcointalk users are teenagers from non-English speaking countries? Well, actually you don't even have to be that young to sound like a teenager if English isn't your native tongue. Bitcointalk is pretty diverse after all.

Also it probably doesn't help that some of the boards are riddled with account farmers and would-be scammers asking for handouts.

I suspect this is most of it.

When merely posting is a paid commodity where quantity is valued and quality has no value then the overwhelming trend will be toward less quality and more quantity.

[hilariousetc]

One of the responses in this thread on reddit lead a newbie to bitcointalk. His reaction:

I've just started reading a lot of bitcointalk to expand my knowledge but I swear, most users in there sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries. Not that I have anything against that, but is that accurate or is there some kind of inside joke language used on the site?

Well that's because they essentially are. Because you can earn quite a bit of money on bitcointalk very easily via signature campaigns this makes it very attractive to people from poorer developing nations and a lot of the time they can't speak very good English. If that wasn't bad enough many of them then get greedy and lazy and churn out as many posts as they can over dozens of accounts to maximise earnings which makes their content even worse. Also, once they realise they can earn a decent amount of money just from posting they boast or tell all their friends and family and they tell all their friends and family and the problem is exacerbated tenfold daily. Dozens of ICO campaigns pop up here every month and because they don't run their campaigns properly they will happily pay out for any posts regardless of content or quality and this is quickly abused and taken advantage of by shitposters and farmers. Just to give you an idea of how ridiculous it can get one user alone was caught with 200 accounts regurgitating responses one after the other and he was paid by several different campaigns for the behaviour: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1912475.0

[Jet Cash]

Well leaving aside the language question - Bitcoin is multi-national, and this board has to be able to support that.

One problem with Bitcoin at the moment seems to be the fact that many people seem to consider it to be a source of income rather than a form of payment or a store of wealth. Until Bitcoin can distance itself from faucets, penny gambling sites, and various other petty scams, then you will get low quality posters promoting such things. I'm not sure I can suggest a solution though.

[Elwar]

Easy solution? Get rid of signatures and make a forum policy against advertising.

Though it would result in a drop in traffic from these zombies so it would lose money for bitcointalk.

[BitHodler]

Easy solution? Get rid of signatures and make a forum policy against advertising.

Though it would result in a drop in traffic from these zombies so it would lose money for bitcointalk.

It seems that entirely removing signatures is the only proper way of dealing with the sheer volume of nonsense, but obviously, this isn't something that theymos is even considering.

If we look at the majority of the spam nowadays, then it's without a doubt coming from the altcoin/ico side. It's insane how it has evolved into a massive spam problem.

Since I am not active in the altcoin section, I am not sure how heavily that section is being moderated in terms of campaigns and spam, but it doesn't seem to help at all, and that definitely needs to change.

Maybe as a test, and at the same time an attempt to reduce the spam, this forum could start with forbidding any campaign that is altcoin and ico related. If they want to advertise, let them buy auction slots.

[HeRetiK]

One problem with Bitcoin at the moment seems to be the fact that many people seem to consider it to be a source of income rather than a form of payment or a store of wealth. Until Bitcoin can distance itself from faucets, penny gambling sites, and various other petty scams, then you will get low quality posters promoting such things. I'm not sure I can suggest a solution though.

I actually see people considering Bitcoin as a source of income as a net positive. The way they earn it is misguided, but I'm afraid that's more or less a reflection of "services" that pay most for people with little to no expertise.

If we look at the majority of the spam nowadays, then it's without a doubt coming from the altcoin/ico side. It's insane how it has evolved into a massive spam problem.

The "get rich quick" mentality seems to be very strong on those boards, which limits the amount of meaningful conversation. I remember that it used to be at least somewhat about finding solutions to problems that Bitcoin has, at least until the creation of new alt coins reached comical levels. Now there's little to no interest in innovation, just people shilling their own favourite alts and ICOs over and over again. I think not even getting rid of signature campaigns could solve that, because people will try to pump (or at least defend) their own investments no matter what.

[audaciousbeing]

One of the responses in this thread on reddit lead a newbie to bitcointalk. His reaction:

I've just started reading a lot of bitcointalk to expand my knowledge but I swear, most users in there sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries. Not that I have anything against that, but is that accurate or is there some kind of inside joke language used on the site?

What are your thoughts on why there is such a reaction?






#: I am self-moderating this thread because most threads end up getting spammed by people that sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries that add nothing of value.

Every one is entitled to his opinion to judge but I wont say he is totally wrong or totally right  because even respected members of the forum have equally share the same thought and thats why its recommended for one to stay in his language section if you cannot communicate in proper English. However, generalizing it is somewhat wrong because we have several people who are advanced in age with some even have kids that are teenagers on the forum and communicate effectively. In all, I would say the exposure he got based on the few posts he saw made him conclude that way because he was not around long enough to see otherwise.

[Jet Cash]

Well I'm 75, and I'm English born of English parents. You will recall that England has a tenuous relationship with english.

[Elwar]

One of the responses in this thread on reddit lead a newbie to bitcointalk. His reaction:

I've just started reading a lot of bitcointalk to expand my knowledge but I swear, most users in there sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries. Not that I have anything against that, but is that accurate or is there some kind of inside joke language used on the site?

What are your thoughts on why there is such a reaction?






#: I am self-moderating this thread because most threads end up getting spammed by people that sound like teenagers from non-English speaking countries that add nothing of value.

Every one is entitled to his opinion to judge but I wont say he is totally wrong or totally right  because even respected members of the forum have equally share the same thought and thats why its recommended for one to stay in his language section if you cannot communicate in proper English. However, generalizing it is somewhat wrong because we have several people who are advanced in age with some even have kids that are teenagers on the forum and communicate effectively. In all, I would say the exposure he got based on the few posts he saw made him conclude that way because he was not around long enough to see otherwise.

As someone who has been here long enough, almost every thread turns to shit after about 5 posts. It is then just the same things repeated for 20 pages.

I have locked several of my own threads because the answer to my question was given within the first page, only to be repeated over and over and over by anyone and everyone with signature links.