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Why should forum experts work for free?

Engaged ,
Jan 04, 2014 Jan 04, 2014

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If you click the Help link in most Adobe programs you're directed to a website which contains the image shown below.

It makes the people who answer questions on this forum look like paid Adobe employees.

It's very nice that Adobe thinks so highly of these people. Personally I have benefitted many times from their patient, informed advice.

But it seems Adobe has taken advantage of this goodwill, using it as an opportunity to cut costs by scaling down its  technical support.

Wouldn't it be interesting if all the people who answered questions on these forums picked one day to go on strike, just to show Adobe how imporant they are?

I'm sure Adobe wouldn't suddenly decide to start paying people, but it might feel the need to improve its support to users. All we need to do is pick a day and spread this discussion to other forums.

adobeforums.png

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Community Expert ,
Jan 05, 2014 Jan 05, 2014

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I tend to agree... I don't like the fact that Adobe is charging $39 for any technical issue and when people don't want to pay it just directs them over to the forums, or that they publicize the forums as somewhere where "staff and experts" can help you out, when in fact it's only (OK, 99%) volunteer-experts who answer questions here.

Adobe are having their cake and eating it at the same time... They are benefiting from people who spend their time helping out for free, while at the same time cutting back on their expenses on technical support (which is lousy at any rate) and charging for help with even the most simple technical issues (which I personally find outrageous).

However, I don't think a "strike" of a single day will make any difference. Maybe a week or two will build pressure on the Adobe help lines and make the higher-ups realize that the experts should be compensated for their efforts, one way or another.

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LEGEND ,
Jan 05, 2014 Jan 05, 2014

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Only paid workers can "strike". 

A short-term boycott of the forums would have no reaction from Adobe.  A longer one would give the beancounters an excuse to shut the forums permanently.

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LEGEND ,
Jan 05, 2014 Jan 05, 2014

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And replace it by an efficient customer service costing good money?

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LEGEND ,
Jan 06, 2014 Jan 06, 2014

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Station_Two,

A longer one would give the beancounters an excuse to shut the forums permanently.

I feel that you are correct. The Adobe Forum Staff has to continue to fight for these forums, and expend a good deal of effort to gather data, to support their contention that Adobe gets back, far more than it pays out, regarding the forums.

That is one reason that the "Correct," "Helpful," etc. are important - that is part of the data used for justification to the folk up in the "ivory tower."

Hunt

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LEGEND ,
Jan 06, 2014 Jan 06, 2014

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Bill,

It seems to me that the folk you mention are so high in their tower that they fail to realise that these forums are a free and most efficient replacement for their lousy paid service. And maybe they don't even know that they are wasting the money they spend in  service given by people who don't understand English and cannot speak it understandably.

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Guest
Jan 06, 2014 Jan 06, 2014

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Bill Hunt wrote:

That is one reason that the "Correct," "Helpful," etc. are important - that is part of the data used for justification to the folk up in the "ivory tower."

Bill,

If the above is the case the bean counters should be made aware that any answer maked "helpful" or "correct" is becoming endangered, at least in what I see.  6 months ago I could get points couple of times a week, now it is about twice a month.  I am posting about the same amount.  Not sure why the reason but as usual have thoughts.

The new Forum greeting page has changed, and more users are using e-mail for responses.  In this mode they either do not have the option to mark "correct" or "helpful", or are just more ungrateful.  I do get a lot of "thank you" notes, however.  But that does not look the same to bean counters.

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LEGEND ,
Jan 06, 2014 Jan 06, 2014

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Curt,

I see the same thing myself. I have a little blurb that I post, when someone has been helped, and by whomever, that mentions the need for those markings - far beyond what any of us directly get, in the way of points - it could affect the Adobe Forums at a very deep level. I always want to provide the Adobe Forum Team with the greatest amount of data, to work with.

Lately, I have probably only seen 1:500 posts getting marked.

It's gotten so bad that one "regular" on a product forum, has added a sig, to the effect of "If someone has helped you with your problem, or answered your question - please mark the posts as Helpful, or Correct." Not sure that anyone reads that - other than me.

For all that you do on the Ps Forum, I would expect you to be getting many points per DAY!

Maybe more of us should take Neale H's tack, and add such a sig.?

Hunt

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Guest
Jan 07, 2014 Jan 07, 2014

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Yes, for a while I added "Hope this has been helpful" to my response.  No one clicked helpful even when they said "it is now working, thanks".

Do you, or someome that uses e-mail,   know if the e-mail OP sees "correct" and "helpful" on each response they see? 

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LEGEND ,
Jan 07, 2014 Jan 07, 2014

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Curt,

I have never accessed the forums, except via a Web browser, so I cannot say. Others, with other devices and providers, will be able to help.

Hunt

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LEGEND ,
Jan 09, 2014 Jan 09, 2014

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While the points are fun and Adobe enjoys the support received from the Forums, I've never enjoyed learning as much in conventional ways (college, books, tutorials, videos).

The points used to be a bit of a game but now it's become more about the research. I often only deal with questions I actually have to research before answering, because I'll learn from it myself.

Sure, there's the easy one-off response questions everyone jumps to answer quickly. But I can't be the only one that finds it oddly fun and challenging to snipe a correct on a question you couldn't answer before you read it.

Overall I do agree it's an additional chore to get a point after even pages of useful responses to an inevitable solution. I just hope I don't see a new moderator flag added to request an answer marked as correct or it'll get so jammed up we'll all quit .

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LEGEND ,
Jan 10, 2014 Jan 10, 2014

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Sinious,

I am with you. I tire of the same installation, or download questions, and just let others have those.

I'd much rather field a question, where I have to fire up Ps, AI, PrPro, or another program, and work on the answer. Lots more fun to me.

Hunt

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People's Champ ,
Jan 11, 2014 Jan 11, 2014

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I have to admit that I actually troll the forums for questions I do not know the answer to, just to figure them out, or failing that, learning from the answer.

By the way, speaking of working for free, is it really the moderators who approve new avatars? Just any moderator? Or certain ones? Or is it actually just Staff?

And shouldn't they give moderators a slightly different logo from the "MVP". Maybe a little "MOD" to show who is who?

-- Steven

http://www.stevengotz.com

If someone has helped you with your problem, or answered your question - please mark their post as Helpful, or Correct.

artofzootography.com

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Mentor ,
Jan 11, 2014 Jan 11, 2014

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I hope you are not a Troll. I have a very dim view of anyone trolling. Perhaps you meant another term. To me people that troll are equivalent terrorist, ax murderers, and people that commit treason. That should either be shot by firing squad, put death in electric chair, given a one way ticket to the sun or put in prison the rest of their natural and unantural life to be put on chain gang breaking big rocks into little rocks.

Te term you should be using is Lurking or Lurkers which means you just read and not posting, just sitting in the background.

A Troll is equal to the devil himslf, or if you’re a Kilingon "Fecklar".

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LEGEND ,
Jan 11, 2014 Jan 11, 2014

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A little rash response Phillip, I think we all know Steven meant he reads the forums and hand picks what he's going to respond to.

To my knowledge moderators are global and can handle reports and avatars across the entire forum. I thought I'd have to reject more pictures for a variety of reasons you can imagine but I'm happy to say I've only rejected 2 and I approve about a couple dozen every time I log in for a while. People are quite professional and it's nice to see.

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People's Champ ,
Jan 11, 2014 Jan 11, 2014

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To my knowledge moderators are global and can handle reports and avatars across the entire forum.

Maybe you can explain why when I put up a new picture and a new avatar, the picture gets approved the same day, but the avatar often takes days?

artofzootography.com

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New Here ,
Jan 12, 2014 Jan 12, 2014

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Maybe you can explain why when I put up a new picture and a new avatar, the picture gets approved the same day, but the avatar often takes days?

Because you are a gorilla and we Somalis don't believe that Gorillas can write well despite sharing 99% of human genes.

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People's Champ ,
Jan 12, 2014 Jan 12, 2014

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Because you are a gorilla ..

Ah, but you see, I am trying to change and become a simple flower.

artofzootography.com

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Community Expert ,
Jan 11, 2014 Jan 11, 2014

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sinious,

As far as I know, moderators may moderate any number of forums, from one to all.

I believe the term MVP (Most Vehemently Punished) was meant as a simplification, covering quite a few groups.

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New Here ,
Jan 12, 2014 Jan 12, 2014

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I believe the term MVP (Most Vehemently Punished) was meant as a simplification,

Actually Most Valuable Pirate and I am one such pirate.

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People's Champ ,
Jan 11, 2014 Jan 11, 2014

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Troll:

verb

1. To fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat.

"we trolled for mackerel"

1. carefully and systematically search an area for something.

"a group of companies trolling for partnership opportunities"

Sorry, I meany one of those, not this one:

"To submit a deliberately provocative posting to an online message board with the aim of inciting an angry response."

I meant I read forums for the purpose of learning, as much or more than for helping. If I can find something interesting to learn, and it helps someone else, that is just icing on the cake.

artofzootography.com

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New Here ,
Jan 12, 2014 Jan 12, 2014

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Phillip Jones wrote:

That should either be shot by firing squad, put death in electric chair, given a one way ticket to the sun or put in prison the rest of their natural and unantural life to be put on chain gang breaking big rocks into little rocks.

Send them over to us in the Indian Ocean.  We can look after them.  Our speciality is to deal with infidels and kafirs.  You can now outsource such work to us and we can do good business.  No need to work for free for Adobe when you can make money killing people and selling their body parts.

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People's Champ ,
Jan 14, 2014 Jan 14, 2014

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LATEST

I was scolded for using a sig. Apparently some moderators object to them and delete them.

http://forums.adobe.com/message/6012506#6012506

artofzootography.com

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