Being nice is a form of encouragement. You would want to create a virtuous cycle where newbie benefits and contributes back in return, not one where the first reply is a slap to their face. We are dealing with people here. It doesn't matter even if the suggestion to google or whatever is technically correct, they are turned off already. Carrot comes first, stick only follows if carrot doesn't work. And being nice is not even a carrot. Forums are open, voluntary spaces. Who the heck wants to get sticks all the time?
Agree to a certain extent.
Though I have reservations since there have been encounters of people who are really not trying to be funny, but have a "Feed Me!" sign plastered on their foreheads. I'm sure you've seen it before -
A: Hi everyone! I'm new here and new to photography. Anyone can recommend me a camera?
M1: Hi there, you can look at A, B and C. These are entry level DSLRs and are more affordable. You can also look at dpreview.com.
A: Oh thanks. What is the difference between A, B and C?
M1: Oh, they are just different brands. You will have to read up on the various systems and each of them have their own range of lenses, etc. For example, A has in-body stabilization while B prefers to implement stabilization in-lens.
A: Oh, I read up and I see that A got 12 megapixels, B got 14 megapixels and C got 16 megapixels. What are megapixels huh? Is there a place which can compare all these 3 cameras straight off for me? I don't know what to buy still leh hee hee.
M2: You can try it at the shops perhaps? Get a feel of which one you like and go from there. Think you can go to dpreview that M1 had mentioned earlier, and refer to the sticky [link] for the shops..
A: Oh, what is the number for Cathay Photo, Orient Photo and TK Foto??? Which shop is the best???
etc etc etc
I'm really not sure what to think of these. On one hand, they seem to be really interested and are not trying to be funny... Yet, they don't seem to be interested since they can't be bothered to seek out information that is readily available and simply rely on CS as a helpdesk. I guess it really depends on your personal level of tolerance. The best thing to do is probably to walk away (if you feel slightly exasperated) and leave other members to take turns to handle their queries? At the same time, is it right to encourage this mentality by keeping silent wrt your own observations? Would like to hear your views on this.