Couple of months ago, in one thread a member asked me something like, "Will you take responsibility if OP follows your advice and <horrible result> happens?" It got me thinking. ILites give advice on topics such as: abusive husband, problem with a child, career dilemma, financial investments, doubts about vrats & prayer, TTC, pregnancy, breast-feeding, neighbor issues, education, immigration, travel and so on. Are we responsible for the results of an OP following our advice? What can "taking responsibility for the advice you post" mean in a forum like IL? .
As an adult, the OP is always responsible for what they do with suggestions ranging widely all the way from A to Z. Its the same thing as an adult in real life too, no different - unless its a professional consultation with a doc or lawyer or psych in real life. Then thats bound by code of the profession(al).
We assume the op is an adult ( since the problems are usually associated with grown up people)and knows this is an anonymous forum with people who are not professionally qualified. I personally have started refraining from advising if I feel the op is very immature or needs professional help rather than help from experienced strangers.
Rihana! This is an excellent meta-discussion to have given the severity of the some of things discussed in IL. In reality we are not responsible but we should respond as though we *are* in fact responsible - i.e. pay as much attention and care to the situation at hand. (sorry for stating the obvious). Reddit and stackoverflow forums: try to make people more responsible for what they post by having negative "rewards" - namely downvotes or negative scores. But this may backfire in a site like IL because the scheme: - may cause less folks to respond because of the "stress" involved in receiving an downvote or dislike from fellow members. - may cause folks to respond with "popular" or majority opinion in order to avoid receiving a downvote. I learn the most from some of the out-of-the-box answers which is what makes IL pretty awesome for me. I think the extremely valuable posters are the ones that share a little bit of themselves when responding to a post. To me it says - I am responsible for what I am saying because here is what I did in my real life and/or here is what I experienced, etc. Maybe we reward them a little more with a "sharing is caring" button (or some such) which is a little more than a "Like". :-D
It behooves everyone to think for themselves and use their own common sense and independent resources before making any important decisions. Crowdsourcing is fine if you want to get some fresh perspectives but you are responsible for your own life and choices. Trying to put that on others is just lazy, immature and irresponsible. People can only offer their opinions based on their own life experience. They have no way of knowing the entirety of a stranger’s situation. If someone advised you to jump off a cliff would you blindly obey it?
When people say "add salt to taste" in recipes, that statement comes out of that fear to accept responsibility for consequences. And all non-recipe advice, whether or not "a pinch of salt" is mentioned, might require a pinch of salt. And some counsel can come across pretty salty already to some tastes. Drinking a lot of water in a day-- is good advice for everyone, and it is especially good for social media participants.
All users are adults here and they are well aware of the disclaimers that Indusladies has put. People come here only for collective suggestions and opinions and they are not forced in any way to follow the suggestions provided. Just like how a poster doesn't enjoy the credit of positive outcomes for the solution given by them, they will not take responsibility for the negative outcomes as well.
OPs are seeking solution and views but respondents invariably mention their real or unreal experience and views. 2. It is a virtual world trying to generalise and generate ( interesting ?) views and to follow or conclude something is up to OP. IF by following, IT TURNS OUT GOOD OR BAD the onus for it squarely lies with the poster (op). 3. Replies and responses received are supposed to be consolidated at OPs end to arrive at meaningful conclusion and any act bad or good as a result of it lies with OP ONLY. BLAME game will not help anyway. God likes curiosity, concoction, extraction on line.
You are an astute reader and those are some keen insights you have posted. I respond in threads like I would respond to a friend in real life. And, like described above, it is often based on a little bit of myself. Sometimes that little bit is a jaan se pyara little bit (dearer than life). That is why it hit me hard to read the responsibility question thrown at me.
