Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Coming back here after spending more time on non-tech sites has made me realise something: tech forums and tech websites tend to be a bit more negative and competitive than those about non-tech topics. To be totally honest it's a bit depressing.

Almost every thread on a tech site seems to be either about what's better/worse about the site's product, or what is worse/better about a rival product, and disagreements can quickly erupt into endless bitter flamewars.

What the heck is going on? Why are people on technology sites apparently quicker to criticise?

I'm not saying criticism itself is a bad thing, that's how products are made better, but it sometimes feels like technology fans are behaving like the nastier kind of football fan, chanting about how crap the opposition is.

Weirdly the only tech forums where there's a totally calm atmosphere seem to be retro forums which deal with technology that is now obsolete, for example 8-bit computers or old games consoles. Maybe it's because on retro forums there's no competition to worry about, so people can just relax and enjoy themselves?

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

1. High Expectations
2. My high expectations are different than your high expectations. (No hardware/software is perfect for everyone.)
3. Did I say High Expectations.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

It's human nature.

People want to feel good. People want other people to validate their opinions so they feel good. Therefore what they like is good, everything else is bad, and attack attack attack those whose opinions differ.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

People want to feel their choices of technology were the right ones, and they want as many people as possible to feel the same way so that the technology thrives and improves. If only one person had an iphone, there wouldn't be so many "apps".

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

But all forums are run by humans, why is it that tech forums seem to be more competitive? :)

And why do some people take everything so personally on tech forums, like criticising a particular distro is insulting their family or something?

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Tech Forums = outlet for nerd rage.

It's a growing epidemic, but with your support, someday we will be able to bring an end to flame wars.

Agree with the above though, it's all about justification. I think tech people do more research into products than most people, so when someone else questions why they picked one product over another, they get defensive, and in some cases really aggressive.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Tech forums are more competitive because technology is constantly evolving with new gadgets and tech coming out constantly. New gadgets means new opinions about whats best. Especially since there is so much marketing and hype is now seen as the most important factor in somethings success.

If you went on a fishing forum I'm sure you could get people just as worked up over which rod/reel is best, what area is best for what kind of fish, whats the best way to fish, etc.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

I have to say though. Coming from "that other phone" I have been inundated with this kind of stuff for the past 3 years. My phone shopping (months of obsessive fanaticism) led me to a point where I had to choose what I wanted in a device and find the best one for me (ie. the revelation is that there is no perfect device). My day with an N900 has really cemented my feelings about how pointless all this bickering and whatnot is.

I've already run into a few quirks and shortcomings, but I have to say they really don't bother me that much. I probably wouldn't even recommend an N900 to everyone (although for the people I would recommend it to I would totally beat them senseless about it, hehe). I'm totally happy with it and feel awesome not being stressed by all the silly back and forth that I can now leave to the phone fanatics.

I love my N900.

I love the community as well, which is only possible due to the open nature of the phone.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

As sadfist pointed out, this isn't limited to tech forums. Maybe, krisse, your own interests have you more focussed on tech and so you view such fora as worse than others?

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

> tech forums and tech websites tend to be a bit more negative and competitive than those about non-tech topics.

Try reading a sports team message board.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

I'm not saying it's just tech forums, but tech forums tend to be worse, at least the ones I've experienced. For example food forums or clothes forums or film forums tend to be a bit more friendly and open-minded towards people who have different tastes. There isn't as much tribalism about what you eat or wear or watch.

I've actually stopped spending time on tech forums because non-tech ones are so much nicer to hang around on.

And like I said, retro tech forums are also tend to be friendlier than current tech forums, possibly because there's no point being competitive about products that were discontinued years ago.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

I can only assume you haven't tried sci-fi forums. The Trek/Wars wars are internet lore. Indeed, I have seen people go into complete meltdown because someone dared tp suggest that a favourite character was in love with character X when s/he obviously had wonderful chemistry with character Y!

And that's before you go near fora that allow discussion of politics and religion. ;)

I find this place relatively calm and pleasant. There's a fair bit of defensiveness about Other devices and other websites, but as far as I can see that's just the sort of jingoism one might expect over something people feel passionately about. Compared with, say, sci-fi, people here are actually investing a great deal into the devices and software: a little fierce loyalty is to be expected. And some of it is meant to be humorous.

I'm sorry you find it competitive. Please hang around more and change it!

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

There's a lot of misunderstandings, mistakes and flat out ignorance when it comes to people saying "facts" about their favourite tech, or the tech they are criticising.

So a lot of posts are people angrily arguing against something which was either factually wrong, or they think it was wrong (and then someone else jumps on them...).

After all, tech is expensive. Most people can't buy one of each thing. So incorrect information must be countered!

Whereas you can't really be mistaken about your own taste in clothes and food, and pretty much everyone accepts that there's no point telling someone they're mistaken about their taste :-)

I.e. what I'm hypothesising is that tech forums might be more about "the facts" (so we'd like to think) and less about "my personal preferences" which I might expect in a clothing ideas forum.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

The problem with any forum is that you are going to notice the loud people more than the calm ones.Tech, especially developers, are as passionate about their views as any other creative group. Most put a lot of themselves into their work and try desperately to make it the very best they think it can be. You should hear the cat fights I have to referree, LOL.

Open source communities tend to be made up of people with a passion (they aren't in it for the money) so this makes things a little worse too.

Trick is to avoid the cat fights and hit ignore on people that repeatidly annoy you. I agree this shouldn't be neccessary but differing views and the passion to fight for them are generally what drives the tech innovation on.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Men+Technology+Money+A place where nobody gets the last word=The crazy world of internet forums

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Have you not heard about Mum's Online? Think the women measure up to the Men on this at least as equals!

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

RevdKathy came the closest when she mentioned religion forums. Too many people seem to have elevated certain aspects of tech to their own religion. For those not subscribing to the dogma, it's like an atheist dropping into a christian forum. There may be some rational discussion but it will be interspersed with less than rational diatribes and condemnation.

Here the prevailing dogma is that of open source, Maemo, and the N900. An iPhone forum would just as religiously defend closed source, iPhone OS, and the 3GS iPhone. Here the second coming is Maemo 6, there it is the Apple Tablet.

My advice is to take everything with a grain of salt and to sit back and laugh at the most rabid.

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Well... technology is ultimately a matter of taste too though. In theory these are useful tools but most of the time high end devices are bought as entertaining toys. :)

Re: Why are tech sites so negative/competitive?
 

Probably doesn't help that there's a heightened annoyance factor going on with Maemo5 and the N900 right now, since it's pretty much been a botched launch for both. It's a lot of money to spend on a piece of hardware and software to have the manufacturer give you the runaround on it. I think things will cool down quite a bit once we can get the device and the operating system in our hands and begin to use it, develop for it, and show it to others.