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Why is there a flag on my avatar in the messages?

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#121
N4860 said:
I personally dont care when someone new asks a question that is often asked. Yes, you can search TB but if the search feature is anything like it was before the site changed about a year ago, it was a pretty trash search feature. I always had much better luck searching for something on google with talkbass in the title to find an appropriate thread. So for that reason, I don't fault new users because they very well may have tried searching but didn't know to use google instead of the the TB search.
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Ya, same here. Plus, you know, things change and evolve, and the best bass for metal in 2021 might not be the best bass for metal in 2025 :-)
 
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#124
N4860 said:
I personally dont care when someone new asks a question that is often asked. Yes, you can search TB but if the search feature is anything like it was before the site changed about a year ago, it was a pretty trash search feature. I always had much better luck searching for something on google with talkbass in the title to find an appropriate thread. So for that reason, I don't fault new users because they very well may have tried searching but didn't know to use google instead of the the TB search.
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To me, it's not even strictly about new members.

For example, I've been a Fender/Squier fanboy from the start but just recently I've taken an interest in Stingrays. I'm sure any question I have has been asked before . . . so here I go . . off to the dark recesses of TB to find what I'm looking for . . .
 
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#126
N4860 said:
I personally dont care when someone new asks a question that is often asked. Yes, you can search TB but if the search feature is anything like it was before the site changed about a year ago, it was a pretty trash search feature. I always had much better luck searching for something on google with talkbass in the title to find an appropriate thread. So for that reason, I don't fault new users because they very well may have tried searching but didn't know to use google instead of the the TB search.
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Nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I think this would genuinely be a good case for site specific implementation of ChatGPT.

For example, if there were a widget at the top of the page, where you could ask a question, and the version of ChatGPT was limited to, and trained solely on TalkBass extensive history of data, the answers you were given would be representative of the Talk Bass consensus (obviously there's opinion, and bias implicit - so some topics would yield facts, and others would reveal opinion).

The only downside to this is that whilst it gives you instant answers, without incurring the wrath of the "Search" curmudgeons, it doesn't do much to foster a sense of community, or encourage interaction (but I can see the up-sides, and benefits as an additional tool).
 
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#127
Wood and Wire said:
Nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I think this would genuinely be a good case for site specific implementation of ChatGPT.

For example, if there were a widget at the top of the page, where you could ask a question, and the version of ChatGPT was limited to, and trained solely on TalkBass extensive history of data, the answers you were given would be representative of the Talk Bass consensus (obviously there's opinion, and bias implicit - so some topics would yield facts, and others would reveal opinion).

The only downside to this is that whilst it gives you instant answers, without incurring the wrath of the "Search" curmudgeons, it doesn't do much to foster a sense of community, or encourage interaction (but I can see the up-sides, and benefits as an additional tool).
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Downside would be the cost as well ... plus, chatGPT (and other AI tools) already scrape Talkbass. That being said, something like that would help filter out the noise and make "search" easier.
 
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#128
How would one go about getting one of those sweet American flags on their avatar like in the OP?

Ok, so I just checked some recent PMs and on some of the messages, my Avatar does not have a flag, but simply US in the upper right. Interesting.
 
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#129
salmon256 said:
Holy goodness.

A feature that meant to help sellers to see someones location incase they are trying to scam has blown up a stupid crazy discussion. I have pretty much quit all social media for this reason with the algorithms and such. Mods please close this thread before it blows up more.

Anyway before its close... what's y'all favorite pastry? I'm looking forward to March for the Zeppole di San Giuseppe.... 😋
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I'm a cheese danish sort of guy, even if I'm not actually Danish.
 
#130
Parzival said:
How would one go about getting one of those sweet American flags on their avatar like in the OP?
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Parzival-Murrca.png
:whistle:


😄
 
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#135
Dust2Dust said:
. . . (not trying to be a whining A-hole, but) my takeaway from that is . . . "Please consult our dusty, mammoth, archive before you ask your questions." . . . which is cool if I'm the only one seeing this as a departure from what TB was just a few yrs back
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The majority of the "mammoth" archive is repeats of the same questions. The more the same questions are asked, the less engagement they get, and often the more misinformation slips by. Search functions are great ways to find the threads with maximum engagement of a certain question, which is usually a better way to not only get a larger pool of information, but also a more moderated one when it comes to questions that have objective answers instead of just opinions. Plus if you do reply with a question in an older and larger thread like that instead of starting a new one not only does it show that you have probably perused that thread for information (signifying some due diligence), but it also sends a Watched Thread notification for a bunch of people that actually have replied in the past about any given subject (so you are sending out an SOS to a specifically chosen audience rather than just anyone who happens to wander into your new thread).
 
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#136
sunbeast said:
but it also sends a Watched Thread notification for a bunch of people that actually have replied in the past about any given subject (so you are sending out an SOS to a specifically chosen audience rather than just anyone who happens to wander into your new thread).
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Yeah, right :facepalm:

I was combing thru and old thread and every avatar I clicked on had "last seen" dates from back before I even thought about playing bass :whistle::meh:
 
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#137
sunbeast said:
The majority of the "mammoth" archive is repeats of the same questions. The more the same questions are asked, the less engagement they get, and often the more misinformation slips by. Search functions are great ways to find the threads with maximum engagement of a certain question, which is usually a better way to not only get a larger pool of information, but also a more moderated one when it comes to questions that have objective answers instead of just opinions. Plus if you do reply with a question in an older and larger thread like that instead of starting a new one not only does it show that you have probably perused that thread for information (signifying some due diligence), but it also sends a Watched Thread notification for a bunch of people that actually have replied in the past about any given subject (so you are sending out an SOS to a specifically chosen audience rather than just anyone who happens to wander into your new thread).
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This. I have 'zombie'd' numerous threads over the years and have a lengthy list of watched threads. I acknowledge when I'm bringing one back from the dead, but part of it is to improve the archived info and build off of the existing discussion, rather than silo'ing bits of info. This obviously depends on the topic, question, etc.

Say whatever you want about changes over the years, platforms, users, etc. Regardless of any little qualms I have with TB, it's been a go-to resource and my only online bass community since I picked up the instrument as a teenager. Sure, I explore many other resources for theory and certain technical aspects of my playing, but I come here for a bit of everything. Trying to help maintain archives as a user is a small way to contribute, as far as I'm concerned. For what I pay (not to mention the time the mods/developers put in), it's peanuts compared to what I get out of it.
 
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#140
paul said:
Thank you to everyone for the feedback. I don't think we need longer than a day to figure out that this feature is causing wayyy more issues than it was meant to solve.

Flags are turned off, so unless there's some caching going on, they should be out of your PM's.
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It's the thought that counts, bro . . . Thanks for trying to make a good thing better :thumbsup:
 
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