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I noticed the Bogleheads forum got way less helpful about basic questions over the last year.
It used to be a great spot for newbies, but now the first reply to a simple post is often 'read the wiki' with no real help. Has another forum taken its place for starter advice?
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mason3612mo ago
It's a real bummer when a place changes like that. The wiki is a great tool, but just pointing at it can feel like a cold brush-off to someone who's confused. Sometimes you need a human to point you to the right chapter, you know? That first friendly nudge makes all the difference. Forums lose their soul when they forget how lost everyone was at the start.
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lisa_jones212mo ago
Disagree with that take completely. The wiki is the real help, it's the collected knowledge of the whole forum. Telling someone to read it first is the kindest thing you can do, it saves everyone from repeating the same answers a thousand times. The forum is still helpful, but people need to put in a tiny bit of work themselves before asking others to type it all out again.
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Yeah, I get where you're coming from @lisa_jones21 but you know it's funny. I remember when I was trying to fix my old truck's carburetor and someone just said "check the wiki" and I spent two hours clicking around before I found the right page. Sometimes a little direction goes a long way, like saying "hey look at section 4.2" instead of just pointing at the whole thing. It's like giving someone a map instead of just saying "go find the library," you know?
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