Does this forum help or hurt?

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I tend to think this forum does more bad than good for many of the posters.
There's far too much advice being given and taken around here by nearly anonymous posters with no history of work or knowledge on what they're advising on.
Thoughts?

I believe giving advice, while not calling yourself an expert, is a hell of a lot better than not giving advice at all.

What do you mean by (near) anonymous posters? Is it that we communicate here through usernames?

Anyway, about the advice. I think we offer advice because people here often ask for it. As most of us here are on the autism spectrum, we have lived our entire lives with autism and are relating things that have helped us to manage our lives. And now we freely offer what has worked for us to others we feel can benefit from it. I don't believe the members here ever mean to offer advice that can hurt others. Though there might be members here that are professionals in the field of counseling, we are dealing with a community of fellow autistics who recognize challenges and gifts, and accept advice as having come from such people who are probably not professional counselors. For the most part, I feel this site has been helpful for me. I joined here in 2008 and have found it a positive experience for the most part.

I feel like there are very many lonely people on here who just want to talk

I don't always have to "give advice." Sometimes, I just "listen." Or I just converse with somebody about the commonplace. Or perhaps about things which are less commonplace.

I'm here to have fun, as well as give advice.

It's extremely cynical to assume that one cannot give advice based merely on one's life experience.

No one has to listen to advice that they disagree with. I haven't been here long, but mostly I've seen people trying to be helpful in their own ways, as best they can.

This^^

When I first found out I was Autistic seven years ago, this site was the most helpful resource I found. I learned so much and got incredible help here.

We are just a group of people who are either Autistic ourselves, who have Autistic loved ones, or who are interested in the subject. We are not professionals, some are, but we do not advise in a professional capacity on this site. That is not what this site is for. You can basically think of this site as just regular people hanging out together who are Autistic or who are associated with Autism in one way or another. You don't criticize a group of people just hanging out talking together about things they are interested in talking about and sharing their personal experiences. Even if people say things that are wrong, no one is being forced to believe them or to adhere to what they say.

I have learned lots of incredible things here about myself and about the spectrum in general. I have also read posts that were complete hogwash and made no sense whatsoever. But that is how it is in any social setting of people just talking to each other. If someone posts something that you think is ridiculous, just ignore it and move on. You can also state your opinion about it but you don't have to accept it as truth or as anything if you don't want to. That is completely up to you. If you read a post that you are not sure about, do the research about it yourself. But there are many posts that are extremely insightful and very helpful. But no one is forcing anyone to accept everything that is being said.

I managed to muddle through my life more or less successfully without diagnosis or accommodations. I had to figure things out for myself...AND I have found the knowledge and range of experiences in these posts to have increased my quality of life.

WP is the only place I can truly be myself and share all of my thoughts. It's the one place I can freely vent or seek or offer support. I'm pretty sure it literally saved my life when I was suicidal, just because I actually had people to talk to.

I *suffer* with autism.

Everyday is hard.

Feeling like I am not alone, helps me.

This site both helps me and causes damage to my self-esteem. I've had people assume that just because I'm on the spectrum it means I have no self-awareness or no care about what people think, and then posts things that you should never say to a person with social anxiety issues, like "people probably do laugh at you". I know it's up to me not to listen, but I'm sensitive to negative remarks and my social anxiety makes me fragile.

Also there are other things that have got to me on WP, such as:-

-people who are arrogant about autistics being the only non-NT disorder known to humans

-cliched things like "if your friend says no then they weren't your friend in the first place" or "be yourself and anybody who judges isn't your problem" or "leave your partner for [resolvable relationship issue that you only posted for helpful advice or just a rant]"

-too much logic (see above)

-being undermined because of my difficulties explaining things beyond using simple words

-contradictions, like something that is a common NT trait suddenly becomes a common Aspie trait

-people claiming autism includes physical abnormalities like big nose, small ears, long legs, etc

-Kafkatraps!! ! (Particularly in empathy discussions). For example "you think empathy means the same as sympathy, that means you must lack empathy" or "you say you don't judge people but you've just judged someone else for being judgemental"

I honestly get better feedback on Facebook. Most of my posts get ignored here or I'm criticized. But sometimes I need to remain anonymous so I come back here now and then.

This forum may not be perfect , but imagine if it was moved to 4Chan .

There is no way of bringing so many interesting people together without anything annoying happening. Conflicts and drama need to be at least partially tolerated in such a diverse community.
I like this site.

If you're an aspie/autistic who stumbles upon Wrongplanet then....

The good news is:

You have found a whole community of people who are as weird as you are.

The bad news is:

You have found a whole community of people who are as weird as you are.

I don’t ignore you, Meerkat.

There are others here who feel ignored, but actually are not ignored.

There are many times when I post something, and nobody posts after me.