Forums are a great means of sharing information. In fact, I spend a lot of time online reading and participating in forums. However, as always, the presence of stupid people at forums is a big put-off. So typically there are 2 kinds of forums - forums that concentrate on highly technical/specific topics and forums general in nature. The former is usually ‘elite’ and this is good in a way. The later can also be good, save for idiots and newbies who once in a while hop on thinking that asking a question can save them from using their common sense/putting a little effort. Typically, stupid people at forums:

1. Ask questions which have already been discussed to death a million times before. All they need to do is use the ’search’ function and dig up past discussions on the same topic. The only good reason I see why people wouldn’t use the search function is when the site’s site function is down. Lack of time is NOT an excuse of asking the same question for the zillionth time. If you don’t have the time to search, it doesn’t mean others who contribute out from their own time should take the pain to respond.
2. Ask open ended questions or questions without clarity. So you want to buy a new camera. How the hell are we to suggest which one to buy, without knowing what is your intended use?
3. Make assumptions that people can answer your question without knowing the facts. “Hey, my comp just crashed. What could be wrong?” Who are you expecting to answer such a question? Mind readers? Worse is when people make assumptions that everyone lives in the same city as they do.
4. Use the post unimaginative subject lines. “Help! Urgent!”. “I have a problem”.
5. Ask the same question in many different sections of the forum, probably hoping to get noticed faster. I can forgive people posting in the wrong section, but not the ones who would do anything to grab attention just because they are in such a hurry.
6. Ask a question and stop posting after that. Generally the person responding would like some clarifications, but if you have got your answer already, why don’t you say it? A thank you or box of sweets is not really required. But just mentioning that your problem is solved helps. Basic courtesy.
7. Ask a question in great detail, manage to get their problem resolved outside of the forum and end the thread by saying, “hey, I fixed the problem myself!” Good going dude, but can you also post how you fixed the problem so that others who have similar problems can be benefited?

I can forgive blokes who write in all caps, spell horribly or use SMS language. I can also forgive the kids who like to play “mine is bigger than yours”. But the kind of posters I have elaborated above should be first sent to school and then asked to post.

And before I conclude, let me tell you about this unique breed of suckers at Indian forums - they glorify anyone who is even a tad bit better than them. They hero worship in the open shamelessly and use all the adjectives they know, to do this. I find this behaviour very funny, because although I do honestly acknowledge someone who is better than I am, I don’t place them on a pedastal and worship them because I have enough sense to see separate the gods from people who have just gotten better at what they are only learning. But it’s not hard to understand why this is so Indian. Just listen to the actors who are hero-worshipped in our country