The RallyPoint community used to prioritize helping each other. Sure, people wanted to trail-blaze but giving helpful information, even if they couldn't answer the question, was more important. It was uncommon to see so many threads cluttered with garbage - political propaganda, personal attacks, and life stories that don't directly align with the initial question or link. Now, many prefer to type "Thanks for sharing" for 100 influence points while knowing nothing about the topic instad of a simple "upvote" and continuing on with your day.

I've warned almost a dozen members against this, especially the “thanks for sharing” trailblazers, and blocked a few after they wouldn't stop. One blocked me earlier today after I said “Please quit with these wasteful responses. It adds nothing to the conversation and simply clutters the thread for responses that actually do.”. It's not that I don't think they can add value to the platform. It's that I know they can based on a few times they've actually said something worth reading and simply because they're a member of our RallyPoint and military community. But they won't. Such activity hurts the user experience for those looking to RP as a reputable source for information.

Think about how many RP members have complained about the mudslide of political crap geared toward bashing opposing beliefs instead of mature debates focused on increased understanding.

The RP board and site admins enable us to regulate ourselves. It's our community. Our home. Many people come here for different reasons - e.g. personal advice, career advice, comradery, loneliness, make friends, find others we've served with, share stories to help others. I personally use it for all of those and invite Vets here for those same reasons.

Every time we create or comment on a thread with useless information, we make it harder for someone to find useful information. The trail I'll blaze - making more use of the downvote and block buttons IAW http://support.rallypoint.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1401594-down-voting .

Admins, as it hasn't been updated since Jun 15, 2016, amend as you see fit.