Is r/guineapigs on Reddit a good source of information, advice, and support?

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nakeypeeg

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I like Reddit for its ease of use and wide variety of forums for pet-related discussions, but sometimes I'll see some posts that seem to be a bit "off", somehow. I'm curious to know how people here feel about it. Is it worth joining that community for advice, or might I do more harm than good to my piggies by listening to what they say over there?
 
I think it is a mixture, and may be good in places. This forum is tightly monitored by mods who really know about piggies and talk to each other about concerns. Our standards are very high 👍We are also nice and friendly, kind and fun ❤️ We are against breeding and commercial exploitation of guinea pigs.
 
I have to agree on the "off" vibe, OP. There's lots of good advice on Reddit, but also comments that make me quite frustrated, to be frank.

Reddit's moderation is so and so, many if not most subreddits are under-moderated or have mods that are honestly not fit for the task. I definitely trust this forum a whole lot more.
 
Hi and welcome

Online advice and information very much relies on the quality of the moderation and the tone of the group, which can be very patchy and differ enormously.
In addition to information, we offer - as a friendly community which everybody is invited to join - ongoing practical and moral owner support for as long as needed, as long as any new member is willing to accept our forum ethos. There is no question that cannot be asked and that won't be answered in a friendly and constructive way and everybody is invited to post some moral support for others if they wish to.

We also have one of the most comprehensive information resources around that is based on our collective forum experience, going back nearly 20 years. We have pretty much tried out and tested virtually all the tips that still make the rounds online even though they have not borne out in practice and in fact are often making things worse rather than better.

Here are the access links, if you wish to bookmark them, browse, read and re-read. Wherever possible, we have done our best to address the most frequent questions and common issues owners come up against in that particular area. The guides are as step-by-step, precise and practical as we could make them. This format allows us to update and add.

Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection
 
I see it like this;
Reddit are fun. More for inspiration about housing and enrichment, or just look at cute/fun pictures. Perfect to scroll while waiting for the subway.
If I want good advices about health or bonding from people that knows and cares about Guinea pigs I come to guineapigforum. If I want to do things right, this is the place. I often point people from reddit to this forum.
 
I agree.

I think it must take a lot of interpersonal skills, tact, organisation and hard work to make an online forum run smoothly and prevent things getting toxic or to reduce the spreading of disinformation. I don’t know how the moderators and advisors manage it so well on this forum (I’m sure it takes its toll at times) but the quality of this forum is a rare find and not something I’ve seen matched in other forums (on any topics).
 
Agreed. I like scrolling Reddit for cute pictures and general guinea pig fun, but anything that I’m worried about or need advice on, I come here. The guides have saved me a lot of stress and hassle on several occasions! Plus everyone here is friendly and willing to chip in when they can 😊
 
I've never heard of reddit, and when I tried tofind it couldn't actually find anything about animals, can anyone give me a link to the animal part please? i'm not interested in the social part of social media, (there is a reason I live with animals instead of people!) but I'm always on the prowl for odd bits of info, I reckon there is always somthing more to learn!
 
LucyP said:
I agree.

I think it must take a lot of interpersonal skills, tact, organisation and hard work to make an online forum run smoothly and prevent things getting toxic or to reduce the spreading of disinformation. I don’t know how the moderators and advisors manage it so well on this forum (I’m sure it takes its toll at times) but the quality of this forum is a rare find and not something I’ve seen matched in other forums (on any topics).
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Thank you for your appreciation. :)

It is a labour of love for the whole team for a cause that we all believe in strongly. Our mods and admin are actually all member generated from those who have good people and/or IT skills (it don't have the latter) and some solid piggy knowledge as well as staying power; we work by consensus and support each other.
It helps that we are not part of social media and are in full control of our forum so our own mods and admins are all people we know well and trust fully - and they have had time to grow into their roles and learn to hone some of their abilities. :)

However, we are these days actually very much bolstered by all of you willingly contributing to our collective strong community spirit, which in itself helps massively to carry our friendly and supportive forum ethos but yes, there can be occasionally some very hectic paddling underneath the seemingly calm surface indeed. We have had to introduce some rules to prevent misinformation and substandard advice being carried into here all the time.
Like with everything, the forum is not the right place for everyone but as long as we can be the right place for enough people of all ages to keep us going, then that is perfectly fine. ;)

It takes in fact all of us together to keep the forum the special place it has grown into. :tu:
 
JaseChase said:
Agreed. I like scrolling Reddit for cute pictures and general guinea pig fun, but anything that I’m worried about or need advice on, I come here. The guides have saved me a lot of stress and hassle on several occasions! Plus everyone here is friendly and willing to chip in when they can 😊
Click to expand...
Yes, the guides here are incredible! As a "hobby Guinea pig nerd" I want to do the best for my pigs, and I think its so fascinating just to read the guides and take part of all knowledge the authors have. A very big thank you to the amazing @Wiebke, you helped me so much without even knowing it.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Online advice and information very much relies on the quality of the moderation and the tone of the group, which can be very patchy and differ enormously.
In addition to information, we offer - as a friendly community which everybody is invited to join - ongoing practical and moral owner support for as long as needed, as long as any new member is willing to accept our forum ethos. There is no question that cannot be asked and that won't be answered in a friendly and constructive way and everybody is invited to post some moral support for others if they wish to.

We also have one of the most comprehensive information resources around that is based on our collective forum experience, going back nearly 20 years. We have pretty much tried out and tested virtually all the tips that still make the rounds online even though they have not borne out in practice and in fact are often making things worse rather than better.

Here are the access links, if you wish to bookmark them, browse, read and re-read. Wherever possible, we have done our best to address the most frequent questions and common issues owners come up against in that particular area. The guides are as step-by-step, precise and practical as we could make them. This format allows us to update and add.

Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive
Click to expand...

Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Online advice and information very much relies on the quality of the moderation and the tone of the group, which can be very patchy and differ enormously.
In addition to information, we offer - as a friendly community which everybody is invited to join - ongoing practical and moral owner support for as long as needed, as long as any new member is willing to accept our forum ethos. There is no question that cannot be asked and that won't be answered in a friendly and constructive way and everybody is invited to post some moral support for others if they wish to.

We also have one of the most comprehensive information resources around that is based on our collective forum experience, going back nearly 20 years. We have pretty much tried out and tested virtually all the tips that still make the rounds online even though they have not borne out in practice and in fact are often making things worse rather than better.

Here are the access links, if you wish to bookmark them, browse, read and re-read. Wherever possible, we have done our best to address the most frequent questions and common issues owners come up against in that particular area. The guides are as step-by-step, precise and practical as we could make them. This format allows us to update and add.

Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection
Click to expand...
Thank you! I will save those guides. Sorry if I replied twice by accident, I'm still learning how this forum works lol
 
Bluebell said:
I've never heard of reddit, and when I tried tofind it couldn't actually find anything about animals, can anyone give me a link to the animal part please? i'm not interested in the social part of social media, (there is a reason I live with animals instead of people!) but I'm always on the prowl for odd bits of info, I reckon there is always somthing more to learn!
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Reddit is divided into various forums called subreddits, if you go to the search bar and type in r/ and then add the forum name, it will take you there. Here's a link to the guinea pig subreddit :) Reddit - The heart of the internet
 
nakeypeeg said:
Thank you! I will save those guides. Sorry if I replied twice by accident, I'm still learning how this forum works lol
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No need to apologise. I sincerely hope that you will find our guides both helpful and interesting.

And that you'll like the friendly and helpful community on here. :)
 
Thanks nakeypeeg, I wondered why everyone was talking about subs, my best confused guess was submarines! I was very impressed by some of those videos they were really good, puts me to shame, I've had a smart phone for about 3 years but have no idea how to video things!If I find out that reddit has horse forums and dog forums or even mice forums I'll be on there forever¬!
 
Bluebell said:
Thanks nakeypeeg, I wondered why everyone was talking about subs, my best confused guess was submarines! I was very impressed by some of those videos they were really good, puts me to shame, I've had a smart phone for about 3 years but have no idea how to video things!If I find out that reddit has horse forums and dog forums or even mice forums I'll be on there forever¬!
Click to expand...
Reddit has a sub for almost everything in this world. I follow subs about my medications, tv-shows I like, cute dogs and Guinea pigs. I can totally recommend Weeble_wobbles sub if you want to melt on the inside. But you have to be careful about the information. At guineapigforum you know you get legit information, and people are nice and supportive. Reddit has... well, a-holes.
 
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