This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Grendelkhan (talk | contribs) at 04:42, 23 April 2004 (we '''quote''' the page's title in its first appearance; we don't '''''quote''''' it.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 04:42, 23 April 2004 by Grendelkhan (talk | contribs) (we '''quote''' the page's title in its first appearance; we don't '''''quote''''' it.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The informal term newbie (n00b or noob in leet (1337) -speak, is not the same) means a newcomer to a particular corner of cyberspace, such as a web log, newsgroup, or the World Wide Web itself or to an operating system. It can be both a disparaging and friendly term; always referring to a neophyte. The word itself is likely a corruption of new bee, which essentially equates a person's knowledge of a topic to that of a larval insect's state of underdevelopment (and thus has not "evolved" beyond such predicates).
Negative
It is often used against a new user apt to ask allegedly "dumb" questions and who generally acts gauchely and uncool, to the consternation or amusement of the old hands. Due to their inexperience, they are often picked on or have an unsatisfying welcome. If friendly to the place, they tend to learn more and stay; if not friendly, they tend to be "kicked out" or ostracized from that place.
The term is also used by individuals or groups, known as regs, against any newcomer, whether the newcomer acts ignorantly or not. In this case, the regs attempt to show dominance by belittling the newbie. The newbie will be teased, and if the newbie reacts, the regs then use the reactions as justifications for the originally unjustified belittlements.
Positive
However, in other communities, newbies are received with extra attention. Some chatrooms, for example, have established rules to ask "oldies" to first answer the newbies' questions or concerns before resuming their ongoing discussions.
Other communities do not treat newbies with a significantly elevated status, but do greet most of the friendly newbies with welcomes informing them the methods to get help.
Noob or n00b
The term "noob"(or "n00b") is almost always meant to be offensive. A noob, n00b, newb, or Über n00b is a newbie who claims to know a lot about a subject, but really does not (such as Counter-Strike). They often show off their false skills to gain a reputation. The term was first used in hacker groups on the BBS chat systems in the 70's.
The spelling noob or n00b, while originally having a specific meaning, is now generally used to refer to all forms of newbies, usually in a negative manner.