@happypill wrote:I think you have to take any information you get (from this site or elsewhere) and apply your own critical thought to it rather than just buying whatever people are saying. That said, I do think MyFICO is good because generally people do not have an agenda of pushing any products on you (well, maybe your FICO scores). There are other sites where they clearly have an ulterior motive of getting you to sign up or apply for something.
Here are some basic ways to filter any data you receive (from here or elsewhere):
1. Get the facts & arguments; ignore the opinions. Draw your own conclusions based on the facts. One of the very best things about this site is that people are actually willing to share facts about their credit experiences. Of course, you have know idea if each individual is being honest with their facts, so you need to apply your own thinking - which leads to the next point.
2. Does the person posting/sharing information have anything to gain? At some sites, clearly they gain from clicks, referrals and apps that they generate. They have an incentive to tell you whatever it takes to get you to click or apply. Here, when someone shares their approval experience or something like that, I don't think they have much incentive to lie (unless they are a pathalogical liar or something); but judge for yourself.
3. Determine the overall atmosphere of the environment. Here, I would say people are open about sharing experiences and giving advice. A lot of people share a common experience (rebuilding after credit troubles among them), and they are supportive. Again, judge each person's stories for yourself, but there's no real incentive to mislead people around here, but sometimes there may be a mob mentality or someone who wants to be big guy on the block.
So, as with any site or piece of news, apply some critical thinking to determine what you can believe.
+1
Excellent advice about advice (metaadvice? 
). It does come down each individual evaluating the source, quality, and motives of the information they are given. Learning to distinguish quality advice from misinformation (whether through intentional bias or simple error) is IMO one of the most important skills anyone can develop and has broad application in most areas of life. It's how people know not to jump on the next fad diet, waste all their money on a pyramid scheme, or try to reverse the signs of aging by drinking baby oil.
@Anonymous wrote:Awesome answers...but no one has answered my question...what is the MyFico rabbit hole? O.o
In this context the rabbit hole would be blindly pursuing credit cards and CLIs that the person doesn't need.
@Revelate wrote:I would object to the commentary that the majority of the users are suggesting people apply for everything under the sun as rank hyperbole.
Sure some bad information gets posted, but quite often it gets corrected. I'm not one to throw out something that's 95% good trying to get it to 99 or 100% if it means a radical change to the community. In other places in life that might be appropriate but not here.
+1 and excellent post overall, Revelate. Very well said. 
@Anonymous wrote:
Chasing cards and CLI is going down the rabbit hole. This forum or any ther forum isn't that much different. People here have provided me with valuable answers and solutions and then have had people comment to get their next level marker. People need to realize that it's all and will always be YMMV. I do see people here jumping on various trends and pushing it into the ground until the next one pops up...NFCU, CSR, NASA, CSP, Blisplay and so many others. It is still up to the individual to realize and know what their end goal is.
I know for myself I came from sub 500 scores to pushing high 600s and low 700s in a year and a half thanks to sound advice from members. But have also witnessed plenty of bad advice and have personally questioned some people's actually CLI or lines up they've acquired. Again it's all taken with a grain of salt. But that doesn't mean I need to jump on the next MyFICO train and then get mad because I hurt my scores or opened an account that I truly have no use for.
The worst advice I got wasn't from this site at all, it was from Credit Karma, which indicated in no uncertain terms to me, at a time that I had 2 credit cards, that having 5 cards would be better, having 10 cards would be even better, and that having 15 cards would get me to "excellent".
Now I'm sure that Credit Karma's professionals know what they're doing, and perhaps their advice was based on the Vantage model rather than the FICO models, but following that advice kept me in hot water, in terms of inquiries, new accounts, average age of accounts, age of newest account, for quite a while.
Based on their advice I was constantly looking for recommendations here of new cards to try for.
If I knew then, what I know now, I would not have applied for so many cards, but would have let my portfolio grow much more slowly.
It was here on MyFICO that I learned that more is not necessarily better.
