Yahoo! Answers

If you slap a question mark at the end of a sentence, does that make it a question? Oooooh, sorry, no. Alex Trebek might accept that on Jeopardy, but according to the Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines, it must follow the format of a question. So, “Kitty stopped using her cat box?” is more of a statement than a question (not to mention a potentially messy problem). Your haste in finding a solution is understandable, but what we’re looking for here is something like, “How can I get my cat to use the new kitty litter brand I bought because of my allergies?” That gives responders a better handle on the situation right up front. And you’re likely to get faster, more relevant answers.

We’re all for brevity if it’s a legitimate question and the details fill us in, but when we just see, “Help!!!!?” sheesh! Do I really need to point out the problems with this one? ‘Nuff said.

Another no-no is a rant or flame-starter disguised as a question. This is especially irksome in the Politics and Religion categories. I won’t give any examples here (it’ll just get ugly and end in tears), but you all know what I mean. These non-questions are meant to state a point of view or stir the pot—the asker really doesn’t want an answer, just a soapbox.

Next up: the ever-popular self-answered riddle or joke. There’s already a forum for that—it’s called a comedy club. You can, however, ask the community for advice about a particular joke and include it in the details, like: “Do you think this would be a good joke to tell at a company meeting?”

Last but not least, we have “questions” that are nothing more than chat. “What am I having for lunch?” “Anyone there?” “What am I thinking?” I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m thinking that’s a guideline violation and really annoying.

As the saying goes: Ask a silly question, get a silly answer. A well-crafted question shows potential Answerers enough information at a glance to decide if they have something worthwhile to add—and that promotes an Answersphere that’s engaging, informative, and fun.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!