Do you like my avatar?
We might like your avatar, but we don’t want to answer questions about it. We’ve blogged before about the fine line some questions straddle between offering up a legitimate poll query and falling into violation territory. But after seeing the ongoing confusion and annoyance in the forum displayed over avatar games, we thought it was time to tackle the subject again.
Previously, we tried to gently persuade aspiring pollsters to use alternatives, like Bix.com, for burning questions about who has the prettiest avatar. Now let us be a little more direct: Do not play avatar games on Yahoo! Answers — it is a violation of the Community Guidelines. Why is it a violation? Because it’s considered chat.
According to the guidelines, examples of chat include:
- How are you today?
- What are you doing?
- Do you like my avatar?
See? It’s right there in the guidelines, so there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind — avatar games (including “Vote for the best above/below” avatar questions) do not belong in Yahoo! Answers and should be reported as abuse. More appropriate chat and game outlets are the previously mentioned Bix.com, Yahoo! Groups, and Yahoo! Messenger.
We really want Answers to be an informative, engaging, and enjoyable place to be. By sticking to the guidelines, we hope to foster an environment everyone can live with and learn from.
OK, lecture time is over.
Remove also questions and answers which are violating the CG, and any behaviours that violating the CG: obscene avatars, insulting other participants, cloning, foul and profane language, and troll-like behaviors.
Polls & Survey and Jokes & Riddles are categories which are full of questions which are actually violating the Community Guidelines. Remove both categories and create another site for that thing. We should keep Yahoo! Answers clean from anything that violates the Community Guidelines.
Calm down, Y!A Team. You are so uptight!!
You all may want to actually pay attention to those who have pointed out that Y!A users do not have to come here. We choose to come here. There are a number of sites practically identical to Y!A–and much more user friendly. And while Y!A may currently be the most popular, if you continue with your asinine policy of allowing profane, racist, vulgar questions and answers to stand, but accept as valid those reporting someone for no other reason than they disagree with an opinion stated in an answer or possibly implied (probably only in their minds) in a question, Y!A will not remain the favorite “answer” site. Especially when those being reported have violated no rule or community guideline.
Also, your problem with “chatting” and what you classify as “chatting” is extreme and counterproductive if you are looking to attract the teen/young adult age group. What do you expect in a category labeled “Polls & Surveys?” When I visit this section of Y!A I’m not really expecting to find a debate on the economic policies of the presidential candidates, a serious discussion about the meaning of life or even the answer to 2+2.
I’m not even sure why I’ve wasted my time writing this as I am not convinced this or anything else containing user complaints, including appeals, is ever read, much less acted on.
I agree, we should keep it a safe place and Yahoo! Answers isn’t a chatroom, ya know!
I don’t think those are chatting because its ABOUT PEOPLE’S OPINIONS!!!
I mean come on polls and surveys. Those questions belong in those sections so don’t like report it. I’m sorry but how are we chatting its not like we’re doing this:
S: hey
G: Hey
S: What’s up?
I don’t see that happening. I mean come on we’re just doing polls and wanting opinions. There’s no harm to that.
We all have opinions and what’s wrong with learning about new ones. I don’t see any harm in that.
[…] the big deal about chat on Yahoo! Answers? Tags: Community Guidelines Last week’s post about avatar games stirred up some strong reactions to the rules regarding chat in the Community […]
It’s about time you reiterated the chatting violation here. People have no right to chat on Y!A. “This isn’t at all knowledge-worthy and doesn’t benefit the Answers community at all,” as I told other users whose questions were deleted for incurring that violation. You need to remind users about more violations of the Community Guidelines (i.e., insulting other users, spam, cheating, profanity, etc.). People always don’t read the rules, so they’ll just have to pay the price for their actions.
i agree with some of the comments here.
i’d like to know what type of questions these are, do these questions share knowledge ? do these questions share information ? the simple answer is no right ? then they should be considered as chatting, right ? i am right, right ???
1. Am i pretty ?
2. Do you like ICE CREAM ?
3. what comes to your mind when i say _____(insert word here) ?
4. Whats your favorite COLOR?
5. Do you sometimes wish you had a _______
I see that YAT just don’t get it. P&S has no meaning. it never shares knowledge. well thats why its polls &surveys right ? avatar games do not share knowledge but do the questions above share any type of knowledge ? NO.
P & S = fun & entertainment
if YAT want to remove the avatar games because they are considered “chatting” and they do not share information then please i beg of you remove the P&S sections well it never shares knowledge we all know that.
i don’t live in the P&S section like some users, i answer a few questions in the sports section then hand around in the gaming section and then to P&S and when i see an ‘avatar game!!!?!?” question i answer it quickly and its so much fun and we enjoy it and they are popular.
legitimate poll or whatever dude, i asked a question “POLL : do you wear glasses” question and it was removed for chatting. I searched for this same question and i found more than 25 questions still on yahoo answers. If you removed my question “do you wear glasses” then remove the rest of the same questions as well posted each day and the ones posted before.
the next thing thats gonna happen is the “am i pretty/pregnant” questions getting removed for chatting . i think i made my point. I have wrote more than this a lot of times, YAT and YAHOO always win Vs us(users). HAVE you ever done something called ‘fun’ to yahoo answers and for us or made some of our ideas work ? no is the simple answer.Go to the suggestion boards and blogs and check their 2 year history.
Well whats the point of having a polls & surveys catagory than? i mean really all people want in that catagory is a little entertainment so if you just want info then stay out of that catagory!!! problem solved duh!!! the avatar games are fun & give you something to do. i think the y!a team is way to hard on that catagory people obviously arent in that catagory for information!!! why cant people just go in there & ask so how was your day? whats wrong with that? i think everyone just needs to lay off im so sick of hearing this crap about what you can & cant post. also i think the report button does more harm than good! inocent people get reported all the time even when they arent violating rules. its just these trolls out to get people. you dont see yahoo bloging about the trolls. why cant yahoo just give the people in p&s freedom?
I recently got the following question deleted:
“So what makes you think you are so special?”
I had posted it in the Religion and Spirituality column. Ironically, I actually got several interesting and thoughtful answers and several people thanked me for posting the question before YA! deleted it as chat.
I ask you, what was so harmful about this question?
whats next? will “am I pretty” or “am I pregnant” questions be forbidden too?
yahoo, focus on true issues. when someone says that americans have a terrible food, the answer gets deleted. while people can bash chinese for being brainwashed and nothing will happen.
I’m actually glad that YA is doing something about it… This is exactly the reason I haven’t logged on in about a year (just so happens the one day I do, there’s a posting about this).
I get soo irritated with a bunch of stupid kids asking stupid questions that take away from what YA is trying to achieve. Who wants to answer 30 questions a day, much less look at them, about “Am I pretty?”, “Does he like me?”, “Would you go out with me?”. We don’t know anything about these people, and instead of going to their closest friends and family, they’re going to strangers who can only give them vague answers about a situation not fully understood! Insecurity isn’t an excuse.
I’m looking forward to YA becoming a credible place to come to look for REAL questions & answers… I don’t mind goofy, fun questions occasionally, but I’m tired of redundant questions from the kids.
Its the kiddies that dont realize that the TRUE Avatar Games DO violate TOS and CG’s in a half dozen other areas than Chat— such as Format, insults,point gaming, place holding, etc etc etc etc.
Yahoo should be suspending the ID of the users that post this insidious swill, and those point gamers that participate in them by point gaming (answering the “question”)….
Maybe then the kiddies will take heed
the “am i pregnant” questions are even more annoying. why not violate them? it’s unfair that people with legitimate questions are getting violations for no reason.
This is STUPID!
People should be able to ask if others like their avatar
and how everyone’s day is going!
Y!A is starting to become a dictatorship!!!!
>:( I’m disappointed.