Five golden rules for answering questions
A month ago, we presented a blog outlining the five golden rules for asking questions on Answers. After receiving positive feedback from the community and based on your suggestions, we have put together the five golden rules for answering questions. After all, what would a great question be without a great answer? Here are the rules for giving high-quality answers, which will certainly improve the site’s content.
1. Remember that you are answering to help the asker: Don’t answer just for the sake of getting points, or to advertise your own questions to the community. If you don’t know the answer, skip to a question that you’re more knowledgeable about. And remember, we now have suggested questions for active users (these are questions that automatically appear on your homepage).
2. Be polite and respectful: No one likes to be ridiculed and insulted. If you don’t agree with the wording or subject matter of the question, offer your point of view in a constructive and respectful way. Yahoo! Answers is a diverse community where everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you feel that a question or answer violates the Community Guidelines, report it. Learn more about the reporting system here.
3. Use correct spelling: Avoid SMS or texting language and grammatical errors. An answer filled with spelling mistakes and typos is confusing and doesn’t improve the quality of Answers. The more understandable your answer is, the better its chances of being chosen as Best Answer or making an impression on someone else.
4. Be relevant: Don’t digress or change the subject when answering a question. Give a concise answer that sticks to the point.
5. Link to existing sources that have the answer to the question: If you know an excellent website or book that might help, mention it—as long as it’s not spam, of course. Also cite your sources; they are always helpful if anyone wants more information.
If you want to know more about this topic, don’t hesitate to visit our Community Guidelines and our Help pages. Feel free also to share with the community some tips of your own.
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Stupid Yamster telling us what to do
You still have never adressed specifically what constitues a rant or rave?
I try to follow these rules at all times. But what I really hate is when people give me a thumbs down, merely for stating my own opinion! Just because you disagree with someone’s views, it doesn’t mean you have to undermine their answer!
I want too know why I keep getting this message on my computer and then it closes?
lexplorehas caused an error in MSHTML.DLL.
These are good & the ones who read this will be the ones who already try to comply with the Golden Rules. Unfortunately the ones who need to read them, most likely won’t. any more than they do the community guidelines.
Good job trying though
My issue is questions that are made only to promote political or other causes. Questions like why is so and so doing such a bad job in “blank” position.
I would like to see your next post cover the do’s and don’ts of reporting a question or answer. People improperly report other users simply because they disagree with their point of view.
1.) No. If I don’t know the answer to a question, I’ll answer anyway telling them so. I KNOW the questioner appreciates it, so don’t lie to me.
2.) If I don’t swear every other ******* word, it’s a ******* waste. ****.
3.) wuts th pnt o splling crrectly. ur a ******* nerd.
4.) That kinda reminds me of the time I got the runs in the middle of the dessert. Let me tell you about it . . .
5.) Visit http://www.peta.org/ or die. And no.
This is good.But I agree that only those who generally comply will keep doing so.As usual,there’s always one to spoil the fun.Although I find some of the questions pretty questionable,they are amusing,and the serious ones generally get an honest response.Keep up the good work.
#6. Even if your answer is 100% correct, and direct to the point, it can still be removed as a TOS violation. You can appeal, but since the people/machines taking care of appeals don’t have a clue as to what a correct answer should look like, your appeal will be denied.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I like the guidelines. Good logical rules.
I totally agree with the guidelines but I have to add there are some very inane questions and the spelling can be horrendous. It’s very hard not to comment but will try.
How about rules for posting questions? No questions asking people to do someone’s homework, about hair, makeup, clothes, regarding boyfriend’s, girlfriend’s, best friends, etc,, whether you have an illness, are pregnant, or the flu, asking how to “loose” weight, what you should eat, drink, where to go to school?
Until you begin to deal harshly with your Y/A stalkers, those who follow other posters around y/a with the sole purpose of either leaving nasty remarks or a multitude of thumbs down on solid, thought based answers, then all of your work is for naught. In the time I’ve been on y/a the same people are getting by rudeness and nasty remarks in spite of the number of times they’ve been reported. What’s up with this? I think we, the y/a community deserve an answer.
I REALLY try to always follow these rules. but sometimes I don’t understand just why people would not follow it. and sometimes my questions got deleted with any reason I don’t understand. I thought I’ve read and understand the community guidelines but why did they report me?
My only problem is when I ask a personal question people always give rude answers and it makes me really upset.
Stephen K needs to read and follow rule #1…”Remember that you are answering to help the asker: Don’t answer just for the sake of getting points”
#6. Even if your answer is 100% correct, and direct to the point, it can still be removed as a TOS violation. You can appeal, but since the people/machines taking care of appeals don’t have a clue as to what a correct answer should look like, your appeal will be denied.
What is also needed are rules for asking questions. Some of the dumbest misinformed questions clog the Politics & Government section. Could there be a way to thumbs down questions or give minus stars?
ausome
I always have trouble understanding other user’s answers when they don’t use correct grammar. I always try to cite where I found my information from. Some people simply link to Wikipedia, but that doesn’t always help the person who asked the question. I also like to check several sources outside of Wikipedia and than send them multiple links along with my paraphrased answer.
Very concise. Thanks. 1 thing I don’t like is when people try to cyber-chastise you & talk down to you like a naughty child, & they act like your problems are theirs. If they’re SO frustrated by my question, then they should do like rule # 2. I have a lot of family-related issues & self-issues, & I come for advice, & people blame me for my problems, not knowing what happened, & they make me feel worse. I sometimes wonder if we were webcam-to-webcam, if you can see their raging temper. I’m not here to be silly or ask for attention. My problems are unusual, & I have a disability. I consider myself a Y!A veteran, since I’ve actually been here since 2006, but people treat you like you don’t belong here.
very nice advice : )
everyone should stick to them, don’t you think?
Why not have a singles and dating category by age groups? Im tired of seeing those teenagers questions. Not everyone is going to apply by the 5 golden rules to answering questions. Who takes this site seriously anyways?
Very nice .. Let’s all wish all people follow guideline # 2, it’s very improtant.
thanks Yahoo ! Answers.
“Yahoo! Answers is a diverse community where everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”
Incorrect…should read: “Yahoo! Answers is a [semi] diverse community where everyone is entitled to their own opinion as long as the opinion or idea conforms to someone else’s opinion that makes a choice not to be offended.”
Anyone can choose to be offended by anything at any given moment. Should I suddenly feel the word “with” is used in the “wrong” context, or just choose to take an exception, in general, to the word; or if an idea is “unreasonable” or contrary to my particular beliefs, even though it is not violent, etc in nature, I can report it (anyone can choose to be “disrepected” by any idea – by submitting a person for a violation for expressing and opinion is being equally disrespectful in return).
Also, why isn’t the person’s text reporting the violation passed on the the alleged violator? Further, why doesn’t Y!A specify which guideline or TOS has been violated? It would make it easier to validate / defend an answer in the request for reinstatement…or is that not what Y!A is interested in, true diversity?
thats lame… actually because of your 3rd class management no one cares about yahoo answers now days…
This applies everywhere except the Polls & Survey section. We rarely get serious answers there.
What you need is to make a suggestion to the asker of the question …
If you feel the need to ask a question – please resolve said question …
It is disheartening for those who go to lengths
to research an answer to a question only to
have the person who “wanted to know” not
even bother to acknowledge anyone’s answers –
not only is it rude but leaves the question
open to the offenders with multiple profiles
to “vote” for theirself
There should be a penalty for not
resolving your own question
I do get tired of people wanting answers to homework questions. I understand if someone is stuck, and maybe needs help with a question, but to just post their entire homework??
This is what I don’t consider answering a question properly: when answerers scold the people for asking a particular question, like the ones in Books and Authors. And some are quite snide and rude when answering like that which is uncalled for. People asking for help with their homework, for a book summary, websites for reading books online are looking for help just like anyone else. If you don’t like or agree with those questions then fine. But don’t use YA to get up on a soapbox and lecture these people on how wrong their questions are. Odds are they’re not going to care that you don’t like their questions anyway. They’re looking for help with a question and you’re not really helping them, at least in the way that they want. Plus, you’re getting points for doing essentially nothing but telling someone that they’re wrong about something.
If you don’t like their questions then here’s a thought: don’t answer them! Ignore the questions. If no one answers them then they just might stop. If you still feel the need to scold and lecture then email them. If you can’t email them then move along and try to really help someone else with a real answer.
Candy: Personal questions are by far the most difficult to answer because they (the users) will never know the full story. Most wish they could give better advice, but like you said, they don’t know you. There is only so much people can do to help before they lead themselves to the conclusion that part of your problem/s may be yourself.
I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m insulting you. I’m only trying to reason why you might be having trouble asking for advice.
Does this “answer” meet the above criteria?
Perhaps starting up a course of deep, long-term psychiatric treatment would be in your best interests before anything else.
If not, why was it not deleted? Especially when I reported it. Could it be that the answer came from a Top Contributor which means that he or she is above the law? The funny thing is that this answer got 6 votes for best answer and I’ll bet anything that this person voted for him/herself 6 times. It is hard to take these blogs and the Community guidelines seriously when people like this get away with violating them. Wake up Yahoo Answers! Stop preaching responsibility if you are not going to hold ALL users to the same standards. Stop wasting time with all of these cosmetic changes and start working on the REAL problems that you would be aware of if you would actually read these posts and your forum. I often wonder how a million dollar company can employ a bunch of people with 5 cent brains.
Thanks for restating the guidelines to the people that already follow them….
But can you PLEASE adress the trolls which are apparently are in your blind spot?
You can find them in ANY section and it only takes like a minute anyway…
I like that! Majority doesn’t.
Why was my comment removed? All I said was that one guideline for answering questions should be that you shouldn’t use your answer to lecture people on how wrong their questions are, the way some people do in Books & Authors. There’s a few people there who jump on questions that ask for homework help, a book synopsis, links to free reading sites, etc. I said that if you don’t think those questions are valid fine, DON’T answer them; move along to another question. Don’t use those types of questions to lecture and scold people (some in a nasty or condescending tone) about how wrong their questions are. Most don’t care that you think they’re wrong, they’re just looking for a REAL answer to their question. If you want to lecture them then do so by email and if that’s not possible then DON’T answer that question. You shouldn’t be allowed to get points just for scolding people.
Okay, that’s weird. Now I see my original comment! It didn’t appear on the main page of the blog, when I just checked it a minute ago. Strange.
Good advice. I am guilty of giving silly/crazy answers sometimes because I have a “dry sense of humor”. Don’t mean to offend people though and will try to be more informative than funny in the future.
Wow! positive feedback I missed it.
This is really good because I myself have experienced getting answers like LOL or another question which really didn’t help. I just do hope that people will follow these and that they won’t abuse the thing which they call “freewill”, which is sometimes misunderstood by many.
the other thing is that REAL moderators need to patrol the sections on a daily basis
the other problem is in the XBOX section is all the people asking for free xbox live trial codes, i hear of a lot of users questions being deleted for no reason, well…delete all the xbox live free trial code questions
Good common sense rules, only some people think they don’t have to follow any rules. About spelling and proper grammar: At first I was also guilty of correcting them, until I realized not all askers have English as a first language. But for those who do have it as a first language, there is no excuse for bad grammar, no punctuation and incorrect spelling. There is a button for “Spell check”, and if you don’t have one on your computer, there is a book called the Dictionary. Using text and twitter abbreviations is also irritating when emailing, answering questions, etc. The only things is that when I try to use proper punctuation, I get a “suggestion” of using too much punctuation. Maybe you need to revise that notice for those of us who use proper punctuation.
I’d actually like to see some changes in the reporting system and how it’s decided what answers get deleted. I once answered a question of someone who admitted to abusing animals and was thinking of progressing to harming people. I told that person to please seek professional psychological help. I didn’t use any nasty language and I wasn’t mean in any way. But I got reported because the person who asked the question thought that I was insulting him/her because I recommended psychological help. I couldn’t figure out why on earth whoever reviewed the question and answer couldn’t see that my recommendation for psychological help was reasonable based on the question that was asked. For a long time afterwards, I was afraid to answer any questions at all because there seem to be no reasonable guidelines for reporting. Anybody can be reported (and risk losing their Yahoo account) just because a mentally unstable person decides to report you for no good reason!
And while some legitimate and well-meaning answerers get reported for no good reason, there are those who ask questions or give answers that promote animal abuse or make fun of someone’s problems and they never get reprimanded. I assume that they don’t face any consequences because I keep seeing the same ones continuing to show up.
I am DISABLED. Iti s hard for me to type. Harassing me over not being grammatically correct or having typos isi ILLEGAL accodring to US FEDERAL LAW (ADA) If i take the time to corect everything-i will never gert to mosr quetsions —and often those people with have no answer or wrong answers…part of my disability is exhaustion–i am just too tired to tak eth time to correct my typing
Lol blah whatever…If I have a serious question the last place I would look for advice is this site right here
http://answers.yahoo.com/
Does this “answer” follow the above criteria?
Perhaps starting up a course of deep, long-term psychiatric treatment would be in your best interests before anything else.
Or does this count as an answer because the user who posted it is a top contributor who is basically above such things as laws and community guidelines? What is also funny is that this alleged answer received 6 votes for best answer. I am sure that this user used six different accounts to vote for him/herself. I also reported this answer and it was never deleted. It is really hard to take your blogs and guidelines seriously when when you hold about 40% of the community to the standards and allow 60% to act as if they are above the law. Yahoo’s response to this is to take the ostrich approach to the problem and create another cosmetic change to tell the community “See, we are doing something to earn our paychecks”. Unfortunately, what you are doing is not what the community wants. Successful businesses got that way because they listened to the customers and gave them what they wanted. Yahoo seems to view their customers as an inconvenience to be dealt with.
Yeh uh, I pride myself on giving somewhat light hearted answers. thus the name: Wrong Answer.
Nobody likes a rule nazi.
I once reported some-one for posting a question, ostensibly about help with an essay…the essay was about ways of torturing a small child…he even wrote what he had already written which was horrific, and then asked for other suggestions.
I ran a check over a period of time….obviously, AY didn’t consider what he had done as a violation since his question remained. Yet, I see others who have deletions over petty little things.
I don’t believe human beings read these things.
From what I’ve read on this comment page it looks like Y/A has more tweaking to do regarding the abusers to the the 5 Golden Rules. I must agree with several of the posters here about reporting abusers & how many still get away with their abuse & others are penalized because the staff has not thoroughly checked into why the member was reported for a violation.
As for spelling and grammatical errors, as you stated…Yahoo! Answers is a diverse community with members from many different countries that not always speak English as well as others, & the spell check doesn’t always function properly,(*note: no spell check for this comment post).
Please take some of the suggestions from this comment page to the Five Golden Rules to heart as many here are trying to contribute positively for the betterment of Y/A.
111
Why are my questions not being posted? I asked a question, and it is nowhere to be seen. And stop unfairly removing our questions and answers and then not putting a reason it was in so-called violation.
！！！
Under your “Be polite and respectful” you might want to remind your audience here that not every one is a US citizen and so there are other ways of spelling words – remind users that there is a global audience and respect should extend beyond agreeing or disagreeing with the wording or subject matter.
Sadly these are the 5 things most people DON’T do on YA. A pitty there’s no the thumbs-down button doesn;t deduct points for lack of netiquete.
guh…shoulda grammar checked before I posted that… >_>
I think that too many people don’t look over their comments to make sure they don’t have typos.
There are so many things these rules skip that need to be emphasized. Here are some:
Don’t curse.
Don’t duplicate your answer.
Don’t duplicate your question unless you didn’t get any good answers the first time.
Don’t report an answer or question for abuse if there’s nothing on it that’s against the rules.
Don’t answer or ask a question that could possibly be against the rules.
Don’t be a ‘report freak’. If you keep on reporting answers or questions that you aren’t sure about, people will hate you for it, especially if you didn’t need to report it.
There are probably more that I can’t come up with. Oh well. You get the point.
Do I get points for responding to this? (joke)
Just wish this courtesy was shown by most atheists in the religion & Spirituality section.
And many of the questions are shown to mock the Christian faith.
As a man thinketh, so is he.
even if you follow all these rules there is no guarantee you will not be receive a violation notice.
Is not following numbers 4 and 5 a violation?
Yahoo reporting is complete rubbish. I got an answer removed without warning or explanation, I think just because I linked to a picture of a nipple — when the question was about someone’s health concern in this area who was very worried!! If Yahoo had taken two seconds to look at the actual answer and realise it was the ONLY one which addressed the healtch oncern of the questioner rather than just an “oooh i don’t know, see your doctor” they would have realised they should have deleted every other answer first before removing mine, as those answers actually violated community guidelines by not answering the question.
It’s a disgrace. Y!Answers wastes precious space on the web with false rules and guidelines that it does not follow itself.
well that is nice but I wonder what are the 5 golden rules for asking a question since two of my questions were taken down and yes nobody did answer them but they were taken down and not by me
What really gets me frustrated is when a “Top Contributor” answers a question and gives a thumbs down to every other answer just to make theirs look better. I’ve had it happen to dozens of my answers!
Thank you so much for posting these five rules to live by here on yahoo answers.These are great rules and what people like me live with everyday here.Being the top answerer in my section ive always remembered the true reason this site means so much to HELP others with there questions.I would like to thank all on the yahoo answer team that use this site to make the world a better place.
I enjoy all of yahoo answers. It gives me something to help someone else and makes me feel good to be able to offer a few words that might help. Some of the questions are truly not able to understand how they even were passed to qualify as a question, but as you say it is a free opinion and just move on to another question that makes sense. Thank you for being here yahoo answers.
The politics section is way too inflammatory now, so I don’t even go there anymore.
And how to answer questions like “How do I look” and then they post picture of a beast from a movie. or those who post too long question, explaining “Does he/she love me?”
how am I supposed to read all that and answer. my strategy, if you don’t know the answer at least answer, I don’t like my questions go without answer.
Personally I like the 5 Golden Rules but in reality they are a joke because Y/A doesn’t even respect them. If I asked the question : My husband is getting very violant with me and has slapped and hurt me several times. I know I should leave him but I feel sorry for him what should I do ?
and the answer is DUH ! is that an answer the asker was looking for and why didn’t Y/A remove it. I tell you why because nobody from Y/A really monitors what is going on and they just remove Ques. and Ans. to make it look like they really care.
this is annoying. iv waited like 10 hours now
NOT AGAIN!!!!!
Sometimes the best answers are the ones the person doesn’t want to hear and generally they take as an insult. NOW WHAT YAHOO?
Not a bad blog you posted!
marshall/outlaw! best o’ both worlds baby!!!
I feel so “Sorry” for the “innocent people” that come on YA’s to ask a serious question and I check the answers and it is so “Sad” and “Embarrassing” to read the GROSS off the wall answers.
I’m sure many do not ever come back.
I also feel “Embarrassed” when a person from another country gets the same insane, sexual and gross answers. I feel they are representing our county and me. No wonder the world doesn’t like US.
I feel YA’s has really gone down hill and getting worse.
I am very careful when I report an question or an answer because I want to be respected. I report Illegal Drug Reference daily and I don’t see a lot of them removed…they just go on to voting.
I also agree with the above poster that Stephan K just runs around as fast as he can to collect points. I have never read one of his answers that was truly helping someone.
YA’s is all about helping others but it sure doesn’t work that way 1/3 of the time. I enjoy giving the best answer I can so I work on BA’s not points.
Maybe if it was all about BA’s and NOT “Points” some things would change for the best. Just my 2 cents. PS. Thank-you for the attemp at making this site better. I’m sure it is hard on the staff too!
Blessings…..
I think these guidelines will help a lot of people.
-AJ
Always be polite, spell check (edit) answer, and just use common knowledge to answer a question. when needed give a source in answer.
this blog seems to give good guide lines.
As obvious as this is going to seem, the know-it-all nature of many members of the Y!A community makes these rules incomplete without a reminder to actually READ THE FREAKIN’ DETAILS, instead of repeating back to the asker something that he explained in the question, as if it were the answer!
I seen an ad on yahoo answers for teaching you how to make your yahoo avatar into a super hero. I thought it was cute so I clicked on it and then suddenly I’m taken here into following rules. Maybe somebody is bad on linking CORRECTLY or this calls for false advertising.
This is stupid.
I could not agree more with dyan 12/24/09/7:07pm. I also try hard to give honest and informative answers, some of which were removed for invalid reasons and over-ruled by the staff. It is a pity that the gross off-the-wall answers are not removed immediately. Any answer with less than 25 words should not even be admitted. They can hardly constitute a reasonable answer. I hope you find a better way of dealing with this site. But thanks for at least trying!!
I am just learning about this web site. I am comfused a lot on how this works but i hope that i can do this i am not here all the time
Sometimes, the links are unnecessary, in my opinion (IMO, hehehe), because there are a lot of posters who post questions about relationship and the best answers are by personal experience.
There should be a link for more scholarly questions…
Well, seems I’m not the only one that sees some flaws in this site. What amazes me most is how some of the questions seem to be the same. When I say the same I mean just that. For instance in the pregnancy section, you can see someone ask 10 different ways could I be pregnant? How do you get pregnant? Its completely stupid. Than you’ll have someone answer sayin check out this website and nothing else.
I’ve reported people for asking the same types of questions. I’ve reported folks for giving the website answers. But some of the questions themselves shouldn’t even be allowed to be asked. While I’ve answered questions here, some pretty personal ones I may add, I’d never ask anything serious on here. Most judge you and speak without even giving you a real answer.
If someone takes the time to share their problem with strangers on a computer, either they seriously need help or opinions, or they want a serious answer. Not something smart or judgemental as I’ve seen so many. And tell me, what’s the point in having points anyway? Makes it more of a game. The thumbs up or down is another thing, what’s the purpose??? I mean really!
Just my opinion.
Since you’ve asked, Answers, as far as I’m concerned, needs a COMPLETE overhaul. This is just about the poorest run forum I’ve ever come across, online or elsewhere. I say, either shape up or drop the whole damn thing…!
The Five Golden Rules is very good!
note) I see people all the time with pictures of stuff I really don’t want to see.( like people in the nude) There are kids on this thing.(I’ve seen it). I have a pictue of my cat and thats fine. So I would hope that for the COMMUNITY they would change that to where you can’t have pictures as that.
Well hope the people who do this will fix that!!!!!
Add something to my last one…
I won’t chack you as Best Answere if there pic is something provicitive!
Thats my advice!
i am just learning to do this, and have read most of the input on this page from everyone. it’s helped me understand and see more of what it’s all about. thank you! i haven’t tried to offend anyone, i feel a genuine caring for others. i think it’s very rude to just attack people who aren’t as good at something as you are. if i have offended anyone,it hasn’t been out of rude intentions,i tend to defend the underdog. old habits there.
i see some people complaining about getting thumbs down .I sometimes give thumbs down to an answer that i personally disagree with not to disregard your answer but only to help the asker make a better choice . I don’t mean to hurt someones feelings . i have also given thumbs up to other peoples answers even if I answer myself . sometimes we forget pertinent info in our answer , I’m guilty myself
I thought this was an opportunity to ask the questions that are difficult and nobody else wants to hear!
I thought this was an opportunity to learn what others think I should think about.
I don’t see how improving my skills to convince and sell something, even an idea, is of mutual benefit.
I think you are doing a Great service to give us an opportunity to write what we wouldn’t say elsewhere for reasons too numerous to mention.
I Thank You!
that was great i always follow these rules
Welcome
above rules must help to make the community more helpful and disciplined.
Hope for a long run…..
Kindness goes a long way!
I will keep this suggestion in mind.
This is great and I really think that people should follow these rules!
is there a all pokemon action replay code for pokemon diamond?
UMMMMM, first of all since IT IS a FREE COUNTRY,I can ask anything i want to ask. Don’t I have a point!
It’s nice to have a site like this…I’m looking forward on your answers and suggestion….(*_*)
mOre pOweR…
I agree with Bruce, who posted on 9/13 – “How about rules for posting questions?”
Yahoo! Community is so avidly enforcing rules on the people who are attempting to help/assist (the answerers) that they completely overlook the fact that easily 50% of the problems could be completely removed if the QUESTIONS were regulated instead of the answers.
My favorite posts (NOT):
“DO not tell me this is bad, but I want to…” How do you answer a question when the person posting is already aware that it’s not a good idea and tells you NOT to answer before you CAN?
These are the people who get very surly and nasty in email (though their own is closed) and who post hateful and degrading comments if you dare to answer.
Yahoo! needs to focus more on controlling the type of questions that can be posted. Not on fining/scolding the people who have provided their time to try to answer.
awesome, not that many people listen to it, whenever i ask a question there is always atleast one person being unhelpful, disrespectful, or just plain disturbing. Thankyou for helping me become someones hero by these 5 tips!
And then there’s the questions that are obviously off the questioner’s homework.
At least rephrase it such that it looks like a concept that you’re tuly interested in…
Just the same when I answer. I could answer: 42.
Or I could show you how I got 42.
I like this article. It teaches us teachers/answers what to do and what not to do.
I’m tryin’ to find a answer to my question and NO ONE’s answering it!
Wow this is really nice… i’m gonna start following these rules
sad not many others do esp. the trollzs uhhh YA would be better off w/o them lol
I’m with another poster here, the questions need rules too. It is sometimes too difficult not to respond to a provoking question with an angry answer. Some people will post questions asking, “Why does x group do such x things?” Or they will post a long diatribe about their political or religious view, and then lambaste anyone who might potentially answer them before the answer-givers can even get going. These people don’t want answers. They want to rant.
We should just do the best we can and hope others will follow.
k
hi how r u?
very v vv v v v v v v v v longgggggg
I agree with the 5 simple rules. I believe there could be more, but we do not want to get redundant. I have seen complaints about some of the questions asked, but I always take one thing into account when I read a question and answer it.
If the person asking the question knew the answer, they would not be asking it in the first place.
It makes me want to answer their question as truthfully, accurately and fully as possible, as I want them to have the correct information.
Love the Gold Rules, but clearly not everyone is following them. The two things I have an issue with on here that needs to be monitored is the constant business ads from Nike Shoes being posted every where on all sections of yahoo answers. They post their business ads to where it takes up the entire page when you ask a question or answer someone’s question. They are not the only company posting unrelated business ads to questions and answers. The other issue is illegal drug related questions about getting high that I have a major problem with. There are young kids on Y/A’s. Young kids are not to be subjected to exploits of illegal drug use. I am finding many questions on a daily basis asking: “How can I get more high off of this type of drug *****.” Or “How do you use this type of illegal drug?” And my personal disgusting favorite seen on here: “I want to start smoking *** , but I’m afraid to. How do I get myself to do it? My friends are all doing drugs and have asked me to join them.”
It’s terrible seeing those questions because of the easy provoking feedback do able on this site.
these are wonderful golden rules
I love responding to questions and I am happy to say that I have lived long enough to become wise on many levels and many subjects. I enjoy being able to respond to people with details, though it often makes the response longer, but I feel if you are going to answer a question, give as many details and/or personal experience examples to not only respond to the question, but show the person who asked, that you really care about helping them. I have found some very interesting ‘teacher-friends’ through this site and we have been openly able to exchange ideas and strategies to help each other as teachers. This is the most positive thing I have found about Yahoo.
I find answering questions very rewarding. It feeds the teacher in me. I love the whole process of educating – bothe teaching and learning. I do try to take every question seriously. However, some questions seemingly try to get negative reactions in the answer. This can be a lesson in self-control. I do admit I have failed a few times. This has resulted in some deep, self examination. Since I have been participating in this Q/A process, I have come to realize people can act quite differently under the guise of a cyber name. Ethics and morals often contradict between cyber self and actual self. What does this say about our present society of people as a whole? It is something to think about. Thanks Yahoo for supplying an easy fitness program for my brain.
Can I make a suggestion for editing after posting? I could use that about now. (Whenever my previous post is read, please disregard the “e” in the word “bothe”.) Oh well, something else I have learned; look over your post more closely before hitting the submit button. My brain is feeling that exercise. Hurts a little. “No pain, no gain” – right?
Thanks!
i found it somewhat helpful. however i think more should be stated on what constitutes a violation. when you have a constant problem in all of the sections of either an advertisement to buy goods or computer generated obscene pictures.
The thing that yanks me is anyone asking me to do their work for them when they’re too lazy to even look it up on Wikipedia. They should be banned. Ditto anyone who does not acknowledge their own question/answer.
Great rules. Hope people care about this.
I hate it when they rate me thumbs down too, but that’s their opinion.
Thanks, this will really help me in answering my questions on yahoo!answers.
Let Wisdom Ring!
Ok sorry thought police. I didnt know there were rules to answering questions. What next? Rules to ASKING questions? Oh and you forgot rule number 6.
“Ask a stoopid question and expect to get a stoopid answer”.
I actually already knew all that stuff! and how does that do with being a super hero?
I don’t think most of the people will appreciate these rules.
Great rules – need them! May be add “Always try to view a question in positive light before answering, knowing that the ‘negative tendency’ in us all tends to interpret someone’s honest question negatively; failing which, just ignore the question!”
I follow it,but the point is,MOST people don’t follow it,and GETS AWAY WITH it!
DTX STD popup remedy: After disabling all of the toolbars as recommended, I found the culprit to be the Big Fish Games toolbar as the cause of the DTX STD popup
As we know it does not state that Adam and Eve had a daughter. could it be that the forbidden fruit in the garden was not a fruit. Could it have been a man?
The rule do look okay. We should probrably follow them more
i like to answer question
Very true Legend Lady*. Half the people who read this are more than likely already trying to incorporate each rule into their answer. And the other half think think this is pointless. I for one, already follow these rules because whats the point of answering a question that is not helpful? I put as much knowledge as I can into each and every answer. Kudos to you Legend Lady*.
that’s very bad,there is no response for the searching options.
You need to read the answer if someone reports it because i got reported for no reason all i put was (sorry never read any of them)
Lol, Screwy’s comment is hilarious. xD
yes ok, the rules lead you to super hero
?
but why cant we use txting lang? most people understand it and it saves time in reading and typing.
also i really dont like the spell checker….i cant tell you how many times i forgot to put the ” ‘ ” in don’t and i checked it to be dint….i hate that.
anyways… interesting rules that i probably never fallow:P:P:P:P
but i do have 17 best answers!
wow how do you people type all this
FOR ME ITS VERY IMPORTANT BE FOLLOW BY THE RULES. ITS HELP ME BETTER THING WHAT IS THE ANSWERS WAANNA BE LIKE.
These rules should mainly apply for those living outside Australia, but we tend to use a lot of slang and abbrev’s so it would prob apply mainly to us! lol.
Most everyone else has covered all of my gripes for the most part. I will simply add this. As much as you’d like to force everyone into a niche of nothing but questions and answers, remember we’re not androids. We’re social creatures who interact and perhaps even have conflict and disagree with each other. If you want to have it where someone simply plugs in a query and the Yahoo Answer-matic 3000 poops out the perfect answer, then fine. But, don’t expect us to always behave like robots.
I love this website.
I agree with this. I wish people would respect each other more in terms of insults and all.
I’m almost afraid to ask certain questions in some categories because of the mean things people had to say about it (in their answers). My questions are always harmless. Sometimes it’s hard to open up a bit.
Although I don’t agree with some of the suspensions my contacts have had, sometimes they are necessary. I hope everyone will realize how their insults and rude comments affect other people, whether it’s over the internet or not.
These guidlines should be followed by everyone.
Hello,I’m new here! This is my first post! I find many good information at this forum. I have bookmark this forum . I will tell my friends this site. Thanx for your sharing. I will come again.
I love Yahoo Answers. I made a mistake and asked what was on my mind about America. They explained to me why it was wrong because of what it could provoke in other people. The staff was very forgiving and knew I misunderstood the rules. They just want to protect everyone in the process and not turn it into an evil bashing site. If Yahoo Answers left the internet because we can’t follow simple rules of an etiquette nature, then we don’t deserve to get answers.
These tips are useless. I joined yahoo answers only a few days ago but 6 of my answers are chosen as best answer and i answered only 15 yet. I insulted in one answer and I got 6 votes. these tips cant be used in all questions… use your own heads to give a good answer.
It’s really hard to not type in the text way cause im always used to havin to type really fast from wen i have 3 or 4 people IMing me. But i could try. ^_^
do they really need to tell us what to do ? ;(
thank you.
it would be nice to see a system to rate questions too. same with voting for answers. could there be a “vote as worst answer”? or a vote as worst/stupidest question? also, despite proper categories existing according to subject/field, questions are often posted in wrong places. could there be a system to filter out or block such questions from being posted in wrong fields?
I think these are important rules to follow. As a hamster I am constantly having to review my spelling and due to my small brain size I have to work hard to stay focused on the question.
I am always respectful.
Visit my site if you want more advice on the Five golden rules for answering questions or other related dwarf hamster issues.
I really would like for childen to be excluded from this site. If they could be screened before visiting the site would really be neat, and more mature value would be added to this site.
I want you to have a site that can guide learners of internet to know how to do it very well, because we are on the net but we do not know how to do it
What do you do if you ask a question but people misunderstand and start saying mean things??
This is a great article. Ow Thanks !
Dear Yahoo Answers Blog! Congratulations on providing a forum for Yahoo users to offer their questions before the community and getting 70% relative answers. The Community Guidelines set by you is justified and adequately serves the purpose. Good Luck:)
I have said this before, but I’ll say it again, I really wish when we report answers or questions as violations, that we at least get told if it was a valid report or not. I understand the whole privacy issue of not telling us what was done about the report, but at least tell us if we are reporting correctly.
Also, is there a limit to the number of reports we can do in a day?
this address is right on; so mostly like common sense stuff right?
The question of unfair or irrational awarding ‘thumbs down’ is something which bugs yahoo q and a users and is universal and found on ever page and subject.
Like it or not, it is clear that there are both stalkers and bored individuals who award Thumbs down for either no reason or because they are stalking. Religious q and a forums get the most flak.
I have received many awards for ‘best answer’ yet there was only one vote and that was thumbs down. Clearly someone was talking the trouble to do that.
There’s a solution to this, but it would give the yahoo programme planners work to do, to format this.
Simpley add the user’s ID to the Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down, so everyone can see who is stalking. If I give a thumbs down, everyone can see that it was Gee Bee that did that. If a pattern becomes clear and there’s a storm of letters suggesting baning the abuser, stalking will cease.
For voting, users would see, e.g. ‘Gee Bee Thumbs Up’ or down.
I urge yahoo to consider this idea.
Post rules about voting please–it is a big confusion.
aye i luv yahoo annswers because i had a question about rayray from mindless behavior and i got exsacially wat i wanted to kno i luv yahoo #staymindless:)
As a brand new member of this community, I really appreciated having these 5 rules. Thank you YA for posting them.
Thank you so much for posting this. Theres nothing really new to me her. But its lovely to read them. It just gave me a great feeling to go and answer more great questions. I really love Yahoo Answers. Helping people out and sometimes you gets best answer. Its a great feeling. Thank you so much again. Keep the good work up.
i give really good advise but i cant see why my answers does not select as best answer.
Thank you for this golden advice , very nice . but still i m expecting more , particularly reportings and violations and suspensions .
What i don’t like ,here and any place else is that the truth of the matter is not allowed.for instance,most of us know that homosexuality has been the reason for every empire in the past to fall,but yet were not allowed to comment or contradict.And another thing,homosexuality was not in the minds of our for efathers when they wrote our constitution.They were starting a country not planning its failure
Bull. Until Yahoo Answers enforces rules properly and treats everyone who answers a question and asks a question equally, there’s no point in having any rules at all.
Yahoo answers has a STRANGE way of deciding which answers comply with TOS and which don’t.
I once was asked a questions that absolutely required a straight answer…well Yahoo answers considered it an abuse and you know what happens! Very frustrating.
The second time some bastard was reporting all my answers. They have approved my appeals (7) and still my account was shut off!!! Can you imagine that???
Also I have been watching the answers given by a so called “top contributor” – Almost all his answers were smth like: Yes you can; No, dont do that; No it is not!….you get the idea…and they have thousands of answers…HOW IS THAT YAHOO?
I think the above happens for a purpose…one that we NORMAL users don’t know of…only the gods of Yahoo Answers know it! And it probably has to do with money!
You should make it wear we cam comment back not to everyone but that one person if they have good advice and you want to ask more to them.
I think the perfect solution for the bad questions and answers would be to screen them prior to posting. That’s what a lot of other similar sites do to eliminate improper or insulting questions and answers. Also, I believe the people who arrive at Level 7 should be rewarded in some small way other than just points. The answers would have to be quality ones, not just two words or an insult. Maybe a prize would be an incentive for the smart alecks and nay sayers to clean up their act and provide a good answer. And I say to all my fellow answerers: Don’t answer a question unless you know the answer. I’ve seen many folks write one word answers just to get points.
That’s Great. Just wanna know, Can I link more than 1 source.
thanks in advance
yes you can
Phil did a good job winning the game from the Braves
when the game met nothing to them
Why are you telling us what to do? No, offence but WHY? This is so annoying!
More people on this site needs to read this because some people ask serious questions on here that could really help them, then people “answer” the question with one word or is being a SA towards them and their situation. Their not cool by doing that just letting them know -_-”
It would be nice , when I open my yahoo. mail It tell me YOU GOT MAIL.
do you have this ?
I have been through enough to help people, I use to help on a suicide prevention line for awhile it made me feel more gratitude at times in spite of what was going in our own lives. I had to go through many changes thelast six years, I had to have my right leg amputated. But I do not mind to talk with others if that is allowed. For mutual support. Different people have different issues and some of us have been through more than others but, count your blessings, daily. a gratitude list. Just a sugestion. Denise
I hate how people don’t actually follow these rules. Yahoo! Answers would be a nicer place if people were nicer to each other
I personally believe that “all” social networks are an “open” unsuspecting form of Microchip tagging, this also includes Yahoo Answers?
It’s plain obvious!
Just be careful what you say on here, you are feeding the elite your private weaknesses!
I’ve noticed you keep on removing my comment from public view, “WHY”? I “don’t” agree with corruption of any kind, so I will keep on posting this info daily, so that more and more people will “finally” wake up to this form of open micro chip tagging!
Yahoo answers isn’t for our helpful benefit, it’s simply to monitor the acceptance levels of this corrupt agenda!
You can close my account, I care not!
I will not be controlled like a sheep, I will keep on putting this info in all of my answers, to make people fully aware of this tagging!