Yahoo! Answers

Did you know that on average, 10% of questions are in tie-breaker status at any given time on Yahoo! Answers? And, at any given moment, there are literally millions of questions open on Answers?

For many members, it’s easy to get swept up in the “Ask” and “Answer” flow as you watch the steady stream of answers that come in when you ask a great question. But then the tough part comes: picking a Best Answer! How do you choose?

If you’re looking for a few tips on how to pick your next Best Answer, here are a few taken straight from our community:

• “To put it simply, I go with the one that is the most useful or the least useless. I do notice the number of thumbs-ups and downs the answer gets, and I use that and the level/BA percentage of an answerer to determine whether or not I should trust the answerer, but the main deciding factor is what I think of the answer itself. A concise but comprehensive explanation beats a long drawn-out half off topic lecture.” – Luigi
• However, “According to the specification of the question I read carefully and I compare it to the other questions, I make sure their answers make sense and have more clear explanations. Not always the thumbs up are right and this person can be wrong, So I read & understand before I give my best answer…8)” – “Evo_Raptor”
• “[…] If there are two equally good answers, I choose the one with better grammar, punctuation, and spelling.” – *Sombra*
• “I pick Best Answer by re-reading through all the answers again from my question. Then pick the one that was the most helpful, informative, and the answerer was polite while giving me the information I needed.” – Future Pet Vet
• “Whoever has clearly spent the most time answering the question and not just put silly 1 word answers or sarcastic comments. Also, if i believe the answer is 100% true.” – Craig and Charlie

Even with tips like these, picking a best answer can be tough—and for many Answers community members, it becomes so tough, questions go unresolved and end up in tie-breaker status.

But for those of you who enjoy helping the undecided pick a Best Answer, be sure to check out the Answers TieBusters group—a group dedicated to clearing the backlog of undecided questions found on Answers: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Yah00AnswersTieBusters/

All in all, remember: If you asked a question, choose a Best Answer! Otherwise your question may end up in Answers limbo, and you may never give someone the joy of earning a Best Answer!

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It happens sometimes: You post a question and get no answer, or you can’t find that “best answer.”  Here’s a quick reminder of how you can save points while getting the most  from your questions.

• Once your question is open for business, you can always add details. Just hover your mouse over the “edit” section under your question to more fully explain the scope of your question and what type of help you are asking for..

• Instead of asking the same question again, why not give the community more time to answer? You have the option to extend the expiration of your question by four days — plenty of time to increase your chance at getting the answer you are looking for. Since your question is initially given four days to be resolved, extending it means eight days to get an answer. At the end of the eight days, you will either have to pick a Best Answer or put your question up for voting. You will not be able to extend it any further. (Updated)

• If your question expires without an answer, it will disappear. If you just don’t see a great answer and your question goes to a vote (and the No Best Answer option is chosen as best) , you will recover the 5 points and you can post it again. However, think before asking again. Did you provide enough details? Was the question written clearly? Try to give your potential answerers as much background information as they’ll need! (Updated)

And finally, pick the best answer. It’s a great way to reward the person who took time to give a brilliant response to your question. Who doesn’t love a pat on the back from time to time?

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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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Many of us like to chat and play games, and there is a time and place for that—just not on Yahoo! Answers. The mission of Answers is all about sharing knowledge and advice within the community, not gaming and popularity contests. We’ve blogged before about the fine line between offering a poll query and violating the Community Guidelines. But after seeing another rise of avatar games, along with the ongoing complaints in the forum over this type of recurring abuse, we have decided to go over the issue again.

What’s the difference between polling and chatting?

Polling questions such as “Who do you think will win the election?” or “What kind of decorations do you put on a Christmas tree?” are OK. Advice-seeking and knowledge-worthy questions are more than welcome on the site.

On the other hand, questions such as “What’s your name?”, “Am I pretty?”, “Vote for the best above/below avatar,” or any sort of avatar games, name games, guessing games, truth or dare, trolling games, etc., violate the Community Guidelines and should be reported as abuse. We also consider questions that call out other users by name to be chatting. If you want to chat with another user, please use instant messaging or send email to that user. Yahoo! Groups is another great social networking resource, and a quick search on Yahoo! will point you in the direction of plenty of avatar and other game sites.

If you want to ask a follow-up question in response to someone else’s question and that person is not available via email or IM, post a new question that’s open to everyone in the community to answer—there might be someone else who’s better equipped to answer it.

How do I report chatting and gaming questions/answers?

Go to the page where the abusive question or answer appears, and click “Report Abuse.” To report abuse that does not appear directly in the question or answer (such as harassment, obscene avatars, etc.), you can still click “Report Abuse” and describe the abuse in the “Additional Details” box provided. Once you’ve reported the violation, you’re done. There’s no need to email the team—we will remove the abusive content.

When people use Answers to chat with each other, it lowers the quality of the site and defeats the knowledge-sharing purpose of the site. By sticking to the guidelines and reporting abuse, we can all make Yahoo! Answers an informative and enjoyable place to be.

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We receive a lot of feedback each day through the blog, Suggestion Board, and other channels of communication. One of the community’s most heatedly discussed topics centers around the quality of questions or answers.

As you probably know, our Community Guidelines exist to explain our daily moderation on the site, and also to help you form better questions and answers on Yahoo! Answers. Let’s look at some golden rules that will help improve your experience by increasing your chances of getting even better results:

1. Start your question with “who,” “why,” “how,” etc.: Formulate your question in a clear, straightforward way. This will help your question stand out to visitors who can share their knowledge and answer some questions. Make it easier for them to find yours!
Example: How can I solve a Rubik’s cube?

2. Use correct spelling (avoid SMS or texting language) in your questions: Correct spelling and grammar help people understand your questions. You’ll get better answers when others can clearly make out what you’re asking.
Example: “Who da actress dat plays Monica’s BFF…” should be “Who is the actress that plays Monica’s best friend…”

3. Open the debate (politely!): Remember, we’re a diverse community of people with differing opinions. Feel free to introduce your point of view with constructive thoughts or examples, or compare your vision with another’s personal experiences. And by citing sources, using quotation marks, and including hyperlinks, you make the community stronger and better informed.

4. Categorize your question in the proper place: Placing your question in the right category helps make it more visible to the people who can give you the best information and most accurate answers.

5. Respect other members and the opinions they post—do not target specific users: With a community this large, expect to find opinions that are different from yours. Everyone wants to be treated with dignity. Showing respect to others makes the community better for all of us. Don’t ask or answer questions about another member—let’s not engage in gossip. We’re here to share knowledge!

And remember, it’s always a good idea to search first to check if the question that’s on your mind has already been asked.

For more information, check our Community Guidelines or Help pages. Feel free to share other helpful hints with the community by leaving a comment below.

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