Are you less inclined to answer a question when the asker has a history of not choosing a best answer?
I've noticed that some users constantly allow their questions to go into voting. That makes me wonder if they even read the responses they get. In that case, there's not much incentive to give a thoughtful response. Do you pass over those questions, or answer them? Would Y!A be better without a voting option?
2008-03-16T14:57:11Z
I don't check a person's profile or history before answering their questions. I'll answer any question as long as I feel I'm qualified to give an informative, helpful response.
I just meant that if you frequent one section long enough, you start to learn about other users and see patterns in their habits.
I answer questions even when I'm sure they'll end up in voting, even if I think the asker isn't even reading the responses, because someone else might read it and find it useful.
Thanks for the informative and thoughtful answers, everybody! Some of you brought up things that had never even occurred to me.
Cekker Kwann2008-03-16T06:21:49Z
Favorite Answer
My focus is not to garner points ~Which can not be used at my favorite shoe store, or anywhere else for that matter~ but instead to try to be of help to those in need. I think this is a reward in and of itself regardless of the questioner's reputation.
Good question. No, not really. I don't usually check the Asker's history before responding, except in very special cases, e.g. if I plan to write a long elaborate answer that will take me some time. Even so, I may go ahead and answer anyway; if it doesn't serve the Asker because they never come back, at least it will serve me (it's good practice) and others who may come looking for the same question.
But checking the Asker's history is something that I do advise others to do (I even included a comment about it in my unofficial YA tutorial), especially if they're easily frustrated with voting outcomes. We all know that some awful answers can win the votes, or even worse, the Question could end up as a tiebreaker for ever and ever.
And to answer your other questions, I usually answer them, like I said. And I don't think the voting option is the problem. Many users don't know that they're supposed to pick a Best Answer, many others don't know how (or they confuse rating, voting and selecting the BA), and yet others don't care. There's nothing Yahoo can do about the latter, but there's surely a lot that could be done for the former. Yahoo! Answers still doesn't have even the most basic tutorial for new users, something that I think would be extremely useful. To add to the problem, too few users vote, and consequently voted BAs are just as biased as the Asker's choice might be.
Wild Thang is right, but I doubt multiple accounts would stop if the 'boo-boo' was corrected. It would only mean one less vote to someone who will give others no chance.
I usually don't check asker history. I just answer the question as helpfully as I can. The asker can have 100% resolved questions, with none of them selected by the asker. All too bothersome if my answer is going to be short and sweet.
More often than not, voting outcomes are bad. In a Math question, there were three right answers, and one wrong answer. The wrong one was selected as Best by the Asker. In another question which I answered, another wrong answer was selected and the Asker wrote in comments: "First answer = Best answer." It's not like Askers are all that trustworthy either. I'd rather the questions go to vote if this happens consistently.
Many askers put something like a dot in the comments. They dont care who gets the 10 points, they just want the three points.
I don't think much effort goes into the choosing of Best Answer. Sometimes the "asker" will choose an answer as Best Answer and then ridicule the person with an added comment. I think all that goes to prove that YA is used by such a wide variety of folks, we can't even guess what motivates them. Consider this a way to fight boredom and do not hope for excellence in the exchange of information.
I don't look who the asker of a question is, unless I need to go to his profile for purposes of understanding something more about the question that I want to answer. If a question is interesting, then it doesn't matter who asks it. I post a reply if I think it would help. It is also too much to research the past history of an asker, just to decide whether a question should be answered or not. I would rather spend the time to research the question itself. The answer to questions are not just for the asker's benefit. A lot of other people, including answerers and others who may not participate in YA, may be interested in reading the answers to gain some insight.