Should Yahoo give people points for getting the most thumbs-up instead of letting the asker choose?

nah, that won't work either.

becasue most often, the thumbs-up/thumbs-down system works the same way. people thumbs-up answers they agree with, and thumbs-down those that don't.

i've answered questions factually before (like questions where the answers did not require a faith-based perspective) and gotten thumbs-down.

Points are just nice ego boosts, with a lil dose of knowing if someone has some credibility. It is nice to hear when your effort helps someone though. Guess I'd care more about fair if Yahoo ever starts making these point worth something. Until then, does it really matter?? It all pretty well balances out IMHO.

If you read a lot of the questions you know the person just wants to hear what they agree with...if points matter don't answer that person. I just answer if I have something to say.

BTW the thumbs up and down doesn't always work either, as the same problems exist there. For ex in this catagory if someone is quoting the Bible, all the other Bible quoters will give a thumbs up and those with other points of view will give a thumbs down.

But all that said....I've been as frustrated as you have in the past by the same thing!!! I'll have to remind myself of this answer the next time that happens hehe. Of course my fav pet peeve is when I give an answer, someone comes after me, restates the same info, and they choose that as best answer. Yup will have to reread when that happens too LOL

Just keep in mind, eri, that you frequent an area full of paranormalists and woo-woos who will routinely thumbs-down your good answers. The paranormal section of the *science* topic, <sheesh>, people like you will hurt their percentage by answering at all. And that's too bad. Skeptics should not keep losing percentage points for giving good and correct answers. There should be some consolation for the sacrifice, I agree. Points toward top contributor, or something.

I'm new at this, so probably not the best for giving an answer here. (Notice the question I directed to you today. Funny, I only posted that a few minutes ago! I must be psychic!)

And yes, we live in an age where people's rights are more important than what's right.

Who are you talking about, explorer? The only word she mispelled was "jeebus" and that was on purpose.

You have rightly pointed out (see even I have the same tone!) that in-numerous answerers exhibit sycophancy to the askers to garner the best answer.

Although I will personaly dislike the idea of giving points for thumbs-ups to those even if their answer is far better.

If we do so we would be playing yet again with the limits of the system of Y!A

Gang behaviour is rampant here and you have to keep in mind the mob psychology which is a double edged sword.

I've seen many brilliant answers recieving thumbs-down, just because the minians who are responsible are too pusillanimous to perceive the answers correctly.

The other side becomes evident for those who are popular in Y!A recieving 20-30....even 40 or more thumbs-ups for an answer, inspite of a presence of a much better answer!

These are the limits of the system which has some congenital faults, so we have to bear with it.

But I have an earnest request to all the askers to atleast read all the answers (at least go over them!) before choosing the best answer as the one (which comes first in chronology)which toady to each aspect of your question.

I have to agree with Crystallinectar. I once answered a question in the Dogs section, about whether the asker should race her cat to the vet in the wee hours of a Sunday morning or not. Everyone was telling her to do so, and I said to look into what could have made the cat sick, gave different options, and said if all else fails go to the emergency vet. It turned out to be nothing major at all, and she gave me best answer for acting rationally. I got 11 thumbs down for that.

Sometimes people just give thumbs down to make their answer a better chance of being chosen, and in this section, you will get people giving thumbs up or down, based soley on who the answerer is not on the answer given.

No, because the asker is the only one qualified to say which answer suited his question best.

I see where you're coming from, but I've selected answers to my questions that were not voted popularly because they were the best answer.

There will be abuse in any system, so long as people are willing to abuse it. That's why they show the other answers and not just the *best.

I would hope people are more concerned with actually answering/asking questions than the points.

Rest in the assurance that your well-thought out answer was read, and you don't Need the recognition.

Delusional people often choose answers that reinforce their delusions.

Thumbs up would never work because people would gang up and vote answers they wanted, or they make multiple accounts, etc.

The best would be for Yahoo to just leave Y!A entirely alone and just leave it as a "free speech" forum. What's the point in censoring what people are thinking anyway? The thoughts are still there, and anyone can get the gist of the spelling f-u-c-k without it actually being spelled properly.

How about 1 point for each thumbs up and still let the asker pick the best answer.

I think that is an excellent idea. I have seen what you describe many times. Often the most poorly written, poorly thought out answer gets picked simply because it pats the questioner on the back.

i nonetheless just like the thumb approach however the stars are adequate too. I can rapidly scroll via questions at the same time i appear on the stars and uncover probably the most exciting ones. I do not do it at all times, simply commonly.

that wouldn't work dear - sorry. All it would accomplish is pitting persons against each other similar to reporting trolls.

The tag "best answer" of course, is an oxymoron anyway. There will always be people who choose the answer that best fits into their box of brain.

Those of us who actually have more open minds ALWAYS appreciate yours and everyone else's 'best effort' to answer - so keep on thinking of the answers you give....

honesty is always the best policy.

blessings :)