What criteria do you use to select a "Best Answer" on Yahoo! Answers?

1) Most simply, does the response answer the question?

2) Does it answer the question completely, including any additional details that the asker has posted?

3) If necessary, does the answer include cited references?

If so, are the cited references valid and applicable to the question? Are they accessible to the asker so that the asker can verify the validity of the answer?

4) If applicable, is the answer polite? Does it refrain from disparaging the asker or other answerers?

5) If applicable, does the answerer use proper grammar and spelling?

In general, the first question to include the most of these will my best answer vote.

In some cases these criteria don't apply at all. For instance,

Math Questions

If it's a math question, then the first right answer gets the nod. If it's a complex math question, then the first right answer that correctly shows all work or provides an explanation gets the vote.

Opinion Questions

Some level of civility is required, and the first one to state their opinion well, whether I agree with it or not, will get the vote.

Yes, No, or Polling Questions

The first to answer questions like, "Do you watch Survivor?" and "How many prefer Starbucks over Seattle's best?" will get a vote. I try to limit how much I vote on these kinds of questions since votes per day are limited.

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I go by the quality of the answer and the relevance of it. I'm in university, and I cannot even begin to explain the importance of fully reading the question before hand and answering it directly. I have failed first year essays in the past for not specifically addressing the question asked. I've kind of brought that over to my selection methods on Y!A - the individual who receives the best answer is usually the individual who best addresses the specific question I had asked and doesn't go 'off-topic' which I find many answers do. It's the individual with the most relevant answer.

I also look at how much thought and effort the answerer has put into their response; I will almost never chose a single lined response over a response that is a few paragraphs long although there are some exceptions to that rule. I also choose the individual who best backs-up or defends their claims. Someone who just gives me an answer but doesn't bother to explain why they think that way can't expect a BA from me.

When I'm deciding what to pick as Best Answer, I follow several different steps.

First, I don't exactly judge by the number of thumbs up. Sometimes, what others consider a "great" answer, isn't what I consider a great answer. And sometimes, the best ones don't get any thumbs up.

Second, I consider how much the answer relates to myself. It's a lot easier for me to pick a best answer if I can relate to what they are saying. The best advice comes from people that try to "connect" with the asker by giving advice that they will find most useful.

Third, I think about how much the advice they give me will work. If the advice in the answer is practical, then there is no way that I can call the answer a best answer. I normally rule out ridiculous or sarcastic answers first, and then go from what I think is the best. I also think about whether or not the answer makes sense.

Fourth, I look at the grammar and spelling of the answer. I don't like to read answers that use text messaging lingo or answers that have a lot of misspelled words. It's almost like they didn't care enough about the answer to make sure that it sounds good or is spelled correctly!

Finally, the last criteria I use is the detail of the answer. Details can help give me a better understanding of the answer to my question. A question with a lot of detail usually is what I look at first, but a lot of times, the ones with detail don't make a lot of sense, so I have to consider that as well.

I usually go for the most COMPLETE answer. That one answer that fully answers the question. To this end, sources are very helpful (especially in an instance where more info is available and desired, but not necessarily pertinent to the question asked).

I do give some weight to the time of the answer (if one answerer does a good job of answering, any subsequent ones need to be noticeably better to be considered). Etiquette and grammar count too - I'll generally pass up the "OMG ur so stupid!!1!" answer will generally get passed up.

I do not normally consider the thumbs up/down it has. If it's my question, I figure I'm the best judge of what constitutes the best answer. If I'm voting on another's question, then their vote counts as much as mine. Besides, I've seen cases where it certainly appears that one bitter answerer has gone through and thumbs downed everyone else's answer to make their own look better.

It isn't always easy. I usually pick the one I feel will be the most helpful to the person asking the question. Sometimes there are lots of great answers. I could care less about thumbs up and thumbs down. A person who uses that for a criteria shouldn't be picking "best answer" as apparently they know next to nothing about the subject that is being referred to by the question. We should always remember we want to help someone not be petty. I have known of instances in the past where someone getting a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down" was because there were some who had a vendetta against a poster. We had this problem on the Genealogy Board about 2 years ago. A handful of people got on it and proceeded to call others "stupid": "idiots" etc. They talked down to people if they felt their question wasn't suppose to be on the genealogy board, such as "the Yahoo Idiots are at it again." They got reported. There were a couple of people who tried to bring civility back and it wasn't resented by that handful. Frequently people whose question is in the wrong category are newbies and the Yahoo System picked out the category.

Also there can be people giving thumbs down who might not know as much as they think they know about a subject and they think the answer is incorrect.

Edit: On the genealogy board anybody who answers "Thanks for 2 points" will definitely lose more than 2 points with thumbs down. That is gaming for points and a violation of Yahoo Answers. They really should be reported.

As the Asker who just spent 5 points to ask the questions, I usually want a reasonable answer that I can use. I've tried to be kind of specific about what I'm asking so I don't get answers that are too general or things like "look in the yellow pages" or something like that. I usually also indicate what I already know so answers can skip over that stuff. And then I read all the answers and choose the one that addresses my question to the specifications I've indicated (sounds like it's be always but so many people do not know how to read, or don't read the question completely, or get so carried away with their answering they digress) the best, with information that I can use. If I'm asking about caring for my wood floors, I don't need to read "Call a floor care expert." There are times when all the answers are useless or just reiterate what I've said I already did which failed. I don't bother looking at the thumbs because those are giving by other "answerers" who didn't need answers to my question. I have no idea what use the stars are.

The first criteria I use is that the answer must not be a reference from Wiki,It is the most unreliable source of information. I ignore thumbs up thumbs down as people will vote for friends. If the question concerns a subject with which I am familiar with I will select the correct answer. Some questions are just plainly ignorant,and, in some cases disgusting,these I report.

When i usually ask a question it's usually more of asking what people think of my question or my question will be something that happening to me at the moment and i need help with. I usually choose a best answer by the quality of the answer I usually choose if it actually helps me the most. I also think about how i would actually answer the question myself. Also if i feel the answer was really wrote with effort i usually choose it as best answer. But one of the things that i always do is to choose the answer which is the most polite and that is more like how i will answer it. If i ever feel that i can't actually choose my best answer i move on to the thumbs up that people received. And i can't choose from that i go on to putting it on a vote and seeing what people think. I also add a detail to my question saying the answers were all to good so i can't choose between them.

At the end though every time i ask a question i will always choose a best answer unless they are all to good. : )

I've only asked a few questions so far, all of them in the baseball or football section. How I pick the best answer is usually based on which one is the most helpful (not always the one that says the most). Really though, it depends on what type of question I'm asking, if it's an opinion question I will usually pick the one with the most thumbs up recieved, but if it's a question (where I need help) then I will pick the one that was most helpful to me.

I go by whatever was most insightful and helpful, most people don't list sources and I could care less about thumbs up(although I will double check the factual information if the answer seems to be attracting quite a few thumbs down.If there are two equally good answers I'll acknowledge the other one in the best answer. Answers with spelling or grammar so poor that I can't read them, large chunks of information obviously copied and pasted from another source or vulgarities are automatically disqualified. In questions that I know our based on opinion that I can't choose a best answer fairly I'll announce I'm not choosing best answer when it is posted so people don't agree with me just to get best answer.

I try to find someone who has addressed all of the points in my question and the extra information. If they didn't answer the questions I asked, or appear to have read and understood the question, I don't want to give them best answer. Sometimes it is though, and if it seems to have addressed some part or told me something at all useful I select it. If none of the answers addressed the question then I leave it up for a vote. I do like to see that people have provided their background source for the info, be it a website (and truth be told I don't like links, I want someone to give me the answer, that's why I'm here) be it personal experience from having tried it before, or whatever. If they can link to additional information that is useful too. So basically the quality, meaning had someone actually addressed the question as it was stated, provided that it was well stated.