On this site, do you tend to answer specific questions or specific people?

when i first started on Y!Answers, i was a little overwhelmed with the sheer volume of questions. where to begin? after a few days i started to notice a pattern of clicking on people's id names or avatars instead of browsing new questions. now i'm at the point where i almost exclusively use id links and avatar links to find new questions to answer. does anyone else work this way? or do you just click on answer and browse new questions. i'll expect to see a few familiar faces here!

On this site, do you tend to answer specific questions or specific people?
I'm right there with you Patzy!





When I first started on Y!Answers, I stayed up all night answering all kinds of questions b/c it was so new to me. Later just to find out a lot of the same questions were being asked over %26amp; over again. People didn't realize that Y! Answers had a search function.





I started off looking for familiar avatars like you but found that Y! Answers was getting more %26amp; more popular %26amp; it was harder to find your avatar friend.





It took me a bit longer than your few days to learn that I only actually enjoyed certain people's questions. Now, when I find someone who is thought provoking, I add them to my watch list %26amp; check their questions almost daily.
Reply:im following macsteed right now, than i`ll go behind you than marine,


you know why?


im tired of all the stupid qeustions every where i look.


thanx for weeding out the bad seeds for me ;)
Reply:i tend to answer questions in just specific categories.
Reply:I answer questions pretty randomly in a few categories, but sometimes I'll see new questions pop up that are also interesting. I have a few people that I check their questions on and you'll find there are people you have more in common with than others so you'll see theirs more often.
Reply:Specific questions of specific people because they specifically ask the specific kind of questions that specifically appeal to the specific kind of humor and knowledge I specifically have.





Was that specific enough? :D
Reply:I tend to wormhole through all of these questions..





I'll appreciate an answerer enough to look over their past questions / answers to give them a thumbs up on what I agree with them on. From them I find other people that have either asked an interesting question or have answered in a way that I thought was valuable and worthy of me looking into the next id's q %26amp; a's and so on and so on. Then I check back with some of my favorites I have discovered and see what they are up to lately. It's almost like chatting with more pure opinions and information on their views than it is just talking with someone.. I like many personalities in here for different reason, and check them all out on occasion depending on what mode I am in.





Thats where I find more quality people to answer, or questions that I like to answer, instead of seeing all the newcomers that ask all the silly questions that everyone else has already asked and to me..just takes up alot of space on the Answer Screen so it's harder to go page after page to find something of value to me.





But I will check the "All Questions" Answers Screen too.. for things that pop out at me, to see what new players are on, and to report the ones that are just really trying to offend, because I really like this forum, and wouldn't want it to go to crap while I am wormholing through all of my already respected advisors.
Reply:Excellent question! (Stop it, you're putting the rest of us to shame.)





As evidenced by the fact that this is the third question in a row of yours that I have answered since logging in, I clearly share your targeted avatar/questioner philosophy. However, I still like to keep a hand in by taking a peek at the home page on a regular basis and seeing if any recent questions are worthy of consideration. I believe this is essential as it keeps things fresh and allows for new faces/voices to enter the complex chemical composition that is my (frequently feverish) brain.





Another useful practice is to go through the menu of topics and see if there are any outstanding (preferably unanswered) questions available in specific areas of interest/expertise. I've employed all of these methods in the comparatively brief time I've been here and I highly recommend this approach for the reasons cited.





(Wow! That answer was pretty much concise and specific to the question posed. I should go see if I'm running a temperature or something...)





Feb 15, 2006 at 6:37 pm


"very thorough macsteed!! the day off did wonders for your storytelling!!" :)





Day off? So that's what that was... ;)
Reply:Browse 'All Questions' and answer interesting or stupid questions. Sometimes I click on the ID to see where they're coming from, and I may answer questions they have asked (or answered)...
Reply:i am like you first i don't know where to begin, but as i stuck with one category i see people who has interesting answer i begin to wonder what kind of question they have and start to click on the avatar


i also answer the question if i think i know the answer


before level three i am answering the question to get to another level so i a simple kinda anoyinf question that you don't have to think alot for the answer like gossip or opinion ( do you like brangelina) etc but now the more i am in YA i answer or discover something that give some information to me





well after all this forum was a good thing to spend your free time and getting more information





way better than just chatting or talking giberish





and to answer your question


no i didn't go specific question or person or topic


i am more like sporadic


i go anywhere
Reply:Hi Patzky! I do answer specific category questions but I do click on ID links too (that's how I found this question lol). If someone gives me good answers or is known to ask good questions I do have a tendency to seek those out and answer them.
Reply:Actually like most on the board while I ususually answer questions in topics that I know the most info about or that I find interesting. I sometimes will go to the avatars of specific people and answer some of the questions they have answered (some people consistently respond to good questions). I will also vote in unresolved questions from those people as well as rate best answers. I like to go to questions with intelligent discourse and answers.
Reply:I browse open questions and if I see a question I think I have the answer too, or have an opinion about I answer and/or read the answers to that question. Then I look for new questions on related topics and see if I want to answer those, Otherwise it's back to the main page and start from the top





Great question!
Reply:I usually answer questions that I find interesting and sometimes the ones that are worded stupidly.
Reply:I dont think there is really a method to my maddness. sometimes if I see an answer I like or can relate to I will go to that profile and check out thier q and a's to see where they are coming from. Maybe I will answer a question or two (or five). Then answer some of the ones they have answered. Then I go back to the main All Categories section and start the process all over again.





Some people ask lots of great questions (ahem, like Patzky) and I end up answering them over and over again. Then I go to my Q and A and I notice in the My answers column it goes patzky, patzky, patzky, macstead, patzky, patzky...........
Reply:to be honest, i am trying to get to unlimited,when i reach there i am going to become very selective,for now i am looking at my points level,along the way i do answer questions that deserved serious answers.
Reply:Good morning patzky!I tend to answer whithin specific categories but,more and more, as I'm getting to know people here,I click on their avatars and answer some of their questions and/or the same questions that they've answered.You are one of my targets,at the moment... :)





P.S.:Even when I feel that I'm not able to answer a particular kind of question,I like to read the answers from some people,you included.


Wow,this sounds like I'm crying to be choosen here!This is not the case,I promisse!
Reply:First I check out my friends (they don't really know that they are my friends, but they are) and then I browse through the gen pop of questions. I've tried choosing specific categories...but I kind of get bored. I like the variety.
Reply:I browse the questions and answer the ones I actually think I know the answers to, or sometimes the ones that are so rediculous that I feel a need to get sarcastic.
Reply:Specific categories only.
Reply:I answer specific questions.
Reply:I look at the questions, not the person asking them.
Reply:i answer whatever i know. or if i feel like it (mostly in cases i don't know many things about a topic) with a non-insulting joke. But definately i take into account the question itself.
Reply:I feel the same way you did when i first came on yahoo answers. The way I enjoy it most is to click on all categories and read the questions; then answer questions that I have an opinion about or that I feel I might be able to help with. It's fun that way cause you get to see such a wide variety of questions and answers!
Reply:Any to my full knowlege
Reply:If i have an answer to a question i answer it no matter who it comes from. Occasionally i look up some familiar id just to see what new queries that person has come up with. And sometimes i browse questions from my favourite categories.