Help me give more helpful answers on AskMefi
February 3, 2009 3:34 PM Subscribe
How can I answer Mefi questions more helpfully?
It seems to me that there tend to be a lot of unhelpful answers on Mefi. Not to complain, because there are loads of wonderful, helpful people here, and because I know I'm guilty myself. I would simply like to think about how I could be more helpful and not clutter up threads with unnecessary or annoying answers. The guidelines mostly cover how to ask questions, not how to answer them. I'm trying to look at all the things that make an answer annoying and unhelpful, so I can avoid it myself (and I know I've been guilty in the past and probably will again once in a while in the future despite my efforts).
For instance, if someone asks:
I'm on the Snoogily Donglewonk Diet and I heard it's good to do low intensity exercise when you're on this kind of diet. Is there any data on how much I should exercise? I don't have time to do more than an hour a day.
I imagine some of the answers will be as follows:
1) Unsolicited advice (by far the most annoying and also the most common annoyance).
My brother's cousin's aunt's friend's chiropracter's goldfish didn't have success on this diet. Don't do that diet!
I know there are some instances where this might be appropriate, for instance if someone is going to unknowingly do something dangerous or illegal, but most of the time it is just annoying and derailing. I understand the urge, though!
2) Haven't read the whole question.
Try doing two hours a day.
3) Not even trying to help.
If you didn't want to get fat, you shouldn't have eaten so many cupcakes LOL!
4) Guesses from those who have no more information than the asker (when the asker was seeking information rather than ideas or opinions).
I never heard of the Snoogily Donglewonk Diet, but half an hour a day, I guess?
So those are the kind of responses I am going to make every effort not to make myself, which I can also use in situations outside Mefi. What other kinds of responses should I avoid making? Please don't link to examples or mention usernames. No naming and shaming, please! Please!
It seems to me that there tend to be a lot of unhelpful answers on Mefi. Not to complain, because there are loads of wonderful, helpful people here, and because I know I'm guilty myself. I would simply like to think about how I could be more helpful and not clutter up threads with unnecessary or annoying answers. The guidelines mostly cover how to ask questions, not how to answer them. I'm trying to look at all the things that make an answer annoying and unhelpful, so I can avoid it myself (and I know I've been guilty in the past and probably will again once in a while in the future despite my efforts).
For instance, if someone asks:
I'm on the Snoogily Donglewonk Diet and I heard it's good to do low intensity exercise when you're on this kind of diet. Is there any data on how much I should exercise? I don't have time to do more than an hour a day.
I imagine some of the answers will be as follows:
1) Unsolicited advice (by far the most annoying and also the most common annoyance).
My brother's cousin's aunt's friend's chiropracter's goldfish didn't have success on this diet. Don't do that diet!
I know there are some instances where this might be appropriate, for instance if someone is going to unknowingly do something dangerous or illegal, but most of the time it is just annoying and derailing. I understand the urge, though!
2) Haven't read the whole question.
Try doing two hours a day.
3) Not even trying to help.
If you didn't want to get fat, you shouldn't have eaten so many cupcakes LOL!
4) Guesses from those who have no more information than the asker (when the asker was seeking information rather than ideas or opinions).
I never heard of the Snoogily Donglewonk Diet, but half an hour a day, I guess?
So those are the kind of responses I am going to make every effort not to make myself, which I can also use in situations outside Mefi. What other kinds of responses should I avoid making? Please don't link to examples or mention usernames. No naming and shaming, please! Please!
This post was deleted for the following reason: hey there -- this pretty much should be in MeTa since it's pretty MeFi specific. -- jessamyn
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