Good question/answer sites?

August 14, 2006 1:32 PM

Why do I get really stupid answers at answers.yahoo.com and intelligent answers here?

I asked the reverse question here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AgwkCmW35tnSlP2It_F8VO4ezKIX?qid=20060808131718AA3rBo7

I was hoping for some sort of analysis of what types of people visit the respective sites and perhaps finding out an opinion on which question/answer site is the best, after reading this:

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/53876

posted by zzztimbo to society & culture (25 comments total)

Maybe you ask really stupid questions!
posted by thirteenkiller at 1:33 PM on August 14, 2006

Maybe you ask really stupid questions!
posted by 517 at 1:34 PM on August 14, 2006

Yahoo has lower community standards. For instance, this stood in your other thread without comment:

"There is know stupid question or answer.... "

This answer would have been savaged at length here, in the unlikely event that it was ever posted in the first place:

1) No not know.

2) The saying is "there are no stupid questions." It doesn't say anything about answers.

3) There are in fact both stupid questions and stupid answers.

And then Jessamyn would have deleted it.

We're just better.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:39 PM on August 14, 2006

the fact that you have to pay to play here.
posted by Izzmeister at 1:40 PM on August 14, 2006

The point system.
posted by boombot at 1:41 PM on August 14, 2006

Because AskMe is not widely available--it is mostly used by, and known to, people who frequent Metafilter. For whatever reason, a more-thoughtful-than-average group of people use the Metafilter sites, tell other thoughtful people about them, and so on. This is self-reinforcing. Yahoo! properties are much more widely known and used by a much larger group of people, and are not known for thoughtfulness. This, too, is self-reinforcing.

I think it's also imprortant that users have a real sense of ownership and community here. You don't get that from Yahoo!, and it's probably impossible, given Yahoo's size.

Here's a self-link for you: I talked about this effect on my blog (using MeFi rather than AskMe, but I think the observations are about equally valid for both sites).
posted by lackutrol at 1:43 PM on August 14, 2006

Nobody respects the Yahoo site. There is no real sense of community or even cohesion and recently it has gone to the dogs.

There is a high level of respect on here both from the fact you pay to enter, but also because while there is moderation here, the users are by and large trusted to keep the place useful. And it's also run by a human face who might cry if you really upset him.
posted by fire&wings at 1:44 PM on August 14, 2006

1- Limited questions per user
2- stupid questions get deleted
3- Moderators who do their job
4- Metafilter has a vetting system, you pay, you are scruitnized, you are mocked if found lacking...
posted by edgeways at 1:45 PM on August 14, 2006

How many people use this site?

How many people use Yahoo?

Do you really think the general public at large is able to come up with intelligent answers?
posted by agregoli at 1:45 PM on August 14, 2006

This is a stoopid question. Don't you no anything? kthnxbye.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 1:52 PM on August 14, 2006

Could it be that most of us paid $5 to join?
posted by superboy422 at 1:55 PM on August 14, 2006

I think most of the answers are pretty on-target, but I have to say that I doubt the $5 is that much of a factor. I joined before that was instituted, and I don't notice much if any difference in quality between Metafilter then and now. If anything the $5 is maybe a slight discouragement to sock puppeteers and spammers, but we still get those too.
posted by lackutrol at 2:00 PM on August 14, 2006

it's not the $5 alone; its the dreaded one week wait.
posted by Izzmeister at 2:07 PM on August 14, 2006

Because the people that write: Do clouds move or are motionless? are answering your questions.

I'd guess because it's more of a fun past-time rather than a community. There's no barrier to entry and if you really wanted a decent Q&A site, you'd find it or maybe your peers would recommend it. Also, from the questions I read on here, my impression is that the MeFi group is probably a little better educated than the average Yahoo user (who, keep in mind, is probably 13), which also may have something to do with it.

p.s. Thanks for sending them over here! Really appreciate it if they're so bad at answering questions!
posted by ml98tu at 2:08 PM on August 14, 2006

Gah! Why'd you have to ask that question there? Two of the responents said "Hey, thanks for the tip!" as their answer. If we start getting a flood of horrible question and answers here, I'm blaming you.
posted by piratebowling at 2:13 PM on August 14, 2006

Voodoo.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:13 PM on August 14, 2006

We're better because lame, jokey answers like this one get deleted.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:21 PM on August 14, 2006

MetaFilter seems to self-select for the kind of people who pride themselves on being right -- the kind of person who will wikipedia and google and dig through usenet to find the fact that backs up their opinion or perspective.

When it comes to certain debates (politics, whether or not to have kids), MeFites seem to fall into the same frothing at the mouth that any other site on the internet has, but for the most part, it seems as if people here are striving to find out things along with the OPs and trying to create a repository of good information and build a genuine community.

Why would Yahoo! be any different? For one, it's larger. And I'd guess the ease of becoming a part of Yahoo! doesn't filter out people who are more path of least resistance types who will give you answers based on "common wisdom" or what they've heard without backing it up or disclaiming it as such. There are smart answers there, there's just a higher nonsense to rational ratio.

We've got our share of idiots (but they're often banned for self-linking, causing a hellfire ruckus, etc) and they've got theirs. With the throughput they have, there's no way that it can be reasonably moderated, and if someone's a problem, they'd return with another free account the next day even if they could be removed.

Although this does seem to be a bit of trolling for a board war the way you've set this up.
posted by Gucky at 2:22 PM on August 14, 2006

I know there are probably many exceptions, but in general, most "communities" where people are allowed to choose thier own avatars for the most part, suck.

What I can't figure out is if it's the avatars that make the conversations utimately stupid and/or juvenile, OR if it's just that stupid people tend to like avatars.

But I'm on two other forums where you can only post if you've paid a fee, and the discourse on them is noticeably and very significantly superior to other similar sites, so I do think the "pay to play" factor has a lot to do with it.

The funny thing is that on one of those sites I mentioned, they strictly enforce a uniform avatar rule (you can only use a real picture of yourself as an avatar), and the community is noticeably more civilized and intelligent than the one that doesn't restrict avatars (or usernames), even though the audience is comprised of many of the same people.

So the equation for shitty community site seems to be:

Free + Avatar friendly + unrestricted usernames = Questions like "Do clouds move or are motionless?"
posted by melorama at 2:27 PM on August 14, 2006

Are these avatars those stupid user-pictures which make reading LiveJournal comments such a cringe-inducing experience?
posted by Rash at 2:38 PM on August 14, 2006

I prefer the questions like "Rihanna or Hilary Duff?? Talikin bout songs."

That's the whole question.

Here, that would have gotten deleted quickly. So the fact that AskMe is moderated helps a lot. It's a bit of the "broken windows" effect - the dumb answers pile up on Yahoo because people see it's OK to be an idiot. Here, Jess or Matt cleans them out and there's less incentive to post dumb stuff.

Well, at least I assume that's it. Maybe Matt and Jess are deleting stuff around the clock to keep the site clean.
posted by GuyZero at 2:43 PM on August 14, 2006

Rash: Yes...and I might as well admit right up front that not only do I have a Livejournal account, but also have an avatar...although I'd like to think it's not as dopey as most avatars are. But I could be (and probably am) wrong.
posted by melorama at 2:45 PM on August 14, 2006

$5.
posted by Meagan at 3:02 PM on August 14, 2006

$5.

No. I joined before the $5 thing, as did many other people who happily answer AskMe questions.

I second ml98tu and piratebowling's annoyance at sending idiots over here to perform their idiocy.
posted by languagehat at 3:22 PM on August 14, 2006

Ditto languagehat - the whole deal.

Like attracts like. It's a cliche but sometimes it applies.
posted by MeetMegan at 3:27 PM on August 14, 2006