Asking complex, multi-part questions on AskMe? December 17, 2009 6:51 AM Subscribe
I have some pretty involved questions I am thinking of asking on Ask Metafilter. There is a lot of contextual information, which, the more people know, the better I feel their answers will be. If I put it all in one post, there would be a lot of interlinked questions. Is it better to put things all in one post, or to post a few different questions and provide links to the information in the other questions?
If your question is that complicated, I sincerely wonder if AskMe is your best venue...
posted by slogger at 6:59 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by slogger at 6:59 AM on December 17, 2009
post a few different questions and provide links to the information in the other questions?
don't do this.
posted by pinky at 7:05 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
don't do this.
posted by pinky at 7:05 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
tl;dr
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:07 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:07 AM on December 17, 2009
Most likely to be read in full: a short question.
Somewhat less likely, but still reasonably likely, to be read in full: a long question.
Guaranteed to be read in full by very few people: a question that asks the reader to not only read the full question but read multiple other questions.
posted by Jaltcoh at 7:11 AM on December 17, 2009 [7 favorites]
Somewhat less likely, but still reasonably likely, to be read in full: a long question.
Guaranteed to be read in full by very few people: a question that asks the reader to not only read the full question but read multiple other questions.
posted by Jaltcoh at 7:11 AM on December 17, 2009 [7 favorites]
People occasionally say "this is me" and then link to an older question. That said, my observation has been that people often include way more information than is germane to the actual question I know they do this because they feel that leaving something out will either make the answers irrelevant or cause people to give them a hard time, but generally speaking shorter questions with relevant details go much better than really long questions with a ton of details.
Additionally, we've seen people in the past say "you can read [this blog post] for more context" and I don't think that goes well. First off, we're really jumpy about SEO stuff so we often delete blog links if at all possible. Additionally, AskMe is not a homework assignment for the community and shouldn't be a replacement for therapy or talking through complicated issues with real-life people. It's good for problems solving and/or getting a lot of different perspectives on a probematic or sudden issue.
If your problem is so complicated that you can't describe it in the usal 100-500 words, it may be not a great candidate for AskMe to begin with. That said you're welcome to ask a few sequential questions, but if you seem to be making out the question limit just to ask one very long question over the course of six weeks, we may step in and say "hey that isn't what this site is for."
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:29 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Additionally, we've seen people in the past say "you can read [this blog post] for more context" and I don't think that goes well. First off, we're really jumpy about SEO stuff so we often delete blog links if at all possible. Additionally, AskMe is not a homework assignment for the community and shouldn't be a replacement for therapy or talking through complicated issues with real-life people. It's good for problems solving and/or getting a lot of different perspectives on a probematic or sudden issue.
If your problem is so complicated that you can't describe it in the usal 100-500 words, it may be not a great candidate for AskMe to begin with. That said you're welcome to ask a few sequential questions, but if you seem to be making out the question limit just to ask one very long question over the course of six weeks, we may step in and say "hey that isn't what this site is for."
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:29 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
The answer is 42, no need to go to all that trouble.
posted by dosterm at 7:49 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by dosterm at 7:49 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Is this context that people actually need to answer the question or "circumstances" which you want to use to justify your decision or whatever? If the latter, just leave it out: No, you can't eat that and you should dump him or her immediately.
posted by DU at 7:52 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by DU at 7:52 AM on December 17, 2009
Before I posted something earlier this week I ran it by another Mefite who knows me. I'm selfish, and I want AskMe to work for me, and that means I want to have someone test-run the question to look for any potential derails or information that distracts from the actual question. It works like a charm, and often she'll say, "Hey, *this* isn't particularly relevant and it is actually a little distracting. Word it this way and you'll get better answers."
Your test reader doesn't have to be someone who knows you, although that would help. But get to know some people on the site and I bet one or more of them will be happy to read the tl;dr version and help you pare it down to a pithy nugget of a question.
posted by greekphilosophy at 8:00 AM on December 17, 2009 [3 favorites]
Your test reader doesn't have to be someone who knows you, although that would help. But get to know some people on the site and I bet one or more of them will be happy to read the tl;dr version and help you pare it down to a pithy nugget of a question.
posted by greekphilosophy at 8:00 AM on December 17, 2009 [3 favorites]
What the hell, I'll test read things for you if want. It sounds like there's a chance that you're too close to the question, and may not be in the best position to grasp what is/is not relevant for people trying to answer your question(s).
posted by craven_morhead at 8:23 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by craven_morhead at 8:23 AM on December 17, 2009
Yeah, I don't mind test reading a question for people either. Better questions mean better answers means a better community and I'm all for that.
posted by greekphilosophy at 8:33 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by greekphilosophy at 8:33 AM on December 17, 2009
There is a lot of contextual information, which, the more people know, the better I feel their answers will be
Maybe, but you are obviously very close to the issue so what might actually be needed for answering this might not be as apparent as you think. Perhaps try putting together a concise version of the question which gives the broad strokes and remain available to provide clarification if people need more information.
posted by quin at 8:33 AM on December 17, 2009
Maybe, but you are obviously very close to the issue so what might actually be needed for answering this might not be as apparent as you think. Perhaps try putting together a concise version of the question which gives the broad strokes and remain available to provide clarification if people need more information.
posted by quin at 8:33 AM on December 17, 2009
I find that all too often, the longer and more detailed a question is, the more likely people are to either miss something that you consider to be crucial, or fixate on one not-very-relevant detail, or misread something entirely. This seems to be especially true in relationshipfilter questions.
posted by rtha at 8:42 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by rtha at 8:42 AM on December 17, 2009
If your question is two sentences long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence.
If you question is two paragraphs long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph.
If you question is two screens full, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first screen.
posted by Plutor at 8:58 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
If you question is two paragraphs long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph.
If you question is two screens full, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first screen.
posted by Plutor at 8:58 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
If your question is two sentences long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence.
If you question is two paragraphs long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph.
If you question is two screens full, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first screen. (Plutor)
Collectively, these are known as Plutor's Three Laws of Ask Metafilter.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:05 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
If you question is two paragraphs long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph.
If you question is two screens full, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first screen. (Plutor)
Collectively, these are known as Plutor's Three Laws of Ask Metafilter.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:05 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
If your question is two sentences long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence.
If you question is two paragraphs long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph.
If you question is two screens full, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first screen.
I agree with this, but what if the question is two screens full?
posted by starman at 9:23 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
If you question is two paragraphs long, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph.
If you question is two screens full, 50% of people will answer after reading the first sentence, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first paragraph, and 50% of those left will answer after reading the first screen.
I agree with this, but what if the question is two screens full?
posted by starman at 9:23 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
I think there is a certain point where a longer question will actually reduce the average quality of the answers and also the total quantity. There are not that many people who are willing to read a long question (let alone a long question that includes links to prior long questions) and provide a thoughtful answer. There are quite a few people who will read some small portion of a long question and proceed immediately to the comment box. There are many other people, who may well be able to provide a useful answer, but who just aren't willing to read a long, rambling question in order to answer the question. Posting a long question skews your distribution of answers towards those from the second group (which are generally of lower quality) and away from those in the third group (who answer after reading entire questions and thus provide generally higher quality answers). So posting a very long question will result in fewer answers, with a higher proportion of answers from those who don't read the entire question and so provide lower quality answers.
AskMe may not be the ideal forum for your question, but if you want to post it there, you'll want to distill it to a few paragraphs at the most in order to maximize the quality of the answers.
posted by ssg at 10:29 AM on December 17, 2009
AskMe may not be the ideal forum for your question, but if you want to post it there, you'll want to distill it to a few paragraphs at the most in order to maximize the quality of the answers.
posted by ssg at 10:29 AM on December 17, 2009
The exercise of reducing your question to a manageable size may actually help you come up with an answer.
Most of the things that I have thought were hopelessly complicated came down to a few simple decisions.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:37 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
Most of the things that I have thought were hopelessly complicated came down to a few simple decisions.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:37 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
Try sprinkling a little talcum powder on the area.
posted by chococat at 10:41 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by chococat at 10:41 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
1. An AskMe question may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. An AskMe poster must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A mod must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
posted by Babblesort at 10:43 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
2. An AskMe poster must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A mod must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
posted by Babblesort at 10:43 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I've formulated a few questions I haven't asked, because writing the question helped me answer it on my own. It might help you to try that. Not only is it likely to assist you to shorten your question, but you may be able to narrow the topic on which you need outside input.
posted by bearwife at 11:18 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 11:18 AM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
This is exactly what you don't want to do. Not to rag on that particular poster but that's the most egregious example I can think of. Did you read all of that? The title alone is far too long.
This is a pet peeve of mine but if you happen to be posting a relationship question and don't want to use real names (understandable!) please please just make up some like Marsha and Howard and Stan and Elizabeth. Those Person A and B, Person 1, 2, and 3 questions are awful to try and make sense of.
posted by 6550 at 11:36 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
This is a pet peeve of mine but if you happen to be posting a relationship question and don't want to use real names (understandable!) please please just make up some like Marsha and Howard and Stan and Elizabeth. Those Person A and B, Person 1, 2, and 3 questions are awful to try and make sense of.
posted by 6550 at 11:36 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
This is exactly what you don't want to do. Not to rag on that particular poster but that's the most egregious example I can think of. Did you read all of that? The title alone is far too long.
You're absolutely right about that question, but in his defense, (1) a lot of it was "footnotes," and (2) he seemed to get the hang of it with his subsequent questions.
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:13 PM on December 17, 2009
You're absolutely right about that question, but in his defense, (1) a lot of it was "footnotes," and (2) he seemed to get the hang of it with his subsequent questions.
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:13 PM on December 17, 2009
He did get the hang of it, and I didn't mean it as a callout, but that wasn't entirely fair of me. And I think nearly everybody's first few questions here are pretty weak, mine included.
posted by 6550 at 12:38 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by 6550 at 12:38 PM on December 17, 2009
This is exactly what you don't want to do.
Holy fucking shit.
To answer the question:
Succinct is best. As long as you're not posting anonymously you will have the opportunity to clarify if people need more information by posting additional details as the need arises.
posted by Kimberly at 1:01 PM on December 17, 2009
Holy fucking shit.
To answer the question:
Succinct is best. As long as you're not posting anonymously you will have the opportunity to clarify if people need more information by posting additional details as the need arises.
posted by Kimberly at 1:01 PM on December 17, 2009
Don't eat it, DTMFA, he/she is just not that into you, the only thing that works for cat pee is Nature's Miracle, do NOT declaw, name him Dexter, check the Music subsite to make that mix tape, go to the emergency room and don't stop taking your meds.
posted by misha at 1:07 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by misha at 1:07 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Oh, and if you do the anonymous thing, don't do the ambiguous gender thing. I know some people mean well, but it's hard to write answers without having to do the whole "If you're a guy, then...if you're a woman, then..." and "he/she, his/her..."
English doesn't have gender neutral pronouns, and the attempts (Spivak, etc.) are awkward to use.
posted by explosion at 1:55 PM on December 17, 2009
English doesn't have gender neutral pronouns, and the attempts (Spivak, etc.) are awkward to use.
posted by explosion at 1:55 PM on December 17, 2009
My advice: You can never go wrong with a Yes or No question, unless of course the right answer is a definite maybe.
posted by amyms at 2:05 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by amyms at 2:05 PM on December 17, 2009
I'd say go with the filthy light thief version.
Do what now? Oh, you're referring to my propensity for posting exhausting/exhaustive FPPs, not commenting on my AskMe posts, which are generally pretty succinct. Check. Winkyface.
My suggestion is to write it ALL down, and see how it reads. In the process of writing it out, you might find ways to make the whole thing more concise, or even find answers to some sub-questions. If it turns out you can't make it much shorter than a few paragraphs, try to break it into logical questions that can stand apart, and could be followed up on a weekly basis. If that doesn't work, post it whole hog, and include a summary of your questions at the end, possibly bold-faced, if they get lost in the sea of text.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:51 PM on December 17, 2009
Do what now? Oh, you're referring to my propensity for posting exhausting/exhaustive FPPs, not commenting on my AskMe posts, which are generally pretty succinct. Check. Winkyface.
My suggestion is to write it ALL down, and see how it reads. In the process of writing it out, you might find ways to make the whole thing more concise, or even find answers to some sub-questions. If it turns out you can't make it much shorter than a few paragraphs, try to break it into logical questions that can stand apart, and could be followed up on a weekly basis. If that doesn't work, post it whole hog, and include a summary of your questions at the end, possibly bold-faced, if they get lost in the sea of text.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:51 PM on December 17, 2009
Misha: You forgot get a lawyer and go to therapy.
posted by elsietheeel at 5:25 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by elsietheeel at 5:25 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Just as an example, the "This is what not to do" question boiled down, IMHO, to this. Sometimes you really do need an outside perspective; there are very few questions that are truly special snowflakes that can't be pared way down.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:00 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by DarlingBri at 9:00 PM on December 17, 2009
Misha: You forgot get a lawyer and go to therapy.
Damn.
posted by misha at 7:26 AM on December 18, 2009
Damn.
posted by misha at 7:26 AM on December 18, 2009
I've created short versions of a few Ask Mefi questions early on in the thread, just because I had the time and knew they'd be ignored otherwise, and enjoyed the editorial challenge.
Long story short, the number of respondents you'll have is inversely proportional to the length and intricacy of your question.
Hell, if you want to, write the whole thing up and e-mail it to me and I'll throw you back a proposed shortened version.
posted by MikeHarris at 1:15 PM on December 18, 2009
Long story short, the number of respondents you'll have is inversely proportional to the length and intricacy of your question.
Hell, if you want to, write the whole thing up and e-mail it to me and I'll throw you back a proposed shortened version.
posted by MikeHarris at 1:15 PM on December 18, 2009
6550 writes "And I think nearly everybody's first few questions here are pretty weak, mine included."
Questions with factual answers rarely go badly, even if they contain a lot of question. You almost never see blaming the poster, DTMFA level dismissals, or this is a bad post wankery It's the fuzzy emotional opinion questions where less is more as far as detailed stories go.
posted by Mitheral at 8:39 PM on December 18, 2009
Questions with factual answers rarely go badly, even if they contain a lot of question. You almost never see blaming the poster, DTMFA level dismissals, or this is a bad post wankery It's the fuzzy emotional opinion questions where less is more as far as detailed stories go.
posted by Mitheral at 8:39 PM on December 18, 2009
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posted by hermitosis at 6:57 AM on December 17, 2009