AskMe Only Users July 2, 2005 11:15 PM   Subscribe

What's the community feeling about MeFites whose sole contributions are AskMe questions? No examples, no finger-pointing...I'm just curious. Do y'all think folks should contribute elsewhere if they're going to reap the benefits of free advice? Or is five bucks five bucks?
posted by cribcage to Etiquette/Policy at 11:15 PM (23 comments total)

it's not exactly 'free advice' if one pays $5 to ask the question.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 11:36 PM on July 2, 2005


I'm more irked by useless MetaTalk questions.
posted by eyeballkid at 11:37 PM on July 2, 2005


I love good questions, regardless the author. Ditto good answers.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:53 PM on July 2, 2005


If I can help, I like to help. Regardless of who's asking.
posted by orthogonality at 12:30 AM on July 3, 2005


As far as I can tell, it actually appears to be pretty rare; almost everybody answers more questions than they ask. But I also think it's best if we don't try to come up with some kind of off-the-cuff formula for what makes a good AskMe particpant in terms of ratios. I don't think that people should feel (socially) compelled to answer more questions than they are inclined to, since that would encourage more answers of lower quality.

Or maybe you're talking about people who just pretty much stick to AskMe, and don't really show up on other parts of the site? If so, no - this doesn't bother me even a little bit.
posted by taz at 12:48 AM on July 3, 2005


There's no compulsion to answer questions.

Any user is free to check out the posting history of the user doing the asking and apply their own judgements on whether or not they personally want to answer. Or for whatever reason, find the asker fit or not fit to be answered. Whatever. The power is yours.

My only complaint about AskMe is the topographic and temporal linearity of it. But I've bitched about that before.
posted by loquacious at 1:19 AM on July 3, 2005


Don't care.
posted by puddinghead at 1:32 AM on July 3, 2005


I enjoy AskMe more than regular Metafilter these days so keep it coming. $5 is $5.
posted by fire&wings at 2:23 AM on July 3, 2005


Hell, this thread made me want to go answer a question.
posted by loquacious at 2:32 AM on July 3, 2005


To me, the salient thing to ask about any contribution or question anywhere on the site is:
"Is it signal or is it noise?"
Any other considerations pale into insignificance.
posted by peacay at 2:49 AM on July 3, 2005


It's rare, and if I really care about it, I can check their posting history.

On preview, amen peacay.
posted by grouse at 2:50 AM on July 3, 2005


We do all benefit from having a database of questions and answers. I've probably gotten more answers from the archives than I have from posting my own questions.
posted by orange swan at 5:52 AM on July 3, 2005


maybe they're sock-puppets for people who want to ask 2 questions a week instead of just one. who cares. they paid, so it's not against the rules I guess.
posted by matteo at 5:53 AM on July 3, 2005


I paid five bucks to ask what "." means and apparently the answer is "FUCK OFF". It was totally worth it.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 7:10 AM on July 3, 2005


I don't really read the blue, so I'm all for all kinds of questions and answers in the green. I learn an awful lot of great stuff there and a good question is a good question. I guess that's the long way of saying I agree with peacay.
posted by spaghetti at 7:35 AM on July 3, 2005


.
posted by grouse at 8:28 AM on July 3, 2005


A good AskMe question is a contribution to the site.
posted by LarryC at 8:35 AM on July 3, 2005


That's a dumb question.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:55 AM on July 3, 2005


Is that a dumb answer?
posted by loquacious at 12:03 PM on July 3, 2005


This is a dumb comment.
posted by zpousman at 12:44 PM on July 3, 2005


This one's dumberer.
posted by i_cola at 6:29 AM on July 4, 2005


Doesn't this belong in 'grab bag'?

[marked as best answer]

Seriously, what fff, ortho, taz and loquacious said. If someone asks a question and I write an answer, that's good enough in itself. It probably means I found the question inspiring or at least prompted me to think about something I don't usually think about (or the opposite, that "hey I was just wondering about the same thing the other week" feeling), so there's still a symbiotic thing going on. Fair game.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:39 AM on July 4, 2005


Doesn't bother me. I don't check a user's posting history before deciding whether or not to answer a question.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:58 PM on July 4, 2005


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