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Visualizing "Answer People" In Online Discussions
Marc Smith writes "'Answer people,' the folks who contribute much of the value in the Internet, are a small minority of all online users. According to a recent paper my co-authors and I have published in the Journal of Social Structure, less than 2% of authors in Usenet newsgroups are likely to be the helpful 'answer person' type — authors who reply to many other people with brief replies. The paper Visualizing the Signatures of Social Roles in Online Discussion Groups contains social network visualizations of the ties created when authors reply to one another. These images highlight the difference between these helpful folks and other types of contributors. The findings may apply to other threaded discussions, maybe even here at Slashdot."
... RTFM a helpful answer? if so, i'm one of the 2%!
Answer people enjoy solving problems and helping people. I won't consider myself one, but I do get a sense of accomplishment when I can help someone solve a problem or further a discussion.
And yet, Yahoo and other online corporations are (imho) exploiting these people by establishing "Answer" areas that reward people for answering questions with useless points. Do they get compensation or a cut of the advertising profits that yahoo is making on them? No. They get honor points.
Yahoo makes a mint on the viewership of the site and the answer people get a warm feeling... maybe it breaks even. I stopped answering questions after reading the hundredth obvious "I don't want to do my homework, so I'll ask it here" question.
At least sites like ePinions.com rewards it's reviewers with a pittance of the revenue their reviews generate.
You "answer people" exist for one purpose and one purpose only: to tell me what I want to know when I want to know it.
Of course I am not an "answer person." I have more important things to do.
I paid for my access to the Internet, which means I paid for my access to you. Dont expect any gratitude from me.
Message boards, email discussion lists, etc. are used by an awful lot of companies as a cheap substitute for providing real support for their products. Go to some company's Support web page: you have 3-4 basic options:
1. Buy a $upport contract or pay-per-incidence
2. Free email support! It only takes 3-5 business days to get an unhelpful reply.
3. Visit our support forums. There are plenty of suckers out there who have already bought our product and figured it out, no thanks to us. Get your answer from them because, hey, they supply the knowledge for free and it only costs us a few $ to maintain the support forum!
Of course if you really do have some sticky problem, or a valid complaint, well, the support forums are not an officially recognized means of communication to the company. Having said that, we'll still delete posts/threads and bar any whiners that make us look bad. So, back to #1 if you really do need technical support.
I used to be an "answer" guy on a couple of mail lists. Not anymore. Why? because I've moved beyond the products I used to know a lot about. Now I ask the questions for new products I'm learning. That, and the fact that I've realized how much I've "given away" and not gotten anything back from. If I'm going to waste my time, it might as well be on slashdot.
All pass beyond reach of medicine. None pass beyond the reach of love.
Mod this insightful!
No, not because it's insightful on purpose, but because it's an accurate representation of how most of that 98% think. For some reason, they honestly believe that they -deserve- an answer just because they post a question.
I'm talking about the people that post things like 'What, 98 views and nobody answers my damn question!?' and 'Doesn't anyone know the answer?' and 'HEY I NEED HELP HERE AND HURRY UP'.
I'm an answer person. I actively enjoy helping other people. I'm not a selfless do-gooder, though. I do it because I'm happy when I make others happy. A selfless do-gooder would take all the abuse on forums without losing his top. They'd answer the question, even if the person was ignorant and rude. That's not me, because rude jerks don't give me that feeling of pride and happiness, but instead make me feel used and unappreciated.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
you can tell an answer person for real when an answer person asks a question, gets no reply, and then answers their own post with the solution a few days later.
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue