What percentage of your answers were voted Best Answer?

Question

I'm at 7%. Don't know if that's average, above average, etc. Collecting data from you. Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi,

Small or large percentages really don't say as much as you would think, so don't take it too seriously!

Thanks to a couple of recent votes, I'm now at approximately 40%. Again however, you definitely should NOT consider your percentage to be an accurate reflection of the quality of your answers.

There are several reasons for this.

First of all, certain topics are very "subjective". For example, anything on "polls" or "philosophy" is inherently subjective, so you have a small chance of winning best answer, all things being equal. Therefore, if the topics you choose to answer tend to be subjective, your percentage will be lower. This obviously doesn't mean your answers are "bad", it just means the questioner probably has different opinions that you.

Looking at your profile, it seems you prefer the "polls" category. That's probably the most subjective topic on Yahoo Answers! It would be extremely challenging to get a high percentage in that category.

If you answer "objective" questions (like a math puzzle or showing somebody where they can buy vacuum cleaner bags), you've definitely got it right, so most likely (if you answer the question before somebody else does) you'll win best answer.

Secondly, when an answerer doesn't choose best answer and lets it go to a vote, the quality answers often (maybe even "usually") don't win. There are a couple reasons for this. First of all, (and this is only a hunch based on suspicious voting patterns I've observed) it appears that some people get their buddies (or duplicate accounts) to vote for them. To improve your odds, remember to go back and vote for your own answer if it does go to a vote. If you forget to do this you'll be at a disadvantage, because most likely some other people will vote for their own answer. People voting for their own answers obviously has nothing to do with the quality of those answers.

The worst thing that can happen is that your question goes to a vote, and it becomes a "high profile" question that gets tons of votes. I'm not sure how this happens, but sometimes a question will sit around forever, with only a few people voting on it (typically no more than 3 or 4 votes for a single answer), and other times the question is "high profile" and shows up when you click on the "answer" tab. You'll probably notice when you're voting in the "answer" tab area, that typically the first few answers have a ton of votes, while answers toward the bottom of the page get very few. If there are multiple pages, often the answers on subsequent pages get zero votes. It's obvious what's happening here: people are quickly flipping through and voting on the first few answers because they don't want to waste their time reading through all the answers. Sad but true, and a serious flaw in the voting process.

In my opinion, this problem most likely affects "subjective" questions disproportionately, because the questioner is less likely to be able to pick out a clear cut "best" answer.

I've also noticed that certain answerers find themselves a "niche". For example, if you look at the leader board, you'll see one person who focuses on "yahoo answers" topics, another on "relationships", another on "boxing", etc. Focusing on what you're best at, and sticking to primarily answering questions in that category will significantly improve your percentage.

Also, it's possible to be very conservative on Y!A, by only giving thoughtful, thorough, well researched answers that really address what the questioners are looking for. Some people manage to be really funny and yet still get lots of best answers, but if you just crack jokes and don't actually answer the question, you probably won't win. It's also tempting to be antagonistic if you encounter something obnoxious like racism or bigotry (I do this sometimes). If you stick to only "serious and thoughtful" answering, your percentage will increase. Many people eliminate themselves by being a smart-*** when it's totally unnecessary.

Sometimes the topic is controversial. The best example is with religion or God. When this happens, you can still give an honest answer, but if you do it respectfully and without aggressively asserting that your opinion is "fact", you can still win a best answer, because people like it when an answer "makes them think". Instead you can frame the answer something like, "some people think that blah blah blah for this reason and that reason--while other people think blah blah.", without stating your personal point of view.

When I first started, I naively supposed that thoroughness was a virtue. However, many people get annoyed by long-winded answers (such as this one). Being more concise and eliminating material that the questioner probably doesn't care about is something I still fight to improve on.

Here are a couple more tips that could possibly improve your percentage:

(1) Use the spell-check feature--every time
(2) Don't be afraid to go back, review and edit your answer for clarity
(3) Start out with a "Hi" or something friendly
(4) End with something friendly, like "good luck"

Good luck!

Answer 2

Dont difficulty approximately terrific solutions it is because of the fact which you're answering very lots arithmetic bring about case you have responded 50 cases & u have 15 terrific solutions then Ur BA share is (15*a hundred/50) = 30% yet afterwards u responded a hundred and fifty cases & u have 30 terrific solutions then Ur BA share is (30&a hundred)/50 = 20% this skill that if ur terrific solutions are increasing below ur answering then ur terrific solutions decrease might pass down

Answer 3

I'm at 15%...
I don't know if that's good or what...
I do like getting Best Answer, but
I never really think about percentages

Answer 4

15%, but is it that important? Are you going to use it for bragging?
To me, if our answer can help those truly in dire straits, that's the whole purpose for answering in this forum with some fun thrown in with some hilarious answers from some lively chaps trying to pull some legs and liven up this forum from those racist, hate instigating questions.
Points? anybody interested take mine, for what I care.

Answer 5

I'm pretty average 4%

Answer 6

4-5% but it really doesn't matter as most of the questions being asked aleady know the answer and waiting for someone who thinks the same way!

Answer 7

Looks like you are doing good to me! My Best Answers
are about 3%

Answer 8

10%

Answer 9

I've been at 7% forever no matter how many best I get it stays at 7 %

Answer 10

Mine fluctuates between 5-7% usually. Right now, its a five.