Would it be a good idea if people said where they are from when asking certain questions?

Question

When looking at questions I'm not sure if my answers would be relevant to the asker. Areas like laws, healthcare, and a lot of other things for that matter, differ widely from country to country.

Personaly I think knowing where the question originated would help me provide a better answer. What do you think?

Sorry if the category I've chosen confuses, but I couldn't find a better one.

Well spotted weatherman I forgot to put that in the question. I'm from England

druantiauk you may, as I do login in the UK but Yahoo itself is global, thus you get answers from other countries.

Answer 1

Yes it would be a good idea where it mattered. It would also help if the questions were coherent, used correct spelling and good grammar. Since this site is for anyone, it is used by people who are very young and still learning, some who barely understand the english language, and people who don't realize they are communicating with such a wide and diverse audience.

Posting your question can help wake some people up.

Answer 2

I guess that would depend a lot on the asker's common sense.

In fact, not every question requires the asker to state where they are from. A good number of them are pretty generic. Perhaps the yahoo! answer team could have our "area" listed out on our portfolio and that would solve the problem.

I think your concern would apply to the lot of questions that require professional opinions. Like some that you have listed: Laws,government schemes and policies, educations and etc. These would be subjective according to the country or states that the asker is residing.

More importantly, I hope the team could find a way for us to utilise our points. No?

:) Cheers!

Answer 3

Excellent idea. How many times have I looked at an electrical question asking about 13amp plugs only to find it answered by a yank talking about 15amp circuits! Stating your country - and in some instances your town or city - would avoid misunderstandings like this and make life easier all round. You can certainly put me down for some of that - indeed, in future, I think I'll make it clear where I am in all future q & a's. Best wishes!
London UK

Answer 4

Good point. I have found myself assuming that folks are from the U.S. unless their question or other clues indicate where they might be. I would add that word usage and using slang and abbreviations compounds the problem. Asker may think a phrase is known/understood by everyone when this is not true. Use English to the best of your writing ability and avoid the "instant message" vocabulary, especially if you are asking about a writing assignment!

Answer 5

I agree. Some times I look in here to get answers to my questions that have already been asked by some one else, only to find that they're living out of the US. It still helps, kind of, I get an 'in general' idea, but would prefer something in the US.
I was thinking that maybe Yahoo could stamp the country abbreviation in the corner of our avatars where it could been seen but at the same time, not stand out like a sore thumb.

Answer 6

Instead of saying where we're from, maybe we should have to give our REAL age, then I wouldn't have to sift through all the crap and stupid questions that 10-18 year olds keep asking!
I think that Yahoo thought that if they gave the option to choose the country where we wanted our questions answered, that it would work. It doesn't. I'm from the U.S. and I don't know what's on the telly or who's the hottest actress in India or where there's a good place to eat in China!

Answer 7

I agree with your proposal. When I first 'joined' YA, I gave an answer that assumed the asker was from the UK (the question was under YA 'UK & Ireland'). Later on I realised that the questioner lived in the US and my points were not at all relevant!

UK

Answer 8

I think it's a good idea. Askers who provide the most relevant details get the best answers from what i've seen.

Answer 9

Sorry, can't answer this as I don't know where you are from ;~)

EDIT

As for the people logging into the UK site and getting US etc questions/answers.

As far as I know Yahoo puts all English Language questions together rather than splitting them into their individual countries.

Then again that can be useful.

For instance, when you see a football question - and know damn well theres a Yank at the end of it who you can wind up about why what they play isn't football.

Answer 10

I agree,I tried the english questions only but was still getting loads from the US & it is hard to answer when your not sure of laws etc in each country..