Why do people use Yahoo Answers for things that can easily be looked up on the Internet?

Question

Of course, I'm not talking about opinion questions, or people who are seeking advice. Clearly, those are in a different category.

I'm talking about questions like, "What are the lyrics to this song?" and "Who played this character in this movie?" ...not to mention the plethora of homework questions I see here. It takes just as much effort to type these question into Yahoo Answers than it does to type the same question into Yahoo Search or Google, which offer immediate results (instead of waiting for people to respond to your question, then having to sift through all the "junk" answers to get your info).

So... why?

Answer 1

I think people are basically lazy and want someone else to do the work for them, especially in homework help questions...

When I grew up as a kid, we didn't have computers...(gasp)

I had to go to the library to look up material in books...
(Remember those?)

Now all you have to do is do a search on line and find what you are looking for in a matter of minutes...

Boy that would have helped me in school way back then, where I could even print the material up too, since my handwriting was so bad...

I also think people in general want opinions from others to see if they are headed in the right direction, to give themselves self-assurance they are doing the right thing...

Answer 2

Maybe some people do search for their answers on the internet but also use this as well as an additional means of finding the answer. I agree with you in that a lot of people don't really need to post their question b/c they can easily find the answer elsewhere.

Answer 3

Some people don't have search skills, you still need to find the right website for your information. Also, some people are on dial-up and finding anything takes forever. Plus, you get the human side, and answers from parts of the world you don't have easy access to. Yahoo Australia isn't the same as Yahoo U.S.

Answer 4

Lazy

Answer 5

The same reason they ask things like what color is your hair or eyes. They don't want to know, it's just a somewhat easy question for point gain.

Answer 6

some people are not as computer savvey I guess. If you dont know what to look for or how to phrase it in a search, you may not come up with what your looking for.

I guess its easier and sometimes faster to get your questioned anwsered here

only a guess lol

Answer 7

I get what you are saying so I can only assume they come to Y!A for the interaction with others and I guess for the fun of the smarty pants answers.

Answer 8

I often wonder the same thing. But I don't mind trying to find the answer, it's a challenge trying to be the first one to answer though..

Answer 9

I know sometimes I wonder why people ask certain questions and then when You do need help no one gives you a serious answer

Answer 10

Participation. Taking their turn to ask a question, and let everybody else do the legwork getting your answer for you. They get points for it, so they don't mind at all.