should crappy false answers posted by ignorant joe shmoes just looking to make 10 points be deleted?

Answer 1

Lol, Ill say this.. I give out crappy answers that are generally true unless they are regarding goldfish. Joe Shmoes is probably a 12 year old with too much time on his hands. Ignore it buddy... there are too many weirdos out there and until we have the right to take um out back and put a bullet threw their head they will be running the streets and drooling on their shirt (retard reference)

Answer 2

some people are just trying to help to the best of their knowledge... some people are less knowledgeable and the asker should know whether or not an asnwer is good or bad depending on the thumbs rating system, and the sources people offer.....if a person chooses the best answer that is crappy that is their problem.... they will have to deal with it if something goes wrong..... this isnt a site backed up by facts.... its "jow shmoes" answering questions for other "joe shmoes"..... what do you expect??

Answer 3

Yep, freedom of speech. The forum is open for anyone that is a member to answer. The ones I hate are those that call the asker or other participants names. And the Spamers. Even reporting these seems to do no good.

I agree, ignorant answers don't get 10 points. Honestly, they should get rid of the entire point system. there are people who will answer every question to gain points to get these dumb banners.

I guess I would have to say that would be cool, however I've seen a lot of dumb crappy questions as well.

Answer 4

In a "perfect" world, they might be. You know what they say about perfection, though.

And who would determine "crappy"? Ones like Jessica R. are obvious (I'm surprised she hasn't answered this question yet!), but what about topics that have conflicting opinions (dare I even mention salt or ich?) or some of the new answerers who are trying their best (and there are some good ones out there), but maybe get a few of the details wrong? There's some gray area here, and just where does the line get drawn? And by whom?

If you look up the origin of the word "forum" you get the meaning "public discussion", so in the true sense of a forum, you're going to get the bad answers with the good. Even if it means having to put up with answers like "flush him", "it's ich", and "IDK but thx 4 2 points" (and worse). And you'll have the immature kids with nothing better to do than give thumbs down to people because they have a top contributor banner or don't like a particular answerer so they can make an answer they give look better than it is. They never stop to think what effect this will have on decisions being made the person asking the question - or they plain don't care, as long as they get their 2 or 10 points. It's easy enough for anyone to look up the facts, and anyone bothering to do so will see what info is good and what isn't. That's why the little box under the answer box (the one with the word "Source" next to it is there) as well as the "Research your answer" box below that - to be sure that the info given in a question is correct. The problem here lies in the fact that many asking the questions are only out for a quick fix and won't research the answers themselves. But that's something we can't control.

All anyone responsible can do is to answer to the best of their ability and back up their answer with other sources. If I see info that is wrong that will affect an outcome of a problem, I'll provide correct information. At least if an answer isn't chosen as best by asker or voters, theinformation is still out there. Apparently some users see this as a personal attack or threat to their standing, but there's a difference between disagreeing with an answer (attacking the information) and attacking a person behind the information.

So how does an asker even know what answer to choose? If you go by the thumbs down, everyone on this forum must look like a bunch of dummies - from those giving out the original ratings and those countering them. The rankings are meaningless anymore, and I agree they should go away. Voting is a good way to let people know which answers have better info. I see a recent ich/salt issue had 47 votes. So I know there are people out there that vote (sometimes). But why are so many questions going to voting chosen on the basis of 3-4 votes? Granted, some questions might be outside a voter's area of expertise and they might not feel comfortable selecting one answer over another, but there are plenty of others with what should be basic info (cycling, tank cleaning, overstocking) where very few of us bother to vote. Of course, voters can still vote on answers they think as "funny" rather than one giving advice, or vote for a favorite "answerer" here as well without regard to content, so this can be just as meaningless as rankings.

The only solutions I can see are 1) total removal of the scoring system (points, top ten, ratings, etc.) which will get rid of some, but not all, of the glory-seekers and attention-seekers, 2) going to a moderated forum (where a top expert or two will evaluate answers and weed out the less acceptable ones, but you gotta pay these guys (and that opens another can of worms with product sponsorship to pay their fees), or 3) having "knowledge" tests before you can participate in the forum. Do we really want to go there?

As I said in a private email as a response to a question by a forum user this morning, the forum works best when we all contribute to a positive resolution to a question or problem. Many of us have background and personal experince that others here don't, and the responsible ones among us can (and should) contribute for a good "all-round" answer to the question - even if by offering a range of advice. There's often no single "correct" answer, but several that give equally good advice or bits and pieces of a full answer - another reason for doing away with scoring. When everyone contributes to a positive resolution, this makes the forum stronger as a whole. It's the ones who have to be "funny", "obnoxious", or "better" than other answerers that have lost the sense of what a "forum" should be and that are providing the public with a disservice (and yes, I mean public - some people actually look up previous questions to find answers or they come up in a google seach on a topic, so more than just the pesron asking the question can potentially be affected by a poor answer). But I doubt any of those involved will see their answers this way.

My rant for the day!

ADDITION: Another thought just occurred to me - maybe if they insist on keeping these top contributor things they should include the % best answers in each category. This could prevent some of these folks from going out to "polls and surveys" or "trivia" to jack up their best answer totals so they can look like they know what their talking about other forums.

Answer 5

Yes, but crappy false answers generally don't get 10 points, and if they are reported, they get none. Work out the maths. ;)

Answer 6

Freedom of speech! but you can rate a bad answer as bad or report a bad answerer or even reply with a better answer of your own. Caveat empor!!

Answer 7

It really is annoying how many peopel put up false and potentially fatal information.

Answer 8

i hear ya just vote thumbs down on them and blow it off they dont have anything better to do....another thing that i hate is when you ask a question and they dont even answer they just start talking about something else!!!!!!why do they do that