What do Y!A users who give really really long answers intend to do?

Question

Do they really think people will read their answers?

Answer 1

some people actually do. good luck.

Answer 2

All right, I'm guilty as charged with this one. But the only reason I sometimes give long answers is because I really want to 1. Help the person solve their dilemma 2. Show them I was thoughtful enough to care. It has absolutely NADA to do with ego! When someone truly needs a sincere answer, I am disappointed that some people just reply with a bored, "Well, hope you feel better, dude" "Um, yeah, give your girlfriend some flowers, she'll come back to you." Some people should at least try to put themselves in the Questioner's position and actually give them what they deserve: A well thought out answer! Hope THIS wasn't too long for anyone. Jeez.

Answer 3

Yahoo Answers answerers giving really long answers is an interesting phenomenon commonly present in yahoo answers. It raises the question that has just been asked of why these people bother to give such long answers. It is a commonly accepted fact among many typical Yahoo Answers users that generally speaking people do not bother reading answers that are long unless they have to or are very interested in the topic. Most people are not interested in these answers enough, including the asker, to bother reading these long answers so they generally don’t get read. A few possible reasons for this are perfectionism, trying to give a correct answer as a shorter one would be incomplete, obsession with the answerers own voice and inability to summarize.

The first of these possibilities, perfectionism, raises the idea that maybe the answerer is overly concerned with making an answer complete, and instead make it difficult to read. Perfectionism can be caused by psychological conditions such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and in some cases ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder). These people could just be doing their best, but doing it wrong. Do these people then deserve our pity, or our condemnation?

The second possibilities, trying to give a correct answer as a shorter one would be incomplete, is the idea that perhaps, by looking only at the shorter answers, we the reader are at wrong because without reading the longer answers we actually could be missing vital information. A good answerer should never leave out important data, or sentences, just to cut an answer short, if doing so would make an answer flawed, or misleading. Are we the reader at wrong for not reading these answers then? Or are these answers just the unfortunate byproduct of overly complex questions?

The third, obsession with ones own voice, raises the question of whether the answerer really just likes to hear themselves spout knowledge. The answerer could easily just like to drone on and on about the topic, simply to show off how much they know. Possibly without knowing that people won’t actually bother reading their answer because of its length, possibly they don’t really care if people read it either way. Do these answerers even deserve a place on Yahoo Answers? Or are they sometime helpful enough to allow for usefulness?

Fourth, there is the possibility that the answer is just too difficult to summarize. Perhaps the answer really is something that has to be long to be understandable. Is an incomprehensible short answer really better than a useful long one? If not then perhaps more of these long answers deserve more than a casual glance over as we continue on reading the easy, but perhaps incomplete short answers. Are we really right to judge these answers as poor just because of their length?

In short, the long answers debate is a difficult to answer question. Who are we to judge the validity of long answers? Especially when we tend not to read them anyway. Perhaps we are missing the important points by skipping them. Perhaps the occasional jewel of an answer, that will change our life, slips through our fingers as we rush on to the next easy to read short answer. If we take the easy path of short answers, will we ever truly learn?

~Desu

Answer 4

Trying to be thorough. Can easily type. The answers aren't as long as you think, but the way the format lays out it looks longer than a simple one sentence.

Answer 5

for more. most important is the quality of the answer. and the most important person to read is the asker.

and those who are geniunely looking to find out will be sure to read as well..

so thats enough. and i give long answer only when i have a lot to share. if not, i prefer short and sweet and easy on the reader too :)

Answer 6

Having left a really LONG explanation of my angst; I received long answers that I did read.

Depends on the question as to how long the answer could be.

Answer 7

They hope they do, sometimes the person who asks the question will skim though it or read like the first two sentences and move on to a shorter answer...

Answer 8

Well somethings just need to be explained, just because you are looking for a short answer, doesn't mean that you are going to get one. That is why it is up to the questioner to decide who get the best answer award. Now, me, I tend to put short answers, if the question requires a short answer, most questions on here do not. They need well thought out answers. Good question! Star for you.

Answer 9

Sure why not that's why we are here we all think we are the smartest wittiest people in the world and everyone is aching for our next question or answer. It's all about the ego. Or is that just me?

Answer 10

It depends on what the question is all about ... yes!Long answers that don't make sense don't make sense. I have received many Long answer that make sense and turn out to be helpful.

Answer 11

I myself, depending on my mood, and depending on the nature of the question at least try to give enough information with accuracy as possible,....not like some users would type, one or two words...intention is to provide honest, and good information as best of one's ability....and yes truth be told that I have a lot to say and I enjoy expressing my thoughts with others.