Is Yahoo Answers a force for good or evil?

Question

Yahoo Answers is a great way to disseminate information.
But I see a lot of 13 yr olds in Yahoo Answers getting answers from worldly adults. I believe many adults who answer questions don't take a moment to determine whether or not the questioner might be an impressionable 13 yr old.
Overall would you say yahoo Answers is a force for Good or Evil

Answer 1

hmmm... i think that overall it is very good, but maybe there should be a special section for JUST ADULT questions. i see questions on here all the time about "best ways to have sex" or something like that. Children really shouldnt be exposed to that! And that is a very interestign point you bring up about the impressions being made by others on children here. I dont think it is good, but we just have to hope that adults will think of what they are telling these children BEFORE they tell them.

Answer 2

Anytime people can go to a site and receive, for the most part, good information and help with issues they wouldn't be able to resolve so easily, it is definitely for the good. You mention instances where, perhaps, occasionally, a 13 yr old might be impressionable (hard to believe that about any 13 yr old today, BTW, most of them are more sophisticated and worldly than adults) but given the huge majority of people who are helped (and I include all impressionable 13 yr olds in that assessment) that supersedes any potential "evil" that some poeple might perceive, of course, those who would see evil, would see it everywhere and usually see wolves behind every tree anyway.

Answer 3

I consider Evil to be a deliberate act designed to harm others for no other purpose but the act of causing harm.

Now, Answers.Microsoft might have been made with such a purpose, but Answers.Yahoo probably wasn't.

The real debate is between good and bad. Bad being, whether more harm is done or not.

Many questions that I ask get the most useless answers you could imagine. Bad no, but a waste of bandwidth...yes.

But often I get very good answers, so generally answes.yahoo produces more good than bad.

The age of the reader is not so important as 13 year olds have access to much more "evil" information in other forms. And perhaps what I consider to be a good answer for a 13 year old may not be what you consider to be good..

Answer 4

Good point. I've thought the same thing myself.

Usually we can judge the age of the questioner by their spelling and grammar. And by the questions, of course. There are some very troubled youngsters posting here at times.

What I'd like is a site like this where we pay perhaps a yearly fee to belong. I hate to use the term Adult Site, because it has sexual overtones. It just would be nice for grownups to connect over issues, without smart-alec kids responding.

I've seen terribly unhappy youngsters put down by their peers, to the extent of suggesting suicide or 'cutting'. That's scary stuff. So I, for one, do 'take a moment' and answer accordingly.

Let's focus on the Good, if we must make a choice.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Answer 5

Let us not see the lean % of people who keep answering. This Yahoo answers has been so good that you come to know about the worldly problems faced and the answers which are been given truly by eminent persons. I happened to know the answer for a question "who invented zero" only from yahoo answers which was posted by somebody last year. Definately yahoo answers are GOOD ONLY!!!!!!

Answer 6

Basically, it's a software and you can use it for your own purpose.
Software is neutral but it is better if you try to use it for good.

13 years old will take the answers according their age and ability.

You are right in the sense ,13 years deserve good response
from the elders responding them.

I agree with you but there are many people with higher rankings(there are 7 levels in yahoo answers) who can reply better and guide all in a good manner.

So, hope for the better in future.

Answer 7

There is so many young people on here wanting to know about sex, if they are fat, clothes, pregnancy, and things young teenagers talk about. That is the most common people on here and I get tired of these kids sometimes. Wanting homework done for them. Yes there are so many who answer them that should give the info they need!!!!!!
They should give real adult info on these questions if they are going to answer them, what if it were their kids?
I think there needs to be another category, but they would go to it anyway to check it all out. I also think there are many younger than 13 and I have seen 10 yrs on here and they could lie about their age..............xx

Answer 8

Yahoo Answers is a force for good-in the right hands. People that give thoughtful, helpful, understandable answers make it a force for good. People that give one word or inappropriate answers aren't helping at all, and it's not fair to the people that ask questions that are important to them. Over all it's a force for good, because just one thorough, appropriate answer makes up for the bad ones.

Answer 9

Read the Terms of Service - 13 year olds don't belong here.

If irresponsible parents let their kids go just anywhere on the internet, then the kids will get exposed to mature topics. Yahoo is probably the least they need to worry about.

Y!A, above all else, is a force for socializing.

Answer 10

Overall I would say good. I think there are a lot of people getting help here & getting some answers to legitimate questions...but like you, I see many young people on here asking questions & getting answers that shouldn't be given (or asked) But what can you do?