Is it me or...?

Question

Is it me or do poeple on here only pick the answers they believe in, or the ones they agree as best answer and not the most informative one?

Answer 1

nope, some people only pick the answer who is on top... or the funniest answer or the one that they want...

that is just life :-)

Answer 2

You are correct.. That is the way of the world. Agreement means best answer.

You have to watch out, even if your answer is informative, and accurate, there are those who don't check their sources, and will give you bad marks when you don't deserve them. I've gotten bad marks on some of the most unusual answers. I could back myself up, was not insulting, nor was I intrusive, yet it is like someone looks for the discending vote and just has to hit them with a negative.

I will even give a thumbs up to an answer I don't agree with if I find that the person is clever or funny but not rude in their response to the asker.

This is a popularity contest in a way... If you are not popular, if you don't compel someone to think about what you had to say then you won't get any response or reaction.

Information is good, but some put so much into it that it is hard to assimilate, so they get ignored a lot, even though what they have to say is valuable.

Short, sweet and to the point is good, too!

Answer 3

By and large, you are correct, but that's because the "democratic" way of selecting a Best Answer is a horrible failure. I did that for the longest time (send a question to vote, in the interest of fairness), and 99% of the time, the Best Answer is simply the first answer. The question can be complex, well-thought out, and fair, but as long as you are the first answerer, you stand a great chance of getting the points.

Below is an example of what I am talking about. It is a question that was resolved a couple of days ago. The person voted for Best Answer was also the first to answer. She gave a simple answer to a detailed question, and laziness earned her an extra 10+ points. Mediocrity rewards itself on Y!A.

You will also see people type a period in their answer, while they type out their response. They are reserving their place at or near the top of the answers, in an effort to collect more thumbs up. ANYONE I see who does this receives an automatic thumbs down from me, no questions asked.

Answer 4

Sometimes questions are asked with an intent of comfirming one's own beliefs. Other times, people truly want information.

I think the intent of the question will determine which type of answer will be chosen as best.

Most of my questions are to get information - but I'll admit that I've asked some questions to to get some confirmation around my own beliefs -and then picked an answer that agreed with me. But those questions are few and far between.

Answer 5

Generally speaking, that's true. I don't let it bug me too much though... my best answer rating is appalling because of how much time I spend here, but whatever. Quite often it makes sense, though why ask a question if your mind is set on the answer anyway?
What I don't like though, is when people ask a question specifically to a group they don't belong to, and then pick an answer of somebody of their group who decide to chip in a "people of group X are idiots" contribution...

Answer 6

It's all a popularity contest.

Your answer could be 100% correct, accurate, informative, etc. but if the person asking the question doesn't agree with you....they'll choose somebody elses answer for best answer.

Doesn't make any sense...but that's how it works....

Answer 7

Most definitely that is the case. It is the tribal nature of religious types to do everything entirely on faith with disregard for the facts. Personally, I usually just give the points to the chick with the sexiest avatar, and I am sure I am not alone in that.

Answer 8

You're absolutely correct!

Last month in Sports, someone posted a question to the effect of "Why does everyone think Michael Vick is bad?"
There were 40 responses of, essentially, "he kills dogs!"
And one guy that said, "I know, they should get over it and let him play." And that answer was picked as best.

Birds of a feather...

Answer 9

Well that is what this site is about isn't it? Opinion is the ruling factor. Doesn't matter what someone else thinks, you are stricly trying to sell your own belief. Many do not wish to even look at answers which vary from their own opinion as it causes them to question a belief.

Answer 10

No Zaru, it's just YOU!!!

All kidding aside...the most factual answer often is overlooked for one that agrees with a prevailing opinion.

In fact, often times the most factual answers are the one with the most 'thumbs down'