To Post or not To Post?

[Omniscient]

Well, its not Shakespeare, but I often find myself asking this question when I post to the SDMB.

This question generally applies to reading GQ and MPSIMS, but I felt it belongs in GD.

When you have a question, usually like one in GQ but frequently more innane in MPSIMS, that you could probably answer through a fairly short reasonable web search do you post it? Now, there are always questions that are so stupid that you definately should open the dictionary or search Yahoo!, but some that are interesting or slightly more complicated requiring a knowledge of the subject to understand the results of a websearch.

Many times you will see someone critisized for using the SDMB as a search engine, and being lazy asking others to do their work for them. But given that fact, it seems to me that very few questions can't be answered by using a search engine. So it makes this site pretty useless. Where do you draw the line? What do you do if you have a question that you probably could answer by doing a search or making a phone call? Is the fact that by asking a question here where others read it and perhaps learn something secondarily a consideration? How lame must a question be before it isn't worth asking in the forum? Do you think only questions so complex that a web search would be useless should be asked here? What do other Dopers feel about this conundrum?

[samclem]

Omniscient said

But given that fact, it seems to me that very few questions can't be answered by using a search engine. So it makes this site pretty useless.

I disagree. If it truly WERE that easy to answer most questions using a search engine, the posts here and on other BB would drop dramatically. Not posts by the newbies,but total posts. That's just MHO.

Oh, yeah! For someone so Omniscient, you sure use a lot of question marks.

Web searches can provide facts and opinions. GQ provides an interactive forum in which posters, who often possess a lot of expertise in some subjects, can integrate fact & opinion and provide perspective.



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Sue from El Paso

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

[manhattan]

Well, just call me Bill Clinton. I agree with everybody.

First, as mentioned, for a person not familiar with the field about which s/he is asking, a web search can be a frustrating and often fruitless endeavor. And when one does find information, it is often commercially sponsored, biased, flat out wrong, drier than the Sahara, or some combination of those.

Second, asking a question here at the SDMB will oftentimes elicit, in addition to a correct answer, several personal experiences, information about tangentially related topics, neat hijacks, or other things that a simple search would not likely uncover.

That said, I know what you're talking about, Omni. I see from time to time questions that make me cringe because they could have been answered with a dictionary or a three-second Yahoo search. In those instances, let your conscience be your guide. You can answer, you can ignore, you can answer with a (mildly, please) snide remark about how easy it was to get an answer, you can expand the topic, you can make a wisecrack.

My personal preference is if people do anything but ignore the question. For one reason, you never know when a person who is a complete idiot about one thing will be a genius on another topic, so I like to encourage new members to have a good first experience here. For another, we gotta get those page views up. And finally, each and every one of us is a complete idiot about something. I'd certainly want help on my idiot question.

So I guess that I'm saying that there is no question too silly or stupid to be asked (well, OK, the -gry question). The judgement should come in the responses.

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Change Your Password, Please and don't use HTML, as it has been disabled, but you can learn about superscripts here

[Ukulele Ike]

{rooting through manhattan's post for the wisecrack}

[tomndebb]

My policy on AOL and continuing, here, is to answer any question that it seems I can. (Not every question! If someone else gets there first, I'll usually leave it alone unless I think I have more actual information.)

That said, I often try to show where and how I got the information--especially if it really is a dictionary question. We used to be a little rougher on newbies with dictionary questions on AOL. I am not in favor of sneering at people, but I do think we ought to encourage them to find easy answers themselves.

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Tom~

[AuntiePam]

What Manhattan said.

And people seem to enjoy responding to the questions -- gives 'em a chance to strut their stuff.

(Now if someone would only ask a question that I knew something about.)

[psycat90]

The fact that Cecil has answered so many questions coupled with the fact that I know how to use a search engine, generally keeps me from posting questions in GQ, doesn't stop me from reading though, and, occasionally when the mood strikes a good wag is always in order.

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I'll buy that for a dollar.

[C K Dexter Haven]

I dunno about what one SHOULD do, but from reading the questions that Cecil tosses the Straight Dope Science Advisory Staff from his mail, I can comment on what people do.

There is an amazing number of questions submitted to Cecil that could be answered by a simple look in any dictionary or encyclopedia.

There is an amazing number of questions that are answered by a quick search through the Archives on this site -- stuff that Cecil has already answered. (I think there were three people asking about why men have nipples, this week alone.)

So, the inference I draw is that there are lots of people out there who would prefer to ask someone, rather than to do minimal work on their own.

[ThufferinThuccotash]

Many times you will see someone critisized for using the SDMB as a search engine, and being lazy asking others to do their work for them.

Around here, that's like saying that playing "fetch the bone" with your dog is asking him to do your work for you; some people live to look up facts.