Is LMGTFY unacceptable snark?

[C_K_Dexter_Haven]

I personally find Google often very difficult – out of 2,981,437 hits, how do I know which are reliable? And there are (believe it or not) newcomers to the internet who really don’t know how to use Google, or Wikipedia, etc. I have a cousin, she’s 70, she uses email just fine (pretty much) but she gets confused by some other interenet activities.

When I answer Cecil’s mail, you’d be amazed how many emails come in that ask a question that can be found by searching the Straight Dope Archives. I just respond by saying, “Cecil already answered that, here’s a link… and by the way, you can find this and many other interesting things yourself by searching our Archives.”

So, I don’t think it’s necessarily snarky to tell people where to find an answer. Sometimes, I think it’s satisfactory to say, “You can look that up in any reasonable dictionary” thus telling people how to find an answer.

[Squink]

@GuanoLad

Whatever happened to the snarky but non-confrontational: Google Is Your Friend.

Replaced by Wikipedia.

@Squink

LMGTFY:
Turns out Wikipedia is your friend.

[Malacandra]

@Gukumatz

In my opinion, it’s slightly better than Just Fucking Google It, which serves no other purpose than being patronizing. LMGTFY actually gives results.

If it popped up in the Game Room, I’d OK it, barring extraneous snark. For instance, a single LMGTFY link in the post would go through but a “LMGTFY link, dumbass” wouldn’t.

Of course, I’ve been brought up with the “google twice, post once” rule. YMMW.

You can be helpful along with snarky, though. Example response to “dumb question”.

[zut]

@Chronos

Personally, I think that the priorities are getting the answer for the OP, and educating the OP on how to get the answer (not necessarily in that order). LMGTFY does both. Yeah, it does it in a snarky way, but we’re all in the shadow of Cecil here, so I think a certain level of snark comes with the territory.

I think a certain level of snark is acceptable as long as the poster correctly answers the question. A LMGTFY answer can be complete and correct, but often it’s not, as there’s some nuance to the question or some expert interpretation required of the answer.

I agree that GQ priorities are delivering the answer and educating the OP on how to get the answer. Snark is incidental and fine in moderation, but inappropriate when coupled with a wrong or incomplete answer, which LMGTFY often is. There are certain posters who seem to value snark above actually being correct. That shouldn’t be encouraged.

[Munch]

@Khadaji

IMO it is does cross the jerk line. If you don’t want to answer a question, just don’t.

Except that posting a LMGTFY link DOES answer the question. And many times, it offers the OP a chance to see why his/her initial attempts to Google it (if they ever did) were unsuccessful (poor choice of search terms, etc.).

[Troy_McClure_SF]

@Khadaji

IMO it is does cross the jerk line. If you don’t want to answer a question, just don’t.

As mentioned several times, LMGTFY does answer the question.

I can see it being abused (not everyone knows how to use search terms efficiently), but sometimes I think it’s absolutely called for.

And while I don’t at all disagree with our cardinal rule of “don’t be a jerk,” I think it’s worth keeping in mind that our dear leader Cecil is a bit of a smartass, and that LMGTFY is pretty mild compared to some of his columns over the decades. And, quite frankly, if people put in the slightest bit of effort once in a while, perhaps Fighting Ignorance wouldn’t be Taking so Long.