Should Askville stop letting certain questions be asked? I'm not talking about "controversial" questions, I mean?

I'm not talking about "controversial" questions, I mean... ...those questions that have been asked and answered repeatedly, and are not opinion questions. You know the ones of which I speak! Here's the thing: now that one can see how often a question has been asked previously before asking it YET AGAIN, shouldn't Askville put a stop to it?

If you ask a question that you KNOW has been asked / answered several times, isn't that just point/gold gaming, and isn't that Askville abuse? If you agree with the premise, what are some examples of questions you would like to see on the list? And after how many "askings" should it be banned?

If you don't agree, please tell me why, as I'd like to hear a different perspective on this. Asked by Rickisgirl 49 months ago Similar questions: Askville stop letting questions asked talking controversial Amazon > Askville.

Similar questions: Askville stop letting questions asked talking controversial.

I don't think so I know some questions get abused...like really stupid questions, but usually those people never come back. They arent trying to get more coins, they just want to be stupid. But, I have asked questions that I was told were asked before, or I see later that it was asked previously.

I would rather have my question answered instead of have to fish for the previous asked question. Just like me someone may see my question on the homepage and answer it not knowing it has been asked before, and if you have answered it before then don't answer it. But in turn I get to ask my question, get my coins, someone gets to put in there two-cents and earn coins.

If the question before mine was closed someone may have a different answer than everyone else and not want to just put it in the comments. Like me they may want coins for the time taken answering it etc. Thats just my opinion on the question..

Not yet. Having been here for about 5 months now, I know what you’re talking about. The same questions do seem to come up over and over again.

Askville recently made some changes to the question page to deflect some of the repeat business, but I don’t know how effective it’s been. Having seen the things that come up when I’ve composed questions, I don’t know how they might go about implementing such a control - if it’s a desirable thing to have at all. I know I have answered some questions more than once.

For example, I’ve answered the question of how you get hard water stains off shower doors (use Lime-Away) at least 3 times. Before I bit on your question, I decided to give Askville’s search feature a whirl, and looked for "hard water. " The results were not what I’d hoped for.

Taking a sidestep, and doing a site:askville.com search with Google didn’t help much, either. You get too much or too little, depending on how you search. It is thus hard for newcomers to discern whether or not a question has already been asked, even if they make a pretty good run at searching for it.

Sorting and searching problems are among the most complex that programmers have to solve. Celebrated author and pioneer Donald Knuth devoted an entire book to it, back in the 1960s when computer books weren't so common. Google has made billions from their search engine.

Askville isn’t there yet - much improvement needs to be made to their internal search engine before we can think about implementing a "don’t ask this again! " policy. Last, but not least, I’ve been on some message boards around the Net where newbies are berated mercilessly for asking repetitive questions - undeservedly, because the engines on those sites aren’t any better than Askville’s.

I kinda like it here, because people are more congenial. So go ahead, ask me again how to get hard water stains off your shower door. I’m happy to help.

Sources: Opinion IchtheosaurusRex's Recommendations Art of Computer Programming, Volume 3: Sorting and Searching (2nd Edition) (Art of Computer Programming Volume 3) Amazon List Price: $69.99 Used from: $30.00 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 8 reviews) The Book of Stupid Questions Amazon List Price: $15.99 Used from: $3.22 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) The classics.

I get your point, but no, I don't agree. I tend to find that for the most part, questions that are asked that we've seen over and over and over again as long timers are generally asked by newbies. I once asked a question regarding how many times we were going to have to read the woodchuck question.

Still seems we get the question repeatedly even now that someone can start typing it and see that it's been asked. Questions about about Questville, even though a scan of the FAQs would tell you all you need to know. But I don't know of any examples where these types of questions are asked by long timers who know what they're doing.

But then there's another kind of question, for example, yesterday I was looking for GPS recommendations, and yes, there were like 30 pages of "what GPS should I get" questions. But I have specific wants, and was looking for answers from a specific group. So, I asked anyway...I got some good info both from my question and from questions beforehand, but the answers were by different people from different perspectives.

Now, yes, if you KNOW (not just should know, because we can all say woulda coulda shoulda) that something has been asked before and you KNOW you can get the information you seek with a search, then you really should seek to do that. But even so, there may be a reason you want new answers...maybe you even DID look at the other Q&As and maybe you did find out something useful, but for one reason or another are looking for another take, another perspective. Now, I know you said non-controversial, non-opinion questions, but to some degree, almost any question you can ask here involves an answer coming from a person's point of view.

If your question is wholly factual and based on information that can be readily gathered by a web search, then one can question why even ask it here. But then again, you want to know say a historical fact, maybe you WANT to see someone's slant on it. You want to know what year an album came out...easy enough to answer, but maybe you're hoping someone will throw something in there, a tidbit you didn't know, or their own editorial on the album.

Getting answers from a human source is a lot different than getting them from a static database, even though that database was originally populated by human sources. It's dynamic vs. static information, it's more organic. So, I can see very few questions, with the exception of the really annoying ones that almost seem like they're prerequisites for newbies, that I think it would be impossible to make a case for asking.

Since Askville custodians can only see the finished product, they can't divine intent. But one thing is clear, it's hard to make a case that it's gaming. I mean 1 point is all you get for asking a question....if 5 people answer it you get 5 more points...6 points total...that's worth what, a nickel (and only for a limited time)?

I'd really like to know what questions are getting under your skin, perhaps I'm just missing the point here by not thinking of the right questions, but then again, who am I to say what the right questions are...who are you for that matter? And if we ask Askville to step in, aren't we really asking them to be thought police? What you're advocating almost seems like it would hold the potential to turn our autonomous collective into a totalitarian regime.

I think if someone is CONSTANTLY asking questions that can be answered easily both by doing web searches and by searching Askville and they've accumulated a fair number of coins doing this, then maybe we need to look at the individual, point them to the T&C and make sure they understand what this is about, and if they disrespect the purpose for Askville, then they can be removed. But to say someone, ANYONE is going to say...here's an "unnacceptable question list", well then what happens next? Let's say they ban the "what is Questville/when will Questville be introduced" question.

Then mid year next year Amazon releases a press release giving some details about their upcoming Questville. Suddenly there's a buzz, and people start asking questions, but they get penalized. The way I see Askville is the same way I see the rest of the internet.

The internet is a pull medium, unlike the push mediums of television and radio, in that you have to specifically request the content that you are seeking. It is not broadcast on certain frequencies in certain intervals...it is omnipresent, and it's not even as simple as the TV censorship debate which can best be won by the argument, "if you don't like what you see, change the channel. " Here it's even simpler, don't navigate somewhere that bothers you.

Or in the case of a site where you may go and you see a listing of questions you may choose to answer or not to answer, again you're making a choice. If you see a question that you have no interest in, leave it be, it's not for you. Basically, if there is a demand to answer that question out there, i.e.

Someone wants to answer it, let them...no skin off my nose or yours. Yes, you may have to weed through a number of questions that don't interest you, but that's the great thing about Askville....there's room for people of all walks of life, all manner of opinion, all degree of thought. To start placing restrictions, even some that seem rather benign on the asking and/or answering of questions, is akin to a form of censorship, which is wholly unnecessary, and ultimately destructive.

Sorry to take the contrarian point of view here, but I just think it's a bad, and potentially dangerous idea. I'd rather deal with having stupid, pointless questions about, and not worry that perhaps someone is "gaming" the system on a small scale, because if they are gaming it on a large scale, I have confidence they will get caught, and them maybe earning an ill gotten dollar by posting 20 pointless questions really doesn't trouble me all that much.

I don't think so I never look at Q's that have already been asked. I want to ask my own Q and get my own answers. If you don't want to answer it don't.

Short and sweet but I really don't look/search for what has already been asked. Plus it always gives the newbees a chance to ask and answer and gather their own gold. If you could ask the question again would we get to a point that no one would be asking?

Just my opinion. Let them ask........it is Askville after all.......

No -- counter-productive use of the Askville Team's programming time. I wonder how much time the Askville team would have to put into programming such a filter effectively. They might be better off just letting us old hands ignore such questions, if we want to.

They'd have to program in links to previous askings, and they'd be cutting off anyone who wants to use such newbie-announcing Qs as an opportunity to welcome newcomers to the community.

I just posted my first one. " "Why did askville stop letting us edit our text when we answer questions? " "Do you sometimes stop yourself from asking silly/fun questions on Askville, or do you go for it?

Why is it that people here on Askville seem to 'jump to conclusions' on different questions being asked and 'assume.

The most questions asked, the most answers given, the most points, etc.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.