Should we thank the askers that gave us a Best Answer?

I thanked my last one, but I think it also goes without saying that you really appreciate it. I mean, when you vote for Best Answer for your own questions, Mahalo tells you that you've "just made ____'s day! " ;).

I like the fact that you want to be friendly and bring the community together even more! :) I'm not sure if thanking everyone that votes "best answer" on questions I answer, is something I would do though. I will take today as an example, I have received "best answer" on several questions in the past couple of hours which would result in about two dozen "thank you's" that I would have to send out individually if I truly wanted them all to see it.

I think the fact that users get points for voting on "best answer" should be thanks enough. The energy that would be used in thanking everyone can, instead, be used to answer more questions with even higher quality.

I did the same thing as Spoon when I started: I did thank everybody. But I had the same experience as Spoon and Philipy. It just took so much time.

Sometimes, if someone has left a comment on the question when they pick it as best answer, I will go back and reply and thank them there. Many times, though, questions I've answered will go to a vote, and then there is no one single person to thank. So: to anyone who has ever picked one of my answers, or voted for one of them, THANK YOU!

I started out thanking members who gave me a tip (it took me several months to get my first one), but I have stopped. Really, you don't see other members saying thank you for this, and if all of the best answers had a thank you under them, it might get annoying to others who want to view the question in the future. Sure, you could send them a direct question, but I don't like sending messages that aren't questions as questions.So, I really don't think that thanking for the best answer is necessary.

Often, when I choose a best answer, I believe that the answerer deserves the thanks.

I have received a "thank you" in the past that was just sent as a direct question. I know it seems a little odd to have to send a direct question for just a "Thank You". You could always add a comment to your best answer, but they might not always see it.

What I think would be nice (maybe in the 2.0 version) would be a place to comment when you give a person a tip too!

I think the problem is more in making thanking or not systematic. Thanking is part of usual social life and is another message sending. There are times where thanking would be a smart thing to do, but making it systematic would remove any meaning since any thanking you would receive would be "mandatory".

If we just stay at the objective non-affective level, thanking is not necessary: the asker thanks all the answerers and among then s/he thanks more the "best answer" so "the transaction is over" and nothing more is needed. But on the affective subjective lelevl, we har humans, not robots. So there are times where we will want to add another message to the communication asker/answerer.Hmmm... that gives me an idea for a new question... should asker thank their best answerer?

I've been participating in on-line forums since the early days DECnotes and Prodigy. Back then connections were slow, disk space was expensive and we only moved around ascii characters. The golden rule was don't post a message just to say thank you.

These days connections are fast, disk space is cheap and we are pushing everything but the kitchen sink over the net. Now we are all so busy keeping up, I follow the same golden rule, but for different reasons. I do like to see a new note giving details of an outcome when the advice is followed, so we learn what really helps.

That works more in forums than in answers.

I think it should be the askers that should thank the people who replied to the question. In reality, the person answering the questions is the one who is doing the work, sharing their knowledge. Being selected as the best answer is always nice, and rewarding, but I believe it is their own way to say thanks.

Polite is nice... but I am not sure that it is necessary. I think it is a given that we appreciate those votes.... but sometimes there are several people who voted for your best answer. Maybe if there were a place that said "thanks" that you could click on and it went out to each person on that question... that would work.

But to individually go to each person and say Thanks could add a whole layer of work that would get in the way of doing more work.

I think that it is a nice gesture but maybe become a little much depending on how many people vote for you and how many best answers you received. For someone who received a few best answers then I may be a good idea. For someone who racks up a lot, that could be torture.

I saw if you have a chance go for it, but the point they receive should be thanks enough. I say more thanks should be focused on people who leave you good comment, even tipping for really good comments.

It seems to me that saying "Thank You" for a "Best Answer" is a little ... awkward and maybe redundant even. It's nice to get recognized as having the best answer at some level, but even then it is totally subjective. Which is fine because the asker should be the one to determine which answer suited their needs best.

I'm glad if I helped -- that's what I'm supposed to do.

I think Thanks are not needed as a separate event, they are easy enough to drop into a comment. We have all come together to do our best, and the work is already rewarding and rewarded. I think we should still be aware of how much space and time, energy and carbon all those extra thanks add up to over time.

I'm happy to be here, thanks or no thanks. :-) (try saying "Think Thanks" 10 times fast..lol. ).

The feeling synopsis has of feeling thanked by getting an answer is genuine, human, and the right thing to do. One of the things about the Internet, this economy and the realities of today's living is that we all have adopted a kind of fecklessness toward each other. The use of the word ``ignore'' or to ``block'' someone is to really disregard them.

Here, we are showing an interest in knowing another's expertise. I think thanking is good. However, here is the problem.

A thank you can easily get in the way of the overall idea. Ultimately we are assembling to create efficiency for one another, and demonstrate the power of this joined work. As such, the user interface should deal with the answers, and the thank you should not interfere with the part of searching that is a verb.

Having weighed those two ideas, I think it should be an ``thank you, thank you, thank you very much, icon that can be clicked upon tro expand and then to open doors to reveal individualized thank yous. Of course, all tips could be included on that expandable icon, and a tip ought to make one feel that good, genuine, human feeling of being thanked. My three cents.

It's a very time consuming thing to do, but very nice at the same time. And yes, getting a comment in addition to every answered question WOULD get a bit annoying. Instead, I would suggest that when you mark a question as best answer, you get a field where you can enter a comment and rate the answerer.

Just add your answer to that field, and rate as appropriate. This both says thanks, and helps give feedback on anything they could have improved on.

A thank you for the higher amounts would be nice. I am concidering asking a question and paying maybe $2 for it. But I am not sure yet, I am going to do my own research first.

I don't think a "thank you" is desirable in return for "Best Answer" selection. I see it like thanking someone for sending you a "Thank You" card. There would be no end to the "thank you"s.

The tip is a nice thanks, but it doesn't hurt to be polite! Sending a small thank you note seems to me an appropriate gesture.

I especially agree with fibo -- it shouldn't be systematic. If it happens to be your natural reaction for a particular situation that doesn't come up too often, then I think it is more than welcome. For example, I got a best answer (and yes it was a .25 cent sponsored question by Mahalo), but I couldn't help saying thank you because it was the first time.

If it feels right, go with it... just don't overdo it.

No, but you better thank me when I get best answer for this!

So, my answer is definitely YES as etiquette is of utmost importance!

I have been wondering about the same thing. If it is a question that has a reward offered by the asker, than I would say yes. For Mahalo sponsored M$0.25, I tend to say no.

I have had quite a few M$1 or higher questions, which lead to some nice discussions, but ending in me getting the 'Best Answer'. In that case I ask whether the one asking the question got what he was looking for, and thank him for the reward.

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.