Yahoo! Canada Answers Blog

Recently, we’ve blogged about types of low quality content that are not allowed on Answers -  avatar games, chatting and gaming questions. Since then, a lot of questions have been asked about polling and surveys, and how these are different from chat.  Generally, polls and surveys seek advice and looks to gather a collective opinion around a subject – that’s exactly what we want to see. Since then, a lot of questions have been asked about polling and surveys, and how these are different from chat.

Having such a large number of people in the Answers community lends itself to gauging public opinion through a poll or a survey.  Polls and surveys are allowed on Answers and this week we have some recommendations to help you get the most out of your survey:

• Make use of the polls and surveys category!  – This may sound like we are stating the obvious but consider that placing your poll in the right category will attract responses from people looking to help.  It also makes it clear that your question is intended to garner opinion.

• Keep your questions as short as possible: Long questions can lead to misinterpretation and confusion.

• Be clear about the information you want: Write questions that everyone will understand in the same way.

• Avoid vague and biased questions: Stick to one topic. The question should point directly to the information that is needed. Write questions that do not lead people to answer a particular way.

• Avoid ‘yes’- ‘no’  and rating questions: It encourages games and chatting and will result in a violation.

Here you have a couple of example of good quality polls and surveys:

Which fictional character would you be and why?

Which commercial would you like to see kicked off air forever?

Maybe you have some further tips to share?

Yahoo! Answers Canada Team

We all like to play games, but there is a time and place for that. Since Yahoo! Answers is about a community of people sharing knowledge, it is certainly not about gaming and popularity contests. We’ve already discussed about the fine line between offering a poll query and violating the community guidelines. But after seeing another rise of avatar games along with the ongoing annoyance in the forum over this type of recurring abuse, we have decided to go over the issue again.

What’s the difference between polling and chatting?

Polling questions, such as “Who do you think will win the election?” or “What kind of decorations do you post on a Christmas tree?” are ok. Advice-seeking and knowledge-worthy questions are more than welcome on the site.
On the other hand, low-quality questions such as “ What’s your name?” ,“Am I pretty?” ,“ Vote for the best above/below avatar” or any sort of Avatar games, name games, guessing games, truth or dare, trolling games, etc. violate the community guidelines and should be reported as abuse. We also consider questions that call out other users by name to be chatting. If you want to chat with another user, use instant messenger or send email to that user.
If you want to ask a follow-up question in response to someone else’s question and that person is not available via email or IM, post a new question that’s open to everyone in the community to answer – there might be someone else who’s better equipped to answer it.

How do I report chatting and gaming question/answer?

Go to the page where the abusive question or answer appears, and click the “Report Abuse” link associated with it. To report abuse that does not appear in the question or answer (such as harassment, obscene avatars, etc.), you can still click the “Report Abuse” button and describe the abuse in the Additional Details box provided. Once you’ve reported the violation, you’re done! There’s no need to email the team, we will remove it.

When people use Answers to chat with each other, it lowers the quality of the site and inhibits knowledge-sharing. By sticking to the guidelines and reporting abuse, we can all make Answers an informative and enjoyable place to be.

Have more questions? Let us know.