Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
Answerway Ettique?	bluebags	12/22/04
I've been on this site for about a week and this rating business puzzles me. I got blocked for apparently asking too many questions without rating them (I did rate the first answer I was given though). I'm a bit shocked because I didn't expect that rating the question was meant as 'payment' for a question being answered. In fact, I stopped rating answers because one expert got unhappy about my rating his/her answer 4 stars and sent me a followup about it. I got really put of by it and decided not to rate answers anymore. Now I got blocked for doing just that! Are there some written or unwritten rules about this?
Clarification/Follow-up by bluebags on 12/22/04 12:15 pm: To anyone who'd answered so far: I appreciate your sharing your thoughts. I understand better now. Hello hadenough, for one thing, you're not letting me rate you by posting a followup, not an answer. It would seem that you are not giving me a chance, even though I have expressed a desire to handle this ratings issue responsibly by posting the above question. I posted this question for greater clarity and understanding. I do hope I have not become an unwitting target for experts who are upset with not receiving rates to take out their frustations on. An open-minded, non-accusatory approach to solve any conflicts - I suppose "general humanity" would require that this be acknowledged too. I appreciate frank, honest feedback but not the angry tone, which I find offensive. I do not think I have asked you, hadenough, any questions before and I do believe it is not appropriate to use such an accusatory tone "You did... You..." as if pointing fingers at me. Perhaps such dissatisfaction could have been expressed on a relevant board for other members to read and understand, instead of only coming alive when one relatively new member (not expert) brings this up? If I understand correctly, there has been no previous posts on this board regarding this, and I am not aware of any other catergory this issue could fall into. As far as "general humanity" goes, I'm not sure "rating" someone is an "understood" thing. Thanking verbally is more or less widely understood enough, but this is not equivalent to rating someone. I do believe I've thanked almost everyone who answered my questions, just that I am aware that repeating too much isn't a good thing, so I don't necessary thank people on follow up answers(in whatever form). There are people who get irritated or angry when thanked, and when asked about it, the answers are to the tune of "can't you think in terms of the concept of unnessary?". I do want to avoid such situations as much as possible, and I wasn't trying to "take it out on others" as suggested. If I were, would I bother to clarify this on this board? It is rather offensive (intentional or not) to be seen in such bad light immediately without being given any benefit of the doubt. I did clarify my rating with the expert in question about the four stars, by the way. I do hope that it is apparent that I am posting this question because I do wish to correct any unintentionally offensive behaviour and at least know what is generally expected. I want my stay in Answerway to be as pleasant as possible for myself as others. I would not want to assume I know what everyone is thinking without asking first. Different people/groups have different standards. I am trying to find out what the standards here are. I also wonder, in a similar vein, if it would be a good idea for experts to inform people that they do not wish to reply to their questions? Perhaps that way I could immediately send my question to another expert and not have to send my question to a few people, only to receive a delayed reponse much later? I hope this will, all in all, be a fruitful discussion. Thanks for all the feedback so far. It has been helpful.
Answered By		Answered On
ScottGem		12/23/04
I'm gonna jump in here with some comments. First, If Answerway blocked you, it would be because of a gross violation of its rules. Those rules and guidelines are accessible from the Answerway home page. Answerway is the only site I know of that went thru an extensive design of such guidelines. Individual experts can block individual users if they feel that the user is abusing the guidelines and or the volunteer nature of the site. You say; "I also wonder, in a similar vein, if it would be a good idea for experts to inform people that they do not wish to reply to their questions? Perhaps that way I could immediately send my question to another expert and not have to send my question to a few people, only to receive a delayed reponse much later?" In my opinion this is NOT the best way to use a site like this. Instead of posting to an individual expert, post your questions publicly, ONCE in an appropriate category. The way Answerway is constructed its easy for experts to find questions they are interested in. By posting publicly you open your questions to the widest audience and don't annoy any specific experts. As for ratings, in my opinion the major purpose of ratings is to let the askers judge the quality of an answer. If someone asks a question they may not be in the best position to judge the answer. If someone asks whether it would be OK, to stick they finger in an electrical socket, an answer of Yes should receive a poor rating to warn the asker off. Ratings can also be used as a thank you for the effort. HTH Scott<>

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