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Why do we go out of our way to be unhelpful in forums?

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cranioscopical:
I'm not sure we do go out of our way, for some of us it's just second nature.  ;D

For example, someone will ask a question about software, and someone will respond with a link to the developer's site and maybe even regurgitate some information found on the website. To me, this usually indicates that the responder hasn't actually used the software, but just read the website and thought it would be helpful to post the information.-superboyac
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I believe that's a flawed assumption.

When asking for information, perhaps you need to define your terms with even greater clarity.
Frequently, I've found references to various sites to be helpful when seeking information, even if those who posted the links haven't used the software.

Gwen7:
i look at it from the opposite side of the schoolyard.

one of the reasons i so seldom participate in forum discussions is because of the number of times i tried to be helpful but got my face handed back to me. usually it was because my posting wasn't *exactly* what the querent was looking for.

altogether too much "me! Me!! ME!!!" for my comfort level. hence i tend to be a chronic lurker in most places i visit. 

i see less of it happening at this website. but it's not completely absent. :-(  

David1904:
I LOVE IT when people reply to requests for information with pointers to further information on the topic plus tangentially related information. The reason is that from time to time I come across information that I probably would never have found in my own google search - maybe because I didn't phrase the search terms well enough or didn't bother paging through to the 680th result.
I agree that a comprehensive review of a product by an experienced user which covers exactly the ground you want to know about is great. However, I'm more than happy to sift through a dozen or so pointers which might (or might not) address YOUR particular needs -because one of them may be really helpful to ME.
This, I think, is where the value of a forum to the community is not the same as the value of the forum to an individual in that community. An individual may seek very detailed advice on specific techniques for catching a rare species of fish. There may be a deluge of replies about catching related species and perhaps even some pointers to sites promoting new and unusual fish finders. Some of these replies will be extremely helpful to half a dozen lurkers in the forum who seldom post but visit daily because of the amazing helpfulness and friendliness of the forum. I do appreciate, though, it could be a bit frustrating for the original questioner. I think there is always going to be a bit of tension between the value to the individual and the value to the community. Perhaps flagging the post with a MAYBE USEFUL comment near the beginning would allow folk to skim past those posts if they wish.

superboyac:
Well, I probably shouldn't come off sounding too holier-than-thou myself.  I've noticed I've been a little more irritable about this lately, I don't know why.  Probably related to work or something.  I could probably stand to be a little more patient and not so high strung about it.

I think I started getting all pissy about it when I realized how useless Google was becoming.  I felt like this great information highway has degenerated to just a bunch of useless words and images.  Forums like this are like my last resort.  if I get nothing from here, what do I have left?  Wikipedia?

I almost want to start an ultra-efficient, no-nonsense website for just accurate information.  Real answers to real questions.  To side-discussion, no nonsense solutions.  No kind of, sort of.  No fun stuff, no ads, nothing long-winded.  Not a place to hang out or anything like that.  Just answers.  whatever.  Just the idea is pretty impractical.  Ha.

mouser:
I think Bamse is onto something with this:
Well you must also remember that many times those who answer have seen same question before
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If you see a snippy reply from someone telling to "google it" or something similar, chances are that the person who wrote that takes very seriously their obligation to help people find answers to questions when people are really stuck.  So when they see someone asking a question that they feel could have been answered by the person themself if they only bothered to search, they may feel a little like an emergency room doctor dealing with someone at the front of the line complaining about a splinter -- wanting you to move along and come back when you really need help.

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