Find solution
Where do I find my points on yahoo answers?

Should Yahoo Answers have a "Points" structure?

  • If you read up on Yahoo Answers in the 360 Blog section, you will find that Yahoo Answers is very much against "Points Gaming". Which I can understand, to a degree. I think this forum is VERY cool for getting hard to find answers to certain questions and have used it in my profession already...but of late, mostly to for fun. I like offering well researched, well crafted or humorous answers, and honestly, I like watching the points go up too. THE BIG "POINT" I think Yahoo has a conflict of interest on their hands. They don't want people to "point game", & for GOOD reasons, but yet they create a ratings system by which you can compare yourself with others ratings, including a "leaderboard" to show your standings in the community. Now, I love this forum, its been a lot of fun, but I see both sides of this issue. I want to get good answers, yet I enjoy the competitive idea that I can accumulate points. Anyone else think there's mild conflict of interest and how would you solve it?

  • Answer:

    I've discovered that the best way to accumulate points is to be consistently picked as having 'best' answers. This is the only way I see to effectively accellerate up the ranks. People who often give 'lame' answers are left in the dust, and therefore get limited in their ability to contribute; hopefully they'll just get frustrated and quit. The points system, thus (in my opinion) serves the purpose of forcing people into thoughtful answers. Note: I - like you - prefer to answer competitively, yet appropriately and insightfully. They all seem to mingle well. Those who try to be competitive without following 'our' simple creed, really aren't competitive at all. So it seems to serve a dual purpose - competitively keeping those who answer in the manner that they should. This affords you the opportunity to advance (lets face it, a 'lame' answerer has to answer 30 questions to get 60 pts, where a good answerer need only answer 5!) and still keep the integrity of the service.

GhostWri... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

It;s cool.. just chill

Memoimon

I think you bring up some valid points. Whenever points are awarded for something, you have abuse. The very nature of the point system makes it a competition in some people's eyes. I guess you'll always have those types of people no matter what. I think it does lead to a lot of answers that aren't answers. Maybe the asker could be given the option of rating how helpful each answer was instead of just choosing a best one. That's not a perfect solution either, but I don't think there will ever be a perfect solution.

Seraphina

I agree with Yahoo point structure. I just think it is the people who decide to abuse this structure are the ones that are making it look bad. There are some people on here who make the point system bigger than it actually is and I am sure that is not what Y! Answers intended it to be. What people have to realize with these points is that they mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING once you are logged off of Y! Answers. It is not like if you are on the leader board because of all these points that you could actually put that on a resume and use it to get a raise or get a that dream job you always wanted. Nobody is going to get any awards or honors for how many points they gain. And nobody will become famous from points especially since most users choose to be anonymous. Nobody will be asking you for your autograph or you won't be asked to be on Jay Leno because you managed to rack up enough points to be on the Leader board. Some treat this as the Olympics trust me no brand name endorsements will be given out here. I think people should stick to what Y! Answers was intended for to give and receive good answers to good questions. People can continue chasing points if they want but hopefully they will realize they will be the same person before they login Y! Answers and after they logout regardless of what goes on in here.

Needmorelove

Well, as u said I also like watching the pts go up & everything, but YAHOO! ANSWERS has 2 start giving the community more pts 2 accumilate. The 2 pts r great & all but what about the higher pts that we really deserve 4 answering the good questions. They also shouldn't deduct 5 pts after every body has been asking questions. If they r going 2 take away 5 pts, they might as well send us back a lvl. We all work so hard on asking questions, yet they want 2 take away pts B cuz of it. YAHOO! ANSWERS need 2 change the deductive pts back 2 (-2) instead of (-5).

NICOLE22

I do think there is some confusion out there. On one hand, this is for questions and answer, but on the other hand, there is a points system and defintely this leads directly to competition. I would like to see something where we can see all the Best Answers listed, or who has how many Best Answers. Maybe the points rating system could be based on Best Answers.

Cosmic I

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.