Is there anything that can be done when a copied/pasted answer becomes Best Answer?!?
On the reply option I mentioned that it was copied and pasted and the answerer responded that this was allowed! This time I replied that it indeed was not allowed and put a link to the Mahalo answers etiquette page; which I in retrospect I should have done the first time.
The problem is that the answer was voted best answer! Aside from the fact that it doesn't deserve Best Answer, it looks bad, especially given my feedback that four members have voted it as best.
Is there a better way to handle this situation? What would you have done?
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$4 Answers
You did your best @kalicat. All I can ask is that we as the Mahalo community help each other out by leaving comments on these answers as we are voting so that others with see that this is not 'best answer' material.
Also, don't be afraid to vote No Best Answer. If the only answer is a mediocre sentence followed by a generic Wiki quote, feel free to say so.
This community is what we make of it.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I decided to try and comment every single one I see with the copy pasting guidelines which made me realize how much it is done. At first I admit I was kinda hesitant to do so as if because I'm not staff I had no right, but no one else was and some of these people that commonly do this are getting best answer.. a lot.. which I don't feel is fair to those that do take the time to answer well. I still feel kind of spammy about it as I leave the comment whether I've already left it for that person once or 100 times but maybe eventually if we all make sure any question answered this way is commented on and not voted best the quality of answers will improve.
It also will draw staff attention to those that are doing it repeatedly and after being directed to the copy pasting guidelines repeatedly.
:D
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$I'm not sure what else you could do for this person, except perhaps have someone patiently comment on everything, or temporarily ban them from answering? Either way, it's up to the staff at this point - as a user, I'm not sure what else you could do.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
That sounds suspiciously like they're trying to pass off laziness in favor of being given "the green light" on copying/pasting. I wouldn't really take anything that user says seriously, tbh. It's unfortunate, but the larger the site, the higher the percentage of rule-breaking and spam. It must just mean that Mahalo's getting more popular!
And hey, you've got the purple belt here - I think you're a bit more ahead than I am, in a way! ;)
Oh, I've made plenty of mistakes myself and there's no doubt that I will make a few more. But I appreciate when someone points out what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it.
One of the things that worries me is that this member says that they were told that it was acceptable although they don't mention by whom.
You're right though, there is a point where you just have to let it go and leave it up to the staff. Thank-you for your answer.
PS It looks like you are ahead in the race...but hopefully not for long.
;-)
Once the answer has been selected as Best Answer you can't really do too much on your own. You should still post a comment as above, but then also report it to staff who can choose whether or not they want to delete the question entirely, or just the copy/pasted answer, or do nothing and leave the stain on Mahalo (unlikely).
As to the member who stated they were told it is ok to simply copy/paste as long as they put quote/end-quote and provide the source, if they persist, they will ultimately be banned by Mahalo staff if they don't change their ways.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Bookmarking it as we speak...thank-you!
Thank-you @bunnyphuphu! I love that cat picture. ;-)
I'm not afraid to vote no best answer, those choices are usually clear cut and do not involve any research.
Best answer is harder to discern because sometimes it's hard to tell whether unquoted text is orginal or copied and pasted. If an answer requires sources and doesn't have any then that's easy too.
Checking the sources takes time but I have found quite a few that I would have voted Best Answer that I voted No Best Answer after reviewing the sources. I will continue to comment on the reply button when voting if I find an answer that is obviously wrong or copied without the proper quotations.
Hopefully more members who vote will start doing that to give the rest of us a heads up and save everyone some time.
This is a good one @kaliekat...
and it doesn't take too long to check!
http://www.dustball.com/cs/plagiarism.checker/