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What will be done to improve the answers on Mahalo?
The answers on Mahalo are far from reliable. Many people are answering off the top of their head, even when their head is rather empty. Others google a single source, often as not completely wrong. Those who do research a bit more often have misread the question.
Compounding these difficulties, askers are picking poor "best" answers. Sometimes it is clear that they did not mean what they actually asked, other times it seems that since they did not know the answer to the question they did not know how to choose the best answer. And if they felt like researching they wouldn't have asked in the first place.
There is a third problem that a large percentage of questions are purely matters of opinion; but I am more concerned about actual wrong answers and wrong picks for "best".
Compounding these difficulties, askers are picking poor "best" answers. Sometimes it is clear that they did not mean what they actually asked, other times it seems that since they did not know the answer to the question they did not know how to choose the best answer. And if they felt like researching they wouldn't have asked in the first place.
There is a third problem that a large percentage of questions are purely matters of opinion; but I am more concerned about actual wrong answers and wrong picks for "best".
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Can you give specific examples? I can understand if you do not want to single out any particular asker or answerer, but I think that specific examples would be helpful to address your question.
Also, how frequently are you coming across this? Is this for simple questions? Technical questions?
I think that an important part of improving the answers is simply to have a discussion (like this one) to identify the problem and generate more ideas collectively on what to do to improve the service.
I know that it can be frustrating to see answers that are "wrong" in the service. I've seen a few myself (one on antioxidants that said acai was best source for antioxidants, but it's not), and it can be maddening. Another example is a question I asked about using a tea tasting to learn about wine. No one who has answered so far has actually read the question thoroughly.
A couple things that I think might be helpful are below. Keep in mind these are ideas that I've brainstormed. So, not quite off the top of my head, but not necessarily the best ideas or ones that should be implemented.
*Assuming that belt level is a reliable indicator of quality, being able to filter questions and answers by belt level. So as a user you only see the "top" questions. This doesn't solve the problem per se but it prevents you from seeing the other answers.
*More flexibility/parameters in the time allowed to answer questions. For example, maybe don't allow a "best" answer to be selected in the first 24 hours. Or allow an "extend" feature if no best answer is selected.
*Make the refute/add source feature more lucrative for the user. Maybe increase the # of points for using the button. Maybe make refute/add different than simply 'comment.'
*Mark the "most popular" answer in a similar way that the "best" answer is marked. Although "ask the audience" doesn't necessarily mean that an answer is correct, it is another answer and something else that the user can consider. And certainly for MA users, voting a question as "best" or not is a lot easier and faster than taking the time to source or refute every poor answer.
*Rethinking the penalty for "no best answer." On the one hand, we don't want a lot of people rescinding tips, but on the other hand, the pressure to select a best answer often has someone select a sub-par answer out of the list for fear of the "penalty" of not answering. I think we need to encourage people to select "no best answer" if needed and to heck with the "consequences." We really don't know what a "high" percentage of "no best answer" would look like. Obviously someone who selects no answer 100% of the time is to be avoided, but what about 5% of the time? 10%? 15%? Especially if it is warranted, or if they are asking extremely techinically specific questions?
*Maybe do not penalize for "no best answer" if there is only 1 answer, or if there's less than, say 3 answers.
*Do a video tutorial, perhaps even a Mahalo Daily, on how to ask and answer questions. I envision a humorous "Goofus and Gallant" sketch where one user "character" does everything wrong, and another does everything right.
Also, keep in mind that, although there are some answers of low quality, Mahalo Answers is still leaps and bounds over Yahoo answers. All answers get a polite and respectful reply with little to no snark or rudeness. As time goes by this will continue to improve.
So I do share and appreciate your concern about it and it's definitely something that the crew of Mahalo Answers is thinking about, I assure you.
Thanks for your patience so far.
p.s. Any suggestions or thoughts you do have, please feel free to share with feedback@mahalo.com. They are very thorough and responsive with reading the feedback that they receive.
Also, how frequently are you coming across this? Is this for simple questions? Technical questions?
I think that an important part of improving the answers is simply to have a discussion (like this one) to identify the problem and generate more ideas collectively on what to do to improve the service.
I know that it can be frustrating to see answers that are "wrong" in the service. I've seen a few myself (one on antioxidants that said acai was best source for antioxidants, but it's not), and it can be maddening. Another example is a question I asked about using a tea tasting to learn about wine. No one who has answered so far has actually read the question thoroughly.
A couple things that I think might be helpful are below. Keep in mind these are ideas that I've brainstormed. So, not quite off the top of my head, but not necessarily the best ideas or ones that should be implemented.
*Assuming that belt level is a reliable indicator of quality, being able to filter questions and answers by belt level. So as a user you only see the "top" questions. This doesn't solve the problem per se but it prevents you from seeing the other answers.
*More flexibility/parameters in the time allowed to answer questions. For example, maybe don't allow a "best" answer to be selected in the first 24 hours. Or allow an "extend" feature if no best answer is selected.
*Make the refute/add source feature more lucrative for the user. Maybe increase the # of points for using the button. Maybe make refute/add different than simply 'comment.'
*Mark the "most popular" answer in a similar way that the "best" answer is marked. Although "ask the audience" doesn't necessarily mean that an answer is correct, it is another answer and something else that the user can consider. And certainly for MA users, voting a question as "best" or not is a lot easier and faster than taking the time to source or refute every poor answer.
*Rethinking the penalty for "no best answer." On the one hand, we don't want a lot of people rescinding tips, but on the other hand, the pressure to select a best answer often has someone select a sub-par answer out of the list for fear of the "penalty" of not answering. I think we need to encourage people to select "no best answer" if needed and to heck with the "consequences." We really don't know what a "high" percentage of "no best answer" would look like. Obviously someone who selects no answer 100% of the time is to be avoided, but what about 5% of the time? 10%? 15%? Especially if it is warranted, or if they are asking extremely techinically specific questions?
*Maybe do not penalize for "no best answer" if there is only 1 answer, or if there's less than, say 3 answers.
*Do a video tutorial, perhaps even a Mahalo Daily, on how to ask and answer questions. I envision a humorous "Goofus and Gallant" sketch where one user "character" does everything wrong, and another does everything right.
Also, keep in mind that, although there are some answers of low quality, Mahalo Answers is still leaps and bounds over Yahoo answers. All answers get a polite and respectful reply with little to no snark or rudeness. As time goes by this will continue to improve.
So I do share and appreciate your concern about it and it's definitely something that the crew of Mahalo Answers is thinking about, I assure you.
Thanks for your patience so far.
p.s. Any suggestions or thoughts you do have, please feel free to share with feedback@mahalo.com. They are very thorough and responsive with reading the feedback that they receive.
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I think that most of the questions are good examples of poor answers. However, just as one example, consider this one itself. I asked "What will be done to improve the answers on Mahalo?" and not one person answered it. Instead they made suggestions. No one predicted anyting or gave sources.
Mahalo Answers was meant for everyone, meaning you did not have to apply for the job here, and you do not need to be an "expert" in a given field to answer. Similar sites have done this before, and they have done quite well, as the user knows that these people are just every day people answering. To improve the answers, I believe the asker needs to improve the question, and state precisely what they are looking for in an answer. You could say, "I do not want a canned answers" or "I know the answer can easily be found by searching, but I would prefer a more well thought out answer or an answer with more research done." By doing this, you also may get fewer answers because the harder the question, the less likely someone is to answer. The other thing to do is recruit your friends who are smart, who like to answer questions, get them to try out Mahalo Answers. Recruit top guides from other sites, etc. and tell them about Mahalo Answers. The more answers Mahalo gets for any given question, the more likely one of these answers will be the "best" answer. All you really need is one answer really that will answer your question to your liking. The other way Mahalo Answers can get better answers is by hiring experts in a given area where a lot of questions are asked. This is what About.com does, as they have About.com Guides. If you want a better answer, it's always safe to ask a doctor in a particular field, because they will likely know the answer and provide the right answer. There are no stupid questions on here, just not well thought out questions, and by asking a well thought out question, my thought is that you will get a better answer.
Very good feedback. Clearly some folks are not giving enough details on their questions and that is something that I think will change over time. The people asking are not exactly sure what they will get at the start... that's why we gave 3,000 folks M$5 to spend.
In terms of paying for experts I don't see us doing that. We *might* feature experts in the navigation at some point, but my vision for this is that we find *new* expertise out there. I consider Mahalo Answers like the farm league for expertise. There are thousands of really smart folks out there who just don't get their chance in this world... I want them to find their fame here!
In terms of paying for experts I don't see us doing that. We *might* feature experts in the navigation at some point, but my vision for this is that we find *new* expertise out there. I consider Mahalo Answers like the farm league for expertise. There are thousands of really smart folks out there who just don't get their chance in this world... I want them to find their fame here!
I think that many people just add quick "of the top of the head" answers to try and get the tip. People have seen that they can answer many questions real fast and get quick tips, even though the answers are right, wrong, or incomplete.
Some of the blame also lands on the shoulders of the people asking the question. They simply choose someone who has sided with their opinions, or the first person to answer, and later find it is wrong.
(i know opinions are not the best but....) I feel that this will be an ongoing problem until either Mahalo removes the Tips feature, or we have a handful of allstar people who constantly surf the questions and provide spot on answers.
Some of the blame also lands on the shoulders of the people asking the question. They simply choose someone who has sided with their opinions, or the first person to answer, and later find it is wrong.
(i know opinions are not the best but....) I feel that this will be an ongoing problem until either Mahalo removes the Tips feature, or we have a handful of allstar people who constantly surf the questions and provide spot on answers.
In the coming weeks you will see answers that are lame be collapsed. Essentially if three or four Green Belts or higher say something is NOT helpful the answer will have to be open to be seen.
This means 99% of users won't see the bad stuff.
That will solve the entire problem.
Also, we are considering taking away points for questions that get this state. So, the idea of gaming the system goes away. In fact, we might take a point away for stupid answers!
Already we have a lot of folks reporting the offensive stuff and we are close those accounts. So, a combination of community + technology is gonna solve this.
Most importantly we have set an AMAZING tone here. Yahoo Answers has very poor quality and I think we have "acceptable to very good" 90%+ of the time.... and it's only been two weeks!!! :-)
This means 99% of users won't see the bad stuff.
That will solve the entire problem.
Also, we are considering taking away points for questions that get this state. So, the idea of gaming the system goes away. In fact, we might take a point away for stupid answers!
Already we have a lot of folks reporting the offensive stuff and we are close those accounts. So, a combination of community + technology is gonna solve this.
Most importantly we have set an AMAZING tone here. Yahoo Answers has very poor quality and I think we have "acceptable to very good" 90%+ of the time.... and it's only been two weeks!!! :-)
'So as a user you only see the "top" questions.'
Answers, not questions. :)
The belt level is NOT a reliable indicator of quality until the users are handpicked. Greens should be handpicked by purples, purples should be handpicked by browns and so on.
A user should have the ability to pick a best answer immediately, if that solves the problem. Otherwise is a futile competition of "who composes the most beautiful text to gain the 'best answer' title".
I don't agree with the "extend" feature, this should be allowed only if the user gives a tip for the extended time. When the question is about to expire, the user would then tip M$1 for 1 day extended time, M$2 for 2 days and M$3 for 3 days.
I don't usually tag the comment as "refuted" or as an added source, I think this is just plain rude. I just comment instead.
Overall, the most important improvement would be to have "experts" that pick or suggest the most useful answer. The experts should decide what is the best answer if the user hasn't pick one, not the other users. The experts themselves should be handpicked by the Mahalo Staff.
Answers, not questions. :)
The belt level is NOT a reliable indicator of quality until the users are handpicked. Greens should be handpicked by purples, purples should be handpicked by browns and so on.
A user should have the ability to pick a best answer immediately, if that solves the problem. Otherwise is a futile competition of "who composes the most beautiful text to gain the 'best answer' title".
I don't agree with the "extend" feature, this should be allowed only if the user gives a tip for the extended time. When the question is about to expire, the user would then tip M$1 for 1 day extended time, M$2 for 2 days and M$3 for 3 days.
I don't usually tag the comment as "refuted" or as an added source, I think this is just plain rude. I just comment instead.
Overall, the most important improvement would be to have "experts" that pick or suggest the most useful answer. The experts should decide what is the best answer if the user hasn't pick one, not the other users. The experts themselves should be handpicked by the Mahalo Staff.
Great thoughts Bugsy... thanks for sharing them.
We are going to let folks keep a question open shortly. I love your idea of M$1 for each day up to 10 days. Great way for us to make some money, great way for power-users to get extra value. LOVE IT!
Also, like the idea of experts picking the best answer instead of voting. The voting idea is ok, but there has to be something better. Perhaps voting by Brown belts or better some day.
We are going to let folks keep a question open shortly. I love your idea of M$1 for each day up to 10 days. Great way for us to make some money, great way for power-users to get extra value. LOVE IT!
Also, like the idea of experts picking the best answer instead of voting. The voting idea is ok, but there has to be something better. Perhaps voting by Brown belts or better some day.
Perhaps points could only be issued if the answer is marked as helpful.
Another excellent idea. I mentioned my thoughts on that above... clearly taking points away when someone does something stupid is a good idea.
Albanian, it is funny you asked this, because I was going to ask, "Why are the answers on Mahalo of such higher quality than other Q & A sites?"
I wouldn't say they are far from reliable, but I understand your disappointment.
I feel that I am well versed in many activities and have loads of professional experience in many fields, and I have answered questions where I feel I can be of help. It almost seems like every time I answer a question, my Blackberry says, "You had the best answer." I've been here since the first or second day and have been pretty active. I have, as of now, 587 points.
This begs the question, who are these super geniuses? Surely, they are good researchers, but I feel that someone should have at least a basic understanding of an issue even before researching, lest they give an answer tarnished by their own lack of historical perspective.
Look, nobody is guaranteeing these answers. Wikipedia isn't guaranteed, either, nor anything on the Internet. People must be able to use their own critical thinking skills to determine whether an answer adequately answers their questions. But I assure you, the question and answer quality on this site is FAR HIGHER than, say, Yahoo Answers. Honestly, I can't even understand half of what is on there. Yesterday, I saw a question about "How to throw a perfect punch" and the Best Answer was "." Yes. A period. Chosen by three people.
Regardless, Jason answered this quite well, and I had left feedback several times stating similar concerns about people posting 20 of the same answer, and if the site grows, perhaps 300 of the same answer, hoping that a certain number of "unhelpful" votes would purge the answer from the system, which seems to be on the way.
Also, there are a lot of cool, intelligent people on this site, but unless they have a huge "anonymous ego," who is going to honestly spend anymore than, say, 30 minutes to gain, for example, a dollar? If anyone expects a truly expert answer, they should consult an expert and be prepared to pay them. I do think that there are many people on here like myself that are glad to share valuable information for free, but surely some are more interested in being more like Johnny Appleseed.
Lastly, I also do not find "matters of opinion" to be a problem, because I feel one of the most amazing things about this site is that you can throw someone a dollar and ask some bizarre existential question and get amazing answers. The creativity on this site is fierce. Perhaps someone is wrestling with more philosophical questions and wishes to glean some life knowledge from more experienced users.
Lastly, perhaps almost all of the answers (aside from math and science, technical questions) are going to be mostly anecdotal answers, which are inherently fallacious. I think many people do have a lot of life experience, however, and if you see a trend in answers, it can be trusted to a degree.
I wouldn't say they are far from reliable, but I understand your disappointment.
I feel that I am well versed in many activities and have loads of professional experience in many fields, and I have answered questions where I feel I can be of help. It almost seems like every time I answer a question, my Blackberry says, "You had the best answer." I've been here since the first or second day and have been pretty active. I have, as of now, 587 points.
This begs the question, who are these super geniuses? Surely, they are good researchers, but I feel that someone should have at least a basic understanding of an issue even before researching, lest they give an answer tarnished by their own lack of historical perspective.
Look, nobody is guaranteeing these answers. Wikipedia isn't guaranteed, either, nor anything on the Internet. People must be able to use their own critical thinking skills to determine whether an answer adequately answers their questions. But I assure you, the question and answer quality on this site is FAR HIGHER than, say, Yahoo Answers. Honestly, I can't even understand half of what is on there. Yesterday, I saw a question about "How to throw a perfect punch" and the Best Answer was "." Yes. A period. Chosen by three people.
Regardless, Jason answered this quite well, and I had left feedback several times stating similar concerns about people posting 20 of the same answer, and if the site grows, perhaps 300 of the same answer, hoping that a certain number of "unhelpful" votes would purge the answer from the system, which seems to be on the way.
Also, there are a lot of cool, intelligent people on this site, but unless they have a huge "anonymous ego," who is going to honestly spend anymore than, say, 30 minutes to gain, for example, a dollar? If anyone expects a truly expert answer, they should consult an expert and be prepared to pay them. I do think that there are many people on here like myself that are glad to share valuable information for free, but surely some are more interested in being more like Johnny Appleseed.
Lastly, I also do not find "matters of opinion" to be a problem, because I feel one of the most amazing things about this site is that you can throw someone a dollar and ask some bizarre existential question and get amazing answers. The creativity on this site is fierce. Perhaps someone is wrestling with more philosophical questions and wishes to glean some life knowledge from more experienced users.
Lastly, perhaps almost all of the answers (aside from math and science, technical questions) are going to be mostly anecdotal answers, which are inherently fallacious. I think many people do have a lot of life experience, however, and if you see a trend in answers, it can be trusted to a degree.
At this point our biggest issue is we have too few questions--and too few hard ones! We're going to build some new services that should increase the number of questions dramatically. When that happens I think you'll see the level of expertise go up as well--because there is more to do!
re: Yahoo Answers you are correct--90% of it is horrible. The few good folks over there are getting drowned out by the garbage and obnoxious answers. We are really hopping to draw the intelligent folks from Yahoo Answers here.
re: Yahoo Answers you are correct--90% of it is horrible. The few good folks over there are getting drowned out by the garbage and obnoxious answers. We are really hopping to draw the intelligent folks from Yahoo Answers here.
Personally, I don't look to Mahalo for expert answers. I would ask questions for opinions more than facts. That's valuable when I have researched and uncovered most of the facts. For example, I may consider purchasing a pricey item. I've read the manufacturer's information, the technical specifications and I've done the product comparisons. But I also want to know what the actual consumer thinks.
Jason - I think taking away points for "stupid answers" is a great idea. It'll cause people to think carefully about their answers before hitting the submit button. The tricky part is determining what is stupid. Also, please keep the voting feature and let the person who asked the question continue to select the best answer. After all, it is their question.
Jason - I think taking away points for "stupid answers" is a great idea. It'll cause people to think carefully about their answers before hitting the submit button. The tricky part is determining what is stupid. Also, please keep the voting feature and let the person who asked the question continue to select the best answer. After all, it is their question.
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Anyway, great point.
One thing we've been thinking of is putting our staff in charge of selecting the best answer for questions without one. Or, a combination of our staff and the Brown Belts (when they show up!!!).
What do you think of deputizing the senior folks into selecting best answer?