| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | questions asked - 600, questions answered - 0 Thread poster: Bernhard Sulzer
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Cetacea 
Switzerland
Local time: 09:09
English to German
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| Been there.... | Oct 1, 2010 |
Bernhard Sulzer wrote:
mmh, 600 questions asked and none answered, I wonder why?
Who are they? Fellow translators? Could it be that they are just too busy?
Certainly not too busy to ask. But too busy to contribute anything?
I've already dared to comment on such a case where the discrepany was even greater, i.e. roughly 1200 questions and not a single answer. Immediately, others came down on me like a ton of bricks, asking me how dare I critize somebody for "being so busy and working so hard"... Excuse me? So those who take the time to contribute are not working hard?
And in response to Christine
Nowhere does it state in site rules that askers MUST answer roughly the same number of questions as they ask.
I'd just like to say that, IMHO, this shouldn't require a rule. It's simple a matter of fairness and propriety.
Needless to say that I don't answer such questions anymore. Unless I forget to check the questions/answers ratio first...
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 09:09
German to English
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| What's even worse than "tosh"... | Oct 1, 2010 |
[quote]Charlie Bavington wrote:
Stanislaw Czech wrote:
IMHO we all benefit from questions and answers alike. After all they are recorded in the database and available to everyone for years. /quote]
That is a point of view. Sadly, it is also my observation that those posting a constant stream of questions (see my pair over the last couple of days, or a notorious apparent medical practitioner asker who only ever seemed to have problems at the weekend a couple of years ago) are often actually pretty rubbish translators of the kind who struggle to hold a dictionary the right way up. In other words, in my snobbish opinion, the database would be better without the kind of tosh they pollute it with.
... is when the asker chooses a WRONG answer, and it ends up in the glossary!
I also like to use the KudoZ Glossary on occasion for specialized terms I might not find elsewhere, but sometimes I stumble across term translations that aren't correct, so I don't think that's helpful at all. And as many of the questions from the type of askers under discussion here are often relatively mundane, a normal online dictionary like Leo would do just as well, or better. I don't use KudoZ for those kinds of terms.
| | | | hazmatgerman (X)
Local time: 09:09
English to German
| useful site functions | Oct 1, 2010 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
...I have been applying for some years now: every time I find someone with that attitude, I flag the person son that I don't have to see the questions.
such as filtering (which you probably had in mind, not flagging) work wonders for shaping every user's personal experience at the site. And there is a beneficial aspects for frequent answerers: what would there be to answer if nobody asked? Just joking, of course.
Best
| | | | Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 03:09
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER | how to react to non-answerers (non-responders) | Oct 2, 2010 |
Thanks to all for your contributions here.
What it always comes down to for me is that the asker is always helped but the non-answerer never helps. As Cetacea has put it, contributing to KudoZ should
simply be "a matter of fairness and propriety".
The point has been made that any contributions by such non-answerers could lead to incorrect glossary entries and that their questions might be trivial and the answers given really don't merit inclusion. In shor... See more Thanks to all for your contributions here.
What it always comes down to for me is that the asker is always helped but the non-answerer never helps. As Cetacea has put it, contributing to KudoZ should
simply be "a matter of fairness and propriety".
The point has been made that any contributions by such non-answerers could lead to incorrect glossary entries and that their questions might be trivial and the answers given really don't merit inclusion. In short, one might come to the conclusion: "I don't want their questions on KudoZ."
The point has also been made that these askers keep this up for years and are not disappearing. Somehow, they keep "milking" KudoZ.
But there seems to be no way to prevent them from asking, but one can choose not to answer their questions.
If nobody would answer their questions, there is a good chance that they stop asking.
Andy thought about a rule that would force them to use up KudoZ points which they would have to keep earning in order to continue receiving help.
It is an interesting concept. Of course, it would not necessarily reduce bad answers but could possibly increase them (through contributions by these current non-answerers). You never know how many more bad answers would be given or accepted and entered into the glossary.
For now, I simply do not answer their questions anymore. They don't help us, don't want to help us and probably can't really help us anyway, so I don't help them.
Maybe talking about them will help other translators come to the same conclusion.
Especially those who are not aware of how many such askers there are.
I will keep up good relations with those who show a professional attitude, accept the ask-and-answer etiquette and see me as a fellow translator.
So far, no non-answerer has responded here. Thus, my opinion remains unchanged.
Thanks again,
Bernhard ▲ Collapse
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AnneMarieG
France
Local time: 09:09
German to French
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Dr. Andrew Frankland wrote:
One way of avoiding this would be to have to spend kudoZ points every time you want to ask a question. As we all know, kudoZ are awarded when your answer is chosen by the asker, so if, for example, you have 50 kudoZ, you would be allowed to ask 50 (or 100, or...) questions. In this scenario, no answers chosen=no kudoZ=no questions. This spend will obviously have to be virtual so that the directory position is not affected, perhaps by converting kudoZ into QudoZ when they are awarded. New users could be given a handful of QudoZ (but not kudoZ) to help them get started, and site members a few more when they renew their membership.
There could be some kind of a minimum ratio between asked/answered.
... Would then the number of "new" joiners" increase dramatically?
However, I think out of fairness as already stated in this and other threads, some standard needs to be set.
As people should not be able to answer when it is not their (declared) mother tongue - but that's another thread -) aaah, threat! 
Enjoy your weekend, there's life after work!
Anne-Marie
Edited by me: Sorry for these typos, and English not being my mother tongue!
[Edited at 2010-10-02 09:11 GMT]
| | | | Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:09
English to Arabic
+ ...
| No no no no no! | Oct 2, 2010 |
amgtraduction wrote: Dr. Andrew Frankland wrote:
One way of avoiding this would be to have to spend kudoZ points every time you want to ask a question. There could be some kind of a minimum ratio between asked/answered. ... Would then the number of "new" joiners" increase dramatically?
One thing's for sure: I do not want non-answerers to be pressured into providing answers! Think of the scary increase of rubbish answers that could result of that!! God knows there are enough of these already...
For that reason only I do not support suggestions to penalise non-answerers. The "milking" goes both ways anyway... they're milking colleagues for answerers, and answerers are milking for Kudoz points. All legal and in line with Kudoz rules.
And the more sensible people pick and choose the right questions to be involved in/ right colleagues to be involved with.
[Edited at 2010-10-02 09:28 GMT]
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Nesrin wrote:
One thing's for sure: I do not want non-answerers to be pressured into providing answers! Think of the scary increase of rubbish answers that could result of that!! God knows there are enough of these already...
And worth considering. But all is not lost. For example (just for example - off the top of my head) answers that received a disagree could be deemed not to count. Answers that were selected could be given a positive weighting factor. If we implemented that "like" feature (facebook styleeee) for the forum from the other week, we could award credit as some kind of contributor for the number of "likes" a post gets - they may not answer questions but if they do talk sense (you never know!!) and people appreciate it - it's a contribution.
I think the trouble is all this stuff probably needs to be looked at holistically and reviewed as a whole. As on the "Context button" thread, it is plain IMHO that simple solutions will be inadequate. Sadly complex solutions are more costly and clearly the trend is for things to stay as they are.
| | | | | Avoiding (more) rubbish answers... | Oct 2, 2010 |
Nesrin wrote: amgtraduction wrote: Dr. Andrew Frankland wrote:
One way of avoiding this would be to have to spend kudoZ points every time you want to ask a question. There could be some kind of a minimum ratio between asked/answered. ... Would then the number of "new" joiners" increase dramatically? One thing's for sure: I do not want non-answerers to be pressured into providing answers! Think of the scary increase of rubbish answers that could result of that!! God knows there are enough of these already...
Neither do I, which is why I suggested linking it to kudoZ, which are only awarded when an answer is CHOSEN, not provided. The (to-date) non-answerers could then answer as often as they wanted, but if their answer isn't selected then they don't get kudoZ and therefore don't have the right to ask any more questions. It seems fairly reasonable to me, although I must admit there are probably several arguments against such a system.
Andy
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Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 03:09
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER | who is getting something out of KudoZ for nothing? | Oct 2, 2010 |
Nesrin wrote:
The "milking" goes both ways anyway... they're milking colleagues for answerers, and answerers are milking for Kudoz points. All legal and in line with Kudoz rules.
And the more sensible people pick and choose the right questions to be involved in/ right colleagues to be involved with.
[Edited at 2010-10-02 09:28 GMT]
I believe the non-answerers are the ones who "milk" the system, not the answerers: the answerer has to actually work (or at least gives his/her knowledge for free) to get the points (or often doesn't get anything) whereas the non-answering asker simply puts in her/his question and - always - receives an answer, often 4, 5, 6 answers (possibly) and then gets to enter whatever she/he deems correct into the glossary. Doesn't seem right to me.
I understand that without questions, there wouldn't be an opportunity to answer but I am certain there would be plenty of great questions left from contributing professionals without the questions from non-answerers.
That's why I like your second statement about choosing the right questions.:)
Cheers,
Bernhard
[Edited at 2010-10-02 17:31 GMT]
| | | | Rolf Kern
Switzerland
Local time: 09:09
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Rubbish in the Glossary | Oct 2, 2010 |
If you have posted an answer and eventually find that rubbish was chosen as the right answer, you can post a correponding note, I believe.
| | | | Oliver Walter
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:09
German to English
+ ...
If I answer a question it's either because I find it fairly easy to find the answer (plus the fact that, like most of us, I like to help somebody when it's easy to do, especially if others can see that I'm giving help!) or I think it's a good question and I will also benefit by doing the research and finding useful information.
If you want to, you can quickly see the number of questions asked and answered by an asker by hovering the mouse pointer over their name when you're displaying thei... See more If I answer a question it's either because I find it fairly easy to find the answer (plus the fact that, like most of us, I like to help somebody when it's easy to do, especially if others can see that I'm giving help!) or I think it's a good question and I will also benefit by doing the research and finding useful information.
If you want to, you can quickly see the number of questions asked and answered by an asker by hovering the mouse pointer over their name when you're displaying their question - and then decide your assessment of "milking", useful research etc.
And, of course, when you use a glossary, you will try to avoid the "rubbish" by making your own assessment of the answer, e.g. by going back to the original question and reading the contributions.
Oliver
[Edited at 2010-10-02 22:01 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 03:09
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | how to see non-answerers' history | Oct 3, 2010 |
Oliver Walter wrote:
If you want to, you can quickly see the number of questions asked and answered by an asker by hovering the mouse pointer over their name when you're displaying their question - and then decide your assessment of "milking", useful research etc.
And, of course, when you use a glossary, you will try to avoid the "rubbish" by making your own assessment of the answer, e.g. by going back to the original question and reading the contributions.
Oliver
[Edited at 2010-10-02 22:01 GMT]
Thank you Oliver. I think those are good strategies for answering a question and seeing non-answerers' history in KudoZ.
Bernhard
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Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 03:09
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER | insecurity or could not care less | Oct 4, 2010 |
Johanna Timm, PhD wrote:
What if those frequent askers never suggest an answer for fear of losing face? Because their answer might not be “right on target”, was not suggested fast enough, does not include enough references, or... might be considered "foolish" by their peers? After all, those frequent askers must think – after having profited countless times from helpful colleagues – that they won’t stand a chance of earning even one measly KudoZ point or that their suggestions won't be of any help, so what may seem like arrogance may just be... insecurity in disguise?
Thank you Johanna for your input. It could indeed be insecurity in disguise or subconscious insecurity and outward/apparent arrogance all rolled into one - unless their ego (self-view) does no longer (never has) allow(ed) such inner feelings. Either way, I thought about it after having asked one non-answerer directly: why do you never answer any KudoZ questions? The answer was: "FYI :I simply do not have any idle moments in my life.. Does that answer your question?"
So, currently, I don't waste any more of my idle time on their questions.
Schönen Gruß,
Bernhard
[Edited at 2010-10-04 03:17 GMT]
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Quote: "FYI :I simply do not have any idle moments in my life.. Does that answer your question?"
I think I can guess who you are referring to, Bernhard. Someone currently on a ratio of 2543:33, who visibly enjoys projecting an image of largesse as he doles out points, who once famously told someone to “stay off my pages” (thus provoking a full-blown row that saw the other esteemed peer permanently banned) and who recently boasted about his prodigious output in terms of words pe... See more Quote: "FYI :I simply do not have any idle moments in my life.. Does that answer your question?"
I think I can guess who you are referring to, Bernhard. Someone currently on a ratio of 2543:33, who visibly enjoys projecting an image of largesse as he doles out points, who once famously told someone to “stay off my pages” (thus provoking a full-blown row that saw the other esteemed peer permanently banned) and who recently boasted about his prodigious output in terms of words per day in another thread on this forum. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 03:09
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | more than one such person (quite a few possibly) | Oct 4, 2010 |
Andrew Swift wrote:
I think I can guess who you are referring to, Bernhard.
The person I was referring to has posted between 600 - 700 questions and no answers.
I can see though from your entry here that the person I talked to is not the only person who reacts in a certain way when confronted with their lack of contribution.
[Edited at 2010-10-04 22:10 GMT]
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