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Thursday 30 April 2009

Expert or LinkedIn addict?

Alison's Contribution:

You've made an interesting question generate some interesting observations. I'm always interested in the how this happens, so here's my take on whether the quantity gives way to the quality of answers (not sure if you meant that in reverse).

My chief concern is that when a few people have answered 150 plus questions per week for a year that others will be put off the attempt to help - particularly in the categories which have a lot of questions at present. It has already been observed that 1) questions in a particular field are not asked in this forum (eg don't ask questions which would get a response from one's peer group and 2) that many questions asking for expert input get little response.

There are a few categories which have a lot of questions each week - particularly "how to use linked in", "staffing & recruiting" and general questions of life which often don't fall in any particular category but are tagged to the categories which the Asker believes will get the best response.

No doubt there are new but repeated questions "how do I contact someone", "how do I delete/merge my accounts", etc for which a previously given Answerer's response is equally valid and fresh to the Asker. For this, a simple cut and paste guarantees the quality is consistent (and if one happens to get a few best answers along the way, this indicates that the Askers believe they gave the best response). At the same time, it increases "productivity" in the quantity ratings.

Whether or not the Best Answers category makes one a "Top Expert" is a completely different questions and probably worth asking. As mentioned before, I suspect that the numbers of responses has more to do with getting recognition of lending a helping hand or another motive/need which I have not yet understood.

So, as to whether any of this makes one an addict or expert I make the final observation that there is often a fine line between the two in many industries. I look for people who have a passion for technology and clearly identify myself as a gadget girl. I suspect that others would think that I'm just a novice, albeit addicted. What I would say is that if the list of names doesn't change week to week there is certainly an element of dedication for a non-money making activity. I'd like to think that it is the best way for them to spend their spare time.

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