7

I have to say about the questions so far that a lot of them seem to be quite fake in the sense that someone is asking a question just to get points or to seed the site with questions. What does anyone else think?

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
11

There is no objective way of knowing whether or not any particular question is "fake".

The main point of the site is to be a useful Q&A which is interesting to the people who use it. If questions do not correspond to the needs and interests of the people using the site, then the question will be downvoted anyway.

If questions are being upvoted, obviously other people want answers to those questions, which immediately makes each question not fake.

Personally, I have found most questions on the site to be quite interesting, and I have learnt a heck of a lot from reading the answers to other people's questions.

6

At this point, I think seeding the site is a valid reason for asking questions.

2
  • From my experience on other stackexchange sites (web applications, webmasters) it's not been a recommended practice.
    – delete
    Commented Aug 18, 2010 at 0:16
  • 3
    If this site follows the pattern of the older SE (Trilogy) sites, it is likely to level off as the site gets older. It is just people trying to help jump start the community. Also, don't forget that all the beta users signed a commitment to ask X questions during the beta period, which encourages that behavior. "I commit to participate actively in xxx for at least three months, especially during the private beta, and to ask or answer at least ten questions."
    – JohnFx
    Commented Aug 25, 2010 at 15:44
5

If the purpose of the site is to be a useful resource for information about English Language and Usage, and not a video game to see who has the most rep, then I don't see how the motivation of the person asking the question is a big concern.

That is, if it is an interesting/good question that leads to providing valuable content to the site, who gives a flip if the person who asked it is rep-whoring?

1

Perhaps the answer to a fake question is to give a fake vote?

But I don't know if I can tell the difference between an interesting and genuine question and an interesting but fake question.

1
  • 3
    This sounds like a fake answer. I'm going to blow gently toward the monitor where the upvote button appears instead of actually clicking it.
    – mmyers
    Commented Aug 17, 2010 at 18:17

You must log in to answer this question.