Expert: AllExperts Suggestion Box - 3/14/2007

Question
1.  I happened, by accident, to read about a "question pool" which seems to suggest that, if I get a question, other experts can answer it.  I hope that I am wrong.  If other people are going to answer my questions, why should I continue to volunteer at Allexperts?

2.  Also, by accident, I discovered many comments that were posted in response to questions I had answered.  I was never notified that other people were commenting on my comments.  Are these secondary "answers" being sent to the original questioners?  Why are they not being sent to me and, I suppose, the other ORIGINAL respondents?

In one response I read last evening, someone correctly pointed out that I had given the right poem, but I had erred in identifying the poet.  Of course, I immediately recognized my error, so I sent a response to the person correcting me -- thanking him for the correction.  Will he get my response?

In another "correction" to my posted answer, the respondent wrote this example:  "I was LAYING in the sun."  So, his posting -- at the Grammar and Writing site -- was grammatically incorrect.  He should have written "I was LYING in the sun."  

This is an instance of posting a supposedly CORRECT response, which, in fact, was totally wrong!  Was anyone notified about this response?  I was NOT.  If the original questioner received this person's response, he was given a grammatically INCORRECT answer, which was meant to correct my CORRECT answer.  

I find this "question pool" and "commenting on other experts' answers" to be very troubling.  For many years, I have been the top expert in at least 4 of the 5 categories in which I volunteer.  If incorrect "corrections" are being send to my questioners -- and my name is involved -- my reputation is at risk.  I do NOT like this practice.

3.  Finally, for many years, I was ranked in the top 10 or top 20 in the Top Experts categories for many months each year.  Admittedly, I was taking more questions that I am now, but I am seeing a direction being taken by Allexperts that is also problematic to me.  There was a time that most of the top experts represented "academic" areas.  Rarely do I now see any "academic" expert in the monthly lists.  Some of the categories I have noticed of late include "martial arts of various types," "sexually transmitted diseases," and "rabbits."  I recognize that people have serious questions in all areas, but is Allexperts getting away from helping students and other people who have questions related to academic disciplines?

Lest you write me off as being rating-obsessed, let me explain why I have cut back on my daily quota:  When I get a number of questions from the same persons and when I know how serious they are in learning, I send them my IM accounts.  I am currently helping thirteen (13) students from around the world -- some of them have scheduled regular tutoring sessions for writing and grammar help.  I spent more than two hours this past Saturday evening, working online with an 8th grade, gifted student in Texas, who "interviewed" me about  the strength of the judicial branch of government throughout the U. S. history.  I got no "rating" for the two hours, but I got a great deal of "happiness."  He was very bright, very inquisitive, very prepared, and very polite.  

THAT'S THE KIND OF ALLEXPERTS PROGRAM THAT I REALLY LIKE.

Ted Nesbitt


Answer
1. Other experts can not answer questions sent to you - unless you let them by choosing the "Send this question to the question pool" option in the gray box of the "Answer Question" interface.

2. We only send added answers to questioners if they check that option when they submit their question.

We do not send answers to experts. Most of our experts have answered hundreds of questions - we would clog their mailboxes if we did. Instead, we list all added answers in one place in the "Feedback from Readers" section of your AllExperts home page.

Alex, the Thomas Hardy fan, will see your response if he returns to our web site to read it.

David A. Armor is a fellow grammar and linguistics expert on our site. http://www.allexperts.com/ep/680-78129/General-Writing-Grammar/David-A-Armor.htm  I don't think his added answer is "totally wrong". I think he just made a typo while concentrating on making his point about verb tenses, but I see that you've already pointed that out to him in the archive.

Both the questioner and readers are well-aware that David posted that answer. His name precedes it in bold letters. For this particular question, the questioner was only interested in your opinion and did not elect to have reader-added answers emailed to them.

You can edit your profiles (Click Settings beside the Category Name listed on your home page) so that no one will be able to add to your answers.

3. Dr. Krempels http://allexperts.com/ep/703-35789/Rabbits/Dana-Krempels-Ph-D.htm may be interested to learn that our "rabbits" category is not an "academic subject". We would hate for her to waste her Ph.D. in Biology by volunteering in that category. I do not see martial arts or sexually transmitted diseases anywhere in our top 25. http://allexperts.com/central/awards/topcat_2007_03.htm

As to "Allexperts getting away from helping students", our Grammar category receives far more questions on average than our Tax Law category (currently #1). However, questioners interested in Tax Law and House Plants are far more likely to leave polite thank-you notes and nominations than students who get help with grammar.

Hope this helps and
thanks for volunteering,
Katie
AllExperts.com