Why do sites like Fluther exist if so many people just answer your question by telling you to use Google?

Because it is meant for questions that require human interpretation.

I’m sorry i’m going to have to google it…lol

Because there’s two types of questions. Google is only useful for one of the two.

Because I like hearing real people’s opinions and reasoning for answers rather than weeding through information I don’t need while looking for the answers I do.

Sorry people are answering that way. I haven’t seen it too often on this site, but then, perhaps the questions I ask or answer don’t seem to be the googling kind of answers people are looking for.

Many people simply utilize Fluther as a means of social interaction (even knowing that a quick “Google” search might answer their query).

Fluther is more entertaining.

They exist because the majority of the answers to your questions will be helpful. It’s unfortunate that some feel the need to answer that way, and I find quite rude imo.

I could cite you the Wikipedia article and even quote you the relevant paragraph of it, but rarely does that result in much lurve. ;)

i dont recall seeing anyone answer a question like that on here, if they have i imagine it was a real silly or obvious question.

Edit: I checked, and the asker has already asked 25 questions. This means that the question is a general one, not that he was experiencing being told to google things.

@poisonedantidote It happened to me recently. I tried google before I asked, google didn’t help. The first response to my question was “try google”.

I used to tell people to Google for themselves, but have accepted that some people just don’t do that. It seems weird to me, but I stopped trying to understand. Also, telling them to Google was kind of rude and unfriendly.

@hiphiphopflipflapflop – Awwww… I usually give GAs to all useful answers to my questions…I guess that mainly comes from the culture I came from before Fluther where points actually meant something (the more points you had, the more power you had—BWA-HA-HA-HA!)

@jonsblond – Right. I actually did google Tennis Rules before asking this question, and found nothing helpful at my level of knowledge of tennis.

[mod note:] Quips that say “try google” should be flagged.
Andrew and Ben determined that we allow questions even if they are able to be answered in a Google search.

Not everyone is proficient at web searches and not all questions can be answered via Google.

Quipping “Try Google” is not helpful.

@Dog – I’m fairly proficient at web searches. And I did google Tenis Rules before asking that question. I didn’t find anything helpful at my level of knowlede of Tennis. I even said so in my question description.

Sometimes it’s a tough, serious question requesting facts not opinions and if no one can answer the question in a helpful manner, suggesting googling shouldn’t necessarily be taken as a quip in my opinion. Sometimes it seems to be the one solution.

@HungryGuy I looked up your question and took appropriate action.

@Dog – Awww, I didn’t mean to get anyone in trouble :-(

When was the last time Google sent you a private message thanking you for your input?

@HungryGuy Funny! I just removed the Google quip. I didn’t burn them. Had I seen it without your prompt I would have removed it. :)

Mods work when we can and most pop in and out when time permits. So we miss stuff sometimes. The flagging really helps us when a question or post needs to be looked at.

What’s a “google”?

@scotsbloke: The search engine site, “Google”. You go to the site (www.google.com) to look up image, websites, etc. by typing in a word or phrase and an entire list of websites is displayed to help you find your query. It’s the most popular search engine or the most prolific, seen on most websites. You probably don’t even have to go to their site anymore to use their search engine, it’s everywhere…

I’m assuming you don’t know.

No ones ever answered my question with google. and if they have they never just gave me a link

@Siren – thanks for that…...I do know and I forgot to add the ~thingy to my question – DOH! lol, but your answer was brilliant! (and I appreciate it)

I won’t give that as a reply. Not all sites accessable by Google are correct or unbiased. Other sites may give you a correct answer but assume a level of prerequisite knowledge that the questioner may not have. If I choose to answer a question, I may use a reference source that is online, but more likely from my own library. I will try to gauge the questioners ability to understand my answer and invite her/him to ask me to clarify any point not understood.

That is a lot more than you get by “just Google it”. I really want the questioner to understand. I’m also not peddling any product (other than my engineering services which I don’t advertise here).

@stranger_in_a_strange_land – Exactly!!!!

On another site there was a “homework” category. It really upset me that so many questions were answered with “do your own homework”. I always assumed that the questioner had tried and failed to do it. My approach was to go step-by-step through the process (maths and physics mostly) and invite the questioner to contact me again if she/he didn’t understand a step. I never saw that as doing someones work for them, but as tutoring simply for the joy of it. My answers to historical questions were not a dry recitation of dates, names and places. Rather the why of a situation or the mistakes made that we should learn from so as not to repeat them (which is the real purpose of history). Thus endeth the lecture.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land – Yeah, I plead guilty. Once or twice, I answered with “Do your own bloody homework!” or “Pay attention to your professor next time!” But yeah, you’re right, it’s the same issue :-/

I’m also guilty of saying, “No, you can’t possibly be pregnant!” or “You found a strange pill? Why don’t you take it and be surprised?!”

@stranger_in_a_strange_land I too am bothered by the quips that shut down interesting questions stating “Do your own homework” I am hoping to bring this up with Andrew and the other mods. I am not saying we should be doing anyone’s homework- rather we should guide them in finding the answers themselves without getting snarky. (just my opinion)

Some of the homework questions are my favorite.

Because it’s good to talk

lol, it wasn’t me
Google questions drive me nuts but I’ve been good

all the Google questions I have rarely get asked on Fluther… I Google them and have my answer in a few minutes…

my opinion, they bring the quality of the site down…
they are not usually thought provoking,
they rarely promote thoughtful discussion
they don’t usually have much details/topics
and the worst is that they make more serious questions harder to find

but if the “fluther gods” want to allow it then so be it I don’t care anymore

For the questions that google isn’t useful for and to meet other people and make new friends. That is why they are social sites also. :-)

I object to “homework” questions because to answer them does the OP no favors, and in fact interferes with his or her education.

@HungryGuy I heartily agree with your second paragraph.

@Dog As long as our responses are tutorial in nature, rather than just giving a textbook answer. I was a regular “tutor” on Cramster.com but the mercenary nature of it began to bother me (points that are convertible to products), I’ve never “cashed in” any of them and don’t intend to. I prefer to teach for the joy of teaching and doing it online is much more comfortable for me (autism).

@stranger_in_a_strange_land Yes! As I stated about I do not condone giving answers at all- but to guide them to finding the right answer so that they are the ones doing the work. :)

@scotsbloke: My pleasure. Glad you found it entertaining.

I’ve sent someone a link to Let Me Google That For You simply because there was sooooo much information there that I thought would be useful to them. I can’t imagine anyone does it to be rude.

because we secretly all work for Google. surprise, bitches!

@SarasWhimsy I can’t imagine anyone does it to be rude.

I plead guilty.

FYI, the person who told me to use Google in my other question wrote to me privately and said they just meant to be helpful and didn’t mean it in a mean way, and we made peace :-)

AWESOME! :) I love a happy ending!

Sometimes it’s helpful to offer a useful Google query as a hyperlink, for example like this

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=like+Fluther+exist+Google

It shows novice users how to search more effectively. You will find this very question at the top of the list. Plus Google is funny when it asks

Did you mean: like Father exist Google

@mattbrowne – Oh wow! I can’t believe this stupid question shows up on a Google search. Do they search out and index every silly little detail on the internet? How can they possibly do that with all the gazillions of pages on the internet?

@mattbrowne – Oh wow! I can’t believe this stupid question shows up on a Google search.

I lol’d

@HungryGuy – Fluther in general gets good rankings and the Google spider visit the site very often. Try this:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=site:www.fluther.com