Ever notice answered questions aren't acted on?

Question

Has anyone else seen this?  I have answered many questions and I noticed that the person who asked for help does not take the advice and does nothing further on the profile.

Comments

A bit, but in my experience this is very much offset by the numerous cases where the person does try what has been suggested and expresses gratitude or gives feedback.

G2G is quite complicated, and unfortunately it's not clear, despite email copies, that new users are always successful in even seeing answers and comments.

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ADD- I only wish I acted on all the "good" advice I received growing up. Then again, I didn't always agree with the advice I was given.

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K, I concur fully about not having heeded most of the advice that was offered despite my not having sought it. <grin>

The one piece of gratuitous advice that immediately comes to mind is that when I was very young - I think around 4 or 5 - and people asked me what I want to be when I grow up, then when I said I want to be a pilot, they all responded the same way, saying that I'm wrong and that I want to be a mommy.  That kind of thing persisted long and loud enough to deny me a military career after getting a degree in aerospace engineering because the Air Force and Navy both said I wasn't qualified for the openings they had because I didn't have a nursing degree and couldn't type and I couldn't even get an engineering job then - I wasn't sure if I was oversexed or undersexed but there was definitely something wrong with my sex and eventually I gave up trying and, in total defeat, became what the world wanted me to be - somebody's wife and somebody's mommy.  It was 20 years later, after children were grown and I was divorced, that I finally was able to begin the career I always wanted to have.

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Our history is sad in many ways, sorry it impacted you!

And now, you're an astronaut!  Not the type you could have been though...

Answer 1

My reading of this is that what you say appears to be true some of the time (although I don't always follow up to check).  In some cases though, I think the original poster does follow up, either with the advice offered or with some other solution to a problem, but doesn't go to the trouble to acknowledge a helpful G2G answer or comment.  It's only after you have been here for awhile, and have participated in G2G, that the realization hits that those who answer questions really appreciate the feedback when their answer was helpful, and that encourages more helpful responses.

Answer 2

When I see a question that I am able to answer, I always do so and try hard to explain whatever reasoning may be behind how to do whatever the person wants to do.  Most questions I answer are technical in nature, so I always translate technobabble to English (sorry, but I'm not competent in other languages, although I will sometimes be able to make a stab at Spanish when needed).

I have never tried to follow up and see if the person took my advice, but it seems to me that most times they do express appreciation for my help.  Another way of knowing that my G2G contributions are appreciated is the upvotes, best answer stars, and also responses from other new members about the answer helping them.

Of course, none of this matters to me as much as the feeling that I'm paying it forward for all the help I've received here (and have taken and appreciate so much) from members who know so much more than I do about genealogy and especially about my Achille's heel of being so geographically illiterate (special shout-out to the always amazing Skye Sonczalla on this).

Kevin, I don't know if you shade your answers by trying to get a feel for the member's level (either by the way they word the question or by their length of membership here) so that your answer doesn't confuse someone who isn't able to follow it.  I'm not talking about your answers, but I have seen instances when answers that I can see are perfectly responsive to the question go right over the head of the person who asked.

Answer 3

I am guilty of this. My brain is somewhat disordered and lose track of things a lot. I then find out that I "lost" a year or two, and what I think was a few weeks ago was a few years ago.

Comments

I have the same sort of brain, which can get easily distracted.

Answer 4

I answer a lot of category creation requests and most of these are acted on and I can see where they have taken the creation and expanded it to other profiles that were not in the original request.

But I also know from personal experience that I get answers to my questions and I am just not ready at that time to dig into that advice so I table it for a later time.

Philosophically, I consider my advice free.  And that also means that the receiver is free to discard it. It doesn't bother me if advice or answers are not followed up on.  It is their prerogative as the profile manager and I certainly don't want to adopt the profile and assume responsibility.

Comments

What is it that everyone needs, nobody wants and everybody gives freely--ADVISE!

Answer 5

Even if your advice is not put to use by the original poster, it's quite possible another person will have the same issue, and they will benefit from your efforts.

Answer 6

The advice given on the G2G is there for folks to take or leave.  WikiTree is not the most user friendly site.  We are fortunate to have friendly users who are anxious to help.  I have learned a lot from the advice given to others, here, and appreciate the advisors.

Answer 7

Well, my take on this....  I try to help, answer to the best of my ability and know in my heart I have done my job!  Where it goes from there is where it goes.