It was a buzz to ask a question about something I couldn’t find in regular web search and get an answer from a complete stranger, perhaps even in another country who was an expert in that area. However, being a bit of a trivia buff and accumulating vast amounts of seemingly useless information over the years I soon found people who could benefit from my knowledge and experiences. From early on it was my aim to keep my Best Answer ratio over 75% which I have done to this day.

I have seen the Answers Community grow from a handful, to nearing 2 million Australians. It is this Community that is the heart of this amazing site, making Answers the largest and most successful question and answer site on the web.

In celebration of Yahoo!7 Answers’ 2nd birthday we would like to hear from you, the Answers Community, about your experiences on the site – how long you have been in the Community, where you a from, what you like, what you want to see changed and most of all how Answers has helped you in your life - we value your opinions and always are open to hearing your ideas.

Please send us an email or leave your comments below.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Alana
Product Manager, Yahoo!7 Answers

This is my final post for Answers as I will be moving to a different position within Yahoo!7 very shortly. During my time here, in between staying in touch with the community, making sure trolls are kept at bay and helping spread the world about Answers all over the country I figure I have dug out around twenty fun and interesting questions per day to entertain, inform and amuse the community in places like the Blog, the Best of Answers Module and the Pulse Module on the Yahoo!7 Homepage. It has never ceased to amaze me that each and every day there is a question that I did not know there answer to, or that I had never even thought to ask.

My knowledge has expanded exponentially since joining Yahoo!7 Answers, and I am now able to explain to my friends and colleagues things like why zebras are striped and why golf balls have dimples. I love looking around to learn new things and some of my all time favourite questions are those involving space and the universe, those that give answers to conundrums about the human body and of course the myriad animal questions – the who, what, where, whens and hows of the animal kingdom. Many a popular myth has been dispelled during my time on Answers and I have learnt a great deal about other cultures and their practices. There have been some questions I had never even thought about asking until I got involved with Answers, now I am constantly posting questions to find new answers and explanations.

I love seeing all the friendly looking avatars about the place on Answers and another highlight for me has been getting as many people involved as possible in participating. My favourite question from another Yahoo!7 Team has been the ‘best movie quotes’ one from Y!7 Movies and I also really enjoy seeing all the responses to the harder hitting queries posted by the News Team. It has been great to see so many celebrities getting involved on Answers too, and so much fun to read the responses to their questions. I would definitely have to say my favourite celeb question ever was from Author Jackie Collins – simply because it really reflected her risqué personality! It has been fantastic to see so many Channel 7 and Sunrise personalities on the site too – particularly this one from Sunrise’s Hollywood Correspondent Nelson Aspen. Keep your eye out for more celebs in the near future!

One of the best elements of Yahoo!7 Answers is seeing all the millions of enthusiastic, clever, well informed and witty people who take the time to contribute their answers. I am just blown away by what some people know! I do hope everyone keeps enjoying the site as it grows and develops – I know I will still be a regular user and contributor even though I won't be involved in the official sense anymore.

You are being left in some very capable hands – so keep having fun!

Clea

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“Well isn’t that just Murphy’s Law?”

You hear people say this just after something has gone wrong… the idea is that if something can go wrong, it will. Like if you drop a slice of toast – it will always end up with the butter side on the carpet. Especially if you have just had new carpet laid.

But who was Murphy? Why is this funny little saying named after him?

There aren’t many who have theories and the like named after them like the proverbial Murphy. Another example is Pythagoras – but his ideas have a lot more mathematical weight to them than the fanciful sayings of Murphy’s Law. Also based in mathematics is the Chaos Theory, or Butterfly Effect, as it is also known – the idea that a small change like a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon can lead to a chain of events that causes a cyclone in Africa.

One theory that has never really been effectively proven, although many have tried, is that each person on the planet is linked to everyone else by no more than six other people. This means that Johnny Depp and I are practically friends. Woohoo! I’ll have to do a little experimenting of my own on that one!

And finally one of my favourite theories is that of Catch 22 – from the book of the same title. The idea from the book, which is set during the Second World War, is that you can only get discharged from the Army if you’re insane, but if you try telling people you’re insane they’ll know you’re completely sane because you’re just trying to think of a way to get out of the Army! So Catch 22 means you’re damned if you do and you're damned if you don’t – which is the story of my life sometimes!

Let us know if you can think of any other fun theories!

Clea

The Oscars really sneak up on you some years – all of a sudden it’s late February and the cream of Hollywood are all out there in their lovely frocks smiling without crinkling their eyes and hoping their double sided tape does its job. This year there are some unfamiliar faces on the red carpet – and some of them have been surprise winners. I had never heard of Marion Cotillard and neither had a lot of other Answers users – but now that she’s an Oscar winning actress no doubt we’ll all be seeing more of her.

The Academy Awards would be nothing without the red carpet arrivals, and there were no disappointments this year with the usual array of both stunning and eyebrow raising frocks on show. And thank heavens for the frocks because it is a rather uninspiring event this year – no controversial nominations such as Brokeback Mountain, no dubious speeches from the likes of Michael Moore and not even any cute junior nominees like Abigail Breslin or Keisha Castle Hughes. I’m sad to say I’ve only seen one of the nominated best pictures – I will definitely have to give my video store membership a workout over the next few months!

It is fun looking around Answers for interesting facts on the Oscars – such as why they are even called Oscars, which person has won the most awards or who has been nominated at least once in each decade since the 1960’s. One person has even asked about winning Oscars if you are deceased – something that could have possibly happened had Heath Ledger been nominated again this year.

Keep an eye on Yahoo!7 for all the winner announcements and frock-tastic photos!

Clea

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This week’s Answers superstar hails from Melbourne and has had many different roles in her life, including Competitive Ballroom Dancer, Beautician, Make up Artist and now full time Mum to two pre-school aged children. Dancesportdiva joined Answers back in December 2006, before the site was even a year old and is now a Level 4 user, with close to 3,000 points and a 29% Best Answer rate.

Although the name suggests she’d be a whiz in the Dance category, Dancesportdiva’s Top Contributor badge comes from the Newborn and Baby category, where she can mostly be found answering questions and helping other Mums on the topics of how to predetermine the sex of your baby, what to eat when you’re pregnant, how to deal with baby hiccups and what books are good for children. Dancesportdiva started off in this category but she says she also loves answering questions about movies, beauty & style, health, food & drink and of course – dance!

This user is doing so well because of her informative and helpful answers and also because she will only try to answer questions covering subjects she has experience in. This enables her to know she’s giving the right information and ups her chances of being chosen as best!

Dancesportdiva loves getting best answers and we love reading them! Well done!

Clea

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The fourth Indiana Jones film is about to hit the big screen and is said to be just as exciting an adventure as the first three. Can you believe it has been 19 years since the last one was made? I remember talking about how great Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade would be in the car on the way to school – it really doesn’t seem that long ago. I also remember watching terrified a few years earlier during Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when they were underground and covered in bugs. That and many other Indiana Jones scenes have stayed in my memory. Remember the little kid? And the eyeball soup? Gross!

Did you know that the role made famous by actor Harrison Ford very nearly went to someone else? That person unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be had other commitments so “Indy” as we now know and love him was instead played by the gruff but lovable Harrison.

Lots of our favourite elements will be back in the movie. Indiana will have his trademark hat and whip, and no doubt there will be an attractive lady to rival those that have gone before. Will she be up to scratch? We’ll have to wait and see!

You can check out the preview at Yahoo!7 Movies and also read reviews once it hits cinemas.

Clea

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Hey folks, you should know by now that the Yamster frowns on answers like “Thanks for the two points”, and questions like “Ten points to the first who answers”. We consider these cases to be point-gaming, and they go against our Community Guidelines.

We’ve also discovered that some folks have doing other things to increase their points unfairly, for example, by creating more than one account and then voting themselves the Best Answer. This is also a no-no. We want everyone to be able to gain points fairly, by using Answers as it should be used. Also, some people have been targeting members by either giving them thumbs-down votes for no reason at all, or by repeatedly reporting them for abuse (even when there is no abuse to be reported), which isn’t something any of us want to see happening. In the end this kind of behaviour will get you nowhere too, as “dobbing in” a question that doesn’t violate the Community Guidelines it lowers your reputation as a reporter.

At our end, we’re getting a bit more aggressive about tracking such unfair behaviour that goes against our Community Guidelines. Answers is a great place to share knowledge – and the points system is meant to encourage good content, not bad behaviour.

So, let’s make Answers a great place for asking, answering and voting. Make the Yamster proud!

Clea

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A Canadian friend of mine referred to a police van as a paddy wagon the other day and it had never occurred to me that this wasn’t an Australian colloquial term. I went seeking out the origin of the “slang” description and there it was on Answers that the name comes from a time when Irish immigrants often became unruly and had to be carted away by the police.

Later when reading a magazine and seeing the use of (sic) after a spelling mistake my curiosity was piqued again, so it was back to Answers to find out why this follows a badly spelt quote in publication.

It’s strangely habit forming, as I’m sure you’re aware, that once you’ve started using Answers lots of questions keep coming to mind. Like why is it called a KitKat? And who decided on the name for soap operas? And why is some olive oil known as “extra virgin”? All these questions can be answered – and quite often they already have been, so it’s worth doing a search to see if the correct response is already there.

Although it may sometimes annoy your friends that you constantly say “let’s ask on Answers!” (until they get used to using it themselves) it is very handy at trivia nights and when making conversation at parties to be able to explain that St Elmo’s Fire is an electroluminescent coronal discharge caused by the ionisation of air during thunderstorms and that the reason brides throw their bouquets is that it’s meant to distracts other fair maidens from tearing shreds off her dress for luck so the bride herself can make a quick getaway.

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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Goonhilda is a top contributor in the Personal Finance category, has amassed close to five thousand points and has made it to level four since joining the Answers community around three months ago. A resident of Shepparton in Central Victoria, she is a self confessed “tight arse” who describes herself as a bargain queen, is intent on paying off her house within five years and loves it when other people get excited about their money.

Personal Finance is Goonhilda’s favourite hobby and she keeps up to date on the topic by reading anything she can get her hands on about the topic. The knowledge she has gathered has enabled her to help other users with their financial difficulties and questions, be they about how to invest their savings, putting a little bit of extra cash away each week, saving to reach specific goals or paying off a car loan when times get tough. Goonhilda always offers constructive advice and ideas to other users and they are all so grateful that she has helped them get out of their financial pickle!

In her own words –

“I think Yahoo!7 Answers is great. I like the question and answer format, and I enjoy the opportunity it provides for intellectual stimulation. It’s great mental exercise. I also love giving answers and advice to people who really seem to need it. Money can be a scary thing for some people, and I hope I make it not as scary. Sometimes all people need is a little information or someone to crunch some number for them. Sometimes a little humour helps people put things in perspective.”

Goonhilda’s one complaint comes via her “very spoilt pet rabbit” who lives indoors and has never been outside, and is disappointed there isn’t a category for rabbits! Sorry about that Mr Bunnikins – we’ll see what we can do.

And thanks Goonhilda for your great contributions – keep it up!

Clea

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I don’t want to write a political comment piece as this is not the forum for it, and let’s face it, there is more than enough opinion on the issue of saying sorry out there on Answers and beyond! So I thought I’d look around for some question relating to Aboriginal culture and not delve into the matter of whether or not this apology is akin to putting a bandaid on an axe wound.

The Aboriginal people arrived possibly millions of years ago to Australia and lived off the land for centuries, creating their own religion based on the mythical “Dreamtime” and forming their own rituals and ceremonies around their beliefs. Those stories and legends have been passed down through time and still fascinate schoolchildren, adults and visiting tourists today.

One of the elements that fascinates me most about the Aboriginal culture is the didgeridoo, which can create a haunting sound that fills even the largest space. The only difficulty is getting it to sound like more than an outbreak of bad manners! I am certainly not very proficient at doing so! I also love to learn about Aboriginal place names and they way they often roll off the tongue in such a lovely way. Being from Western Australia it is easy to forget how ancient the names of suburbs and towns like Karrynup, Pinjarra, Karrakatta and Wanneroo really are.

Keep an eye on Yahoo!7 News for all the latest about the PM’s announcement tomorrow.

Clea

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