Why do people answer questions "I don't know the answer"?

@Idlewild (6090)
United States
January 14, 2007 2:24pm CST
I see people on Mylot who answer dozens and dozens of discussions by saying "I don't know the answer" or something like that. Why do these people even answer? They won't earn any money for an answer like that. I don't think the person who started the discussion benefits either, so the responder isn't doing that person any favors. I just don't get it.
24 people like this
112 responses
15 Jan 07
Hmmm... I do not know the answer! Maybe because some people have nothing better to do or maybe they think that if they make their non-answer seem as clever as possible they might get paid something! (Kind of what I'm doing right now really i guess) But hey without people giving non-answers like that you wouldnt have started this discussion and earnt yourself a bit more, so really you owe them one. Cheers!
3 people like this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
16 Jan 07
Hmmm, so you're saying there's a method to their madness-- giving bad answers so other people will start quality discussions in response to them! As you said, it did work in this case!
• India
16 Jan 07
Yes u r right..But those people don't know that they r going to get nothing for such responses..
1 person likes this
@misskatonic (3723)
• United States
14 Jan 07
Because they're stupid and think they will get credit for pithy little answers like that. They think that quantity counts over quantity, and they toss off a few words to try and boost their earnings and their post count. Obviously, they don't bother to actually read how the site works.
3 people like this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
14 Jan 07
With the 'star' ratings, they'll realize how little their bad responses count. The post count was always kind of misleading, but the star rating shows what other users as a whole think of the person's responses.
1 person likes this
• Australia
14 Jan 07
This is annoying, isn't it? One of the biggest problems I find with it is that it increases the number of pages that need to be opened to follow through the responses. If all the one or two word or senseless responses were removed, navigation through the good ones would be much faster. I always give a "-" to those responses and always give a "+" to sensible ones, whether or not I agree with what they say. The good thing is that we are seeing fewer silly ones and much less copy and paste than we did a few weeks ago, and I believe this is partyly because of people like DoubleB, SKSouth and others in the MLPD
2 people like this
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
14 Jan 07
I don't understand it either. I feel the same way about posting an answer to a question, with "No, I've never done that." when you were asking for help or advice.
2 people like this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
14 Jan 07
One thing I hope the star ratings will do is encourage people to ask better questions. With any luck it will cut down on the number of yes-or-no, Coke-or=Pepsi questions.
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Jan 07
That's true. I am guessing they don't read the RULES before they post and tbat's why they say "I don't know." It is best to read the Rules and Terms before you dive into something. When I joined the site, that is the very first thing I did.
3 people like this
@SarahEC (545)
• United States
14 Jan 07
It seems like some people just want to make as many posts as possible. They don't understand that making a junky post won't get them anything. It is kinda irritating, but people are going to keep doing it. You'll probably get a ton of "I don't know"'s to this topic. lol.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
14 Jan 07
LOL, yeah, I hope I don't get a lot of "I don't knows" to this discussion... that would mean those people are totally clueless!
• Canada
15 Jan 07
Ok, well first off, there are way too many people interested in the money more than anything else on here, but it's not that much, so why bother coming on just for a whole .60 cents a day or a bit more? I can walk down the road and pick up change that amounts to more than that in less than half of the time that it takes to post/respond on here. I am also a new user, so could you please explain exactly what it is that separates a paid response from an unpaid one? Thanks so much, and hopefully you won't get alot of "I don't know" replies. :P
2 people like this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
15 Jan 07
Ah, the Mylot formula/algorithm is a mysterious secret. Nobody knows exactly how they calculate how much will be paid for a response. I think you'll get paid *something* for any response unless it's really short and says something irrelevant. Check the many Mylot rules, there's a lot of FAQs and stuff but they give a good idea of how things work.
1 person likes this
• India
12 Aug 10
well i think some newbies here just found their first discussion and so desperate to join in any discussion that they responded with "i don't know"...!!
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
13 Aug 10
Back when Mylot was knew some people would try to provide as many answers as possible, even if they weren't really contributing to the discussion, because they thought they would make more money since they were answering more questions. That may have worked in the early days of Mylot, but it doesn't work know, because the site is more careful about making sure the quality of the answers is good, not just the quantity.
• India
12 Nov 07
i think people just give such answer for name sake.they think they get paid for such replies,infact this is just a misconcepption.the response needs to be valid and reasonable.as a mylot user,each of us must take it as our duty to eliminate such absurd replies.its really very bad.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
18 Nov 07
Fortunately, there's a lot less of this than there was when I posted this comment.
@wmaharper (2316)
• United States
20 Feb 07
I don't Know.. (: I think many people are here soley to earn money, and they somehow think that any answer, regardless if it of any real contribution, will make them a few cents. If I don't know or honestly do not have an opinion, I move on to the next one.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
20 Feb 07
I just saw one discussion where a person was asking which of two Indian actresses was the hottest, and one person responded with something like, 'I don't know either of them so I can't say who is the hottest.' I hope Mylot doesn't pay for answers like that!
• India
20 Feb 07
May be they have a misconception that they can earn for whatever they reply.This can only be the best reason.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
20 Feb 07
Yes, I'm sure they wouldn't do it if they knew it wouldn't earn them money.
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
21 May 08
I am so tempted to answer with an "I don't know" but that wouldn't be very nice of me.... snicker. I guess they read the discussion they feel like they should respond with something. Picture yourself in a real life conversation with a friend - the friend asks you a question on a topic you have not much information on.... you do not know the answer, do you then just stare at the friend blankly or turn your back and walk away? I suspect you politely respond.... hmmm, good question. Beats the heck out of me.... or faintly "I don't rightly know, off hand"
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
25 May 08
With a friend, they are posing a question to you, so you have to say something. On Mylot, people choose the questions they want to answer... so why answer something they don't know about? Guess it's the human desire to put one's 2 cents into the matter (and to try to earn 2 cents!)
@nokia6233 (937)
• India
28 Jul 07
well think those kind of people like to get more number of posts to their accoutn only and that too they dont realise that they wont earn that much for typing oneliners...
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I hope by now these people have figured out that Mylot won't pay them much for that kind of response.
@kebkeb (119)
• Philippines
6 Nov 07
Mental Block? Mental disorder? hahahaha!!!! "I don't know the answer". hahaha. Its just natural. Because some matters are very hard to think quickly.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
12 Nov 07
Seems more like laziness, and the desire to answer as many questions as possible in the shortest amount of time.
@zebra2222 (5268)
• United States
29 Dec 07
I agree that someone should not respond to a subject unless they have something constructive to add. Otherwise, it is a total waste of time and doesn't accomplish anything.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
30 Dec 07
Yeah, it just clutters up Mylot and makes it harder to find the responses that are helpful. Maybe that's part of the reason Mylot came up with the "interest rankings," so we can identify users who are helpful, or not, in a given topic.
• United States
2 Jun 09
I feel some people just to not really understand what mylot is all about. To me this is a site to share our thoughts and feelings on a certain subject but some people I feel do not know english well so that is one reason I feel. Also I feel that some people just want to make money but than they start asking why am I not making any money. I just hope they learn but if they dont thats okay I just keep on moving and starting and responding hoping that I make earnings and learn more about others.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
3 Jun 09
Yes, some people seem to feel that if they respond to as many discussions as possible it will earn them money. They'd be better off in terms of money by making a lot fewer comments but putting more effort into them.
@waynet (2650)
15 Jan 07
Because they are thick!!
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
19 Feb 07
You got it... thick as a brick.
• India
19 Feb 07
well the answer of course as others said..simple..just to increase the number of posts..and they are not the only one's to blame..there are many who start stupid discussions as well..thank fully mylot's policies are such that a good answer would earn you more and a nonsensical one might not earn anything..so that would take care of such people..
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
19 Feb 07
Mylot has done a good job in recent months in weeding out the junk content. They are removing bad discussions and not paying for lame content.
@jennifer611 (2514)
• United States
19 Feb 07
I dont know why they do that. I know that it makes me mad when I see it, and I see it happen alot. I think that they probably figure as long as they are posting SOMETHING they will get paid for it and also to raise up there number of posts.. I hate when I have a question that I really want a real answer to and its a I dont know or just a bunch of nonsence that I cant even understand.. usually I just hit the - rating for them.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
19 Feb 07
Some people don't seem to realize that the number of points doesn't really correlate with the amount of money they earn.
@whitneyX3 (217)
• United States
15 Jan 07
oh my goodness! that bugs me to no end when people do that too!! i mean..i ask for some advice and people actually say "i dont know"..well thanks for the help buddy! and you're right, those sort of answers dont even get you money! those kind of people are just retards!
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
19 Feb 07
I find it amusing when they paste copy from another discussion on a totally different topic...it would be hilarious if it wasn't so dumb!
• United States
19 Feb 07
If they're really that desperate for the money, they should go to Dormcheck. They pay a penny per post lol. I go to mylot if I want a serious discussion, but if I want a quick couple of bucks, I'll respond like crazy to Dormcheck. I'm up to 6 bucks and change over there and made a dollar in one day just from posting nonsense.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
19 Feb 07
I've heard of Dormcheck and was thinking of checking it out... but if it's total gibberish, I think I'll pass... I got plenty of that on the earlier days of Mylot!
• Philippines
19 Feb 07
i don't know the answer. lol. seriously, i have encountered a lot of responses like that and it irritates me. i'd prefer not to respond to a topic if i'm not interested in it (or if i don't know anything about it) rather than post such a lame answer. you're right, the person who started the discussion won't benefit from it. but maybe other people think they would earn from "i don't know" answers so they respond to topics they don't care about anyway.
1 person likes this
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
19 Feb 07
Some people think they're doing their friends a favor by responding to their discussions, but I don't think lame or useless responses will earn any $ for the discussion starter.