Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

As the year draws to a close, we start to reflect on what we’ve achieved, what we’ve learnt and how far we’ve come. Yahoo!7 Search likes to take this reflection one step further. Their Top Searches of 2008 list gives us all a snapshot of exactly what captivated the nation this year.

Would you believe that the number one searched for term on Yahoo!7 is yet again Britney Spears? Yep, this once down and out pop princess has grabbed our attention for the second year in a row. Even on Answers she scored a fair amount of discussion. From how to dress up as her, to when she’s touring Australia and whether she should have custody of her kids, she featured highly in the Entertainment and Music category.

Britney wasn’t the only celebrity to make it to the top ten. The sad news of Heath Ledger’s death put him up at number two, and was a hotly debated topic on Answers as well. We were also fascinated with yummy mummies Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba and Katie Holmes. Even their offspring rated a mention in the celebrity hot list although it wasn’t all glamorous discussion – on Answers a popular discussion was Suri Cruise’s bottle and why she still has one.

It wasn’t all Hollywood gossip. Being an Olympic year, there were plenty of searches about Stephanie Rice, her ex Eamon Sullivan and of course, the superfish of the pool Michael Phelps. On Answers, the popular Olympics category was overun with questions about the rules of various sports, the Australian colours and even how to get into the Olympics in coming years.

The Global Economic Downturn was also a big search term during the year, and is something that is set to continue well into 2009. On Answers, there have been many questions about whether people’s lives have been affected, why the Australian dollar is falling and what it will mean for house prices.

To see the full list of Yahoo!7 Top 2008 Searches, click here. What notable events or people in 2008 have piqued your interest this year?

Caitlin
Community Manager

We all rely on our friends and relatives to help solve everyday problems, but sometimes they’re not around to help you out or haven’t found themselves in your particular conundrum. And that’s where Answers comes in: somewhere online where you can ask how-to and why-is-it questions, to get answers from the millions of people out there!

We know you’ve all experienced the wonder of Answers, that glow you get from getting a really great solution to your current headache, but occasionally we, the Answers team, come across questions asking why we should even share knowledge on Answers at all? People ask: what’s the point?

So we thought for once, instead of asking you why you think Answers is a great place to share and exchange knowledge, we’d flip the script. We’ve asked various members of the global Answers team, from those who work with the community to those who build and maintain the site, what they think is so great about participating on Answers and what their favourite moments have been.

Here is what they said:

Martin Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team on the power of a bus…

Since Answers launched the UK and Ireland, we’ve loved watching the community grow. Seeing people get a great answer and walk away with a problem solved, thanks to Answers, is a wonderful thing. But nothing compares to literally being there when a first-time participant just… ‘gets it.’

During 2006, we took Answers on the road, finding experts and enthusiasts wherever they might be: food events, flower shows or university campuses. As we took them through asking a question, the responses varied. But there was always a common moment, that made the whole trip worthwhile, when a great answer appeared. I could compare it to a “Eureka” moment, was like a metaphorical light bulb switched on above their head, but it was deeper than that. Suddenly to them, like it did to millions of other people worldwide, Answers really made sense.

Silvia Yahoo! Spain Answers team on cooking up great ideas…

I really love cooking and in Answers I find a place to exchange knowledge related to food. I like to try new things, especially from places I’ve never been to. Answers is a really good place to find recipes and ask for techniques. You can check out the results of the answers provided by the community here. I also like to help people who are learning to cook with simple recipes and tips.

Christian Yahoo! Germany Answers team on expanding his knowledge circle…

Profiting from others’ experiences is great. Each of us relies on the advice of our circle of friends. Yet on Answers, you can benefit from many more people and their experiences and knowledge – and you also can gain the friendship of others. Even if I still rely on my friends, the Answers community has helped me with so many things I could never have found out with regular web search, I’ve lost count.

Fionna Yahoo! Canada Answers team on power of Answers…

To me, Yahoo! Answers *is* the Internet. The Internet is an infinite and instant source of interactive information … and so is Yahoo! Answers. It’s a vast community of people using the most powerful search engine of all — their own brains — to help each other. Yahoo! Answers perfectly encapsulates all the power and possibilities of the entire Web in one place.

Mark Yahoo! Answers Global Product Operations on making a difference to someone…

Like most people, thoughts regularly pop into my head on subjects that I want to know the answer to.  I could spend my time researching to find out… but prefer instead to take the old-fashioned (and lazy!) approach of asking people directly.  For this, Answers is unbeatable.

But, in my eyes, the thing that really makes Answers great and continues to amaze me is that every second of every day people around the world are busy using Answers to find information in exactly the same manner. Every contribution we make can make a difference to someone else in another part of the globe.

This is the first in a two-part series of blog posts on our thoughts on Answers, but the site would be nothing without you, the Answers community. Why not have your say about what you enjoy most on Answers by leaving a comment below. We’re all ears!

Hey everyone,

The Australian Answers Team is happy to announce that that the site is back after undergoing the second part of essential maintenance.  We can see from your hundreds of passionate comments on our blogs worldwide that you are all fond of the site and there are even a few Answerholics amongst you, so we’re sorry we had to deprive you of your favorite site for a few hours. But please trust us when we say the work was essential and will make Answers stronger and healthier from now on. This will conclude the planned maintenance for the immediate future.

Rest assured after this maintenance, the site will look just the same as it did before and should help it avoid future downtime.

Many thanks!

I recently attended a wedding, which to be honest, isn’t all that unusual these days. I actually can’t remember who half the girls are in my facebook friends list because they’ve all changed to their married names and I don’t remember what they are. The unusual thing about this wedding was that it was in London and involved a mixed English/Australian couple.

What’s so unusual about that, I hear you ask? Mixed couples happen all the time and Aussies and Brits aren’t all that different. Well that is true, however there are more differences in a British wedding ceremony than I actually thought there’d be.

For one thing, did you know it’s traditional for an English wedding to serve a fruit cake? At this wedding we were served cupcakes and also a fruit cake, which I thought was a little strange until I read dlcarnall’s reasoning:

Traditional English wedding cake is a fruitcake, usually made with raisins, ground almonds, cherries and marzipan. The top layer of the wedding cake is called the “christening cake” which the couple is saves for the baptism of their first child.

The fruitcake is served at the wedding reception along with another traditional cake — the groom’s cake — which originated during the Tudor period. It was once English custom for this to be a fruitcake as well, but today, the groom’s cake is likely to be chocolate. More

The other noticeable difference was seeing women in fascinators and hats, which is apparently not a strict tradition anymore but definitely still embraced by some. Also there were some men in tartan kilts, not something you’d usually see at an Aussie wedding but is quite common for a Scot at a formal ceremony such as a wedding.

It made me think about the wedding traditions we take for granted that may not be as prevalent in other countries.

There are a few differences with American weddings it seems. Although it’s quite common to have a Bachelorette Party (Hen Party), American brides also have the added benefit of a shower, which apparently involves women getting together, giving presents and playing a few games. So many presents! There’s also that other American tradition of the groom throwing the bride’s garter, however it doesn’t seem to be something that Australians have embraced, I have never seen that tradition in an Aussie wedding.

The role of the Master of Ceremonies seems to differ from country to country. Apparently in Britain it isn’t too common to even have an MC, but in American, the Master of Ceremonies also has to entertain the guests and tell jokes, according to Dana B.

British weddings tend to go longer than in other countries (something I definitely found). According to Princess, it can go for 12 hours or longer:

They are longer, it will be noon til midnight or later- there is usually a ceremony, drinks reception, 3 course dinner in late afternoon & speeches, then evening party with drinks, dancing and a buffet- it will be noon to midnight basically. More

Then of course there are the wedding rings. According to AnswerQueen, the hand your wedding is on is determined by your religion, not your country

Christian Orthodox wear the wedding ring on the right side, as the right hand is always viewed as the more important, they also do the sign of the cross right first then left. While Christian Catholics wear it on the left and sign the cross left then right. More

While I love a good Aussie wedding, one ceremony I’d love to experience would be a wedding in India. It sounds like they really know how to celebrate!

What are the most different wedding traditions you’ve observed in other cultures?

Caitlin
Community Manager

Need an early Christmas present? With all this doom and gloom, we need a bit of cheering up, and fortunately Yahoo!7 has just the solution. We’re giving away four huge Sony Bravia TV’s (Z Series) to some very lucky winners.

So what do you have to do to win this fabulous prize? Simply click here and follow the steps to set Yahoo!7 as your homepage. When you’ve confirmed that it is your homepage, enter your details and you’ll be in the draw to win television magic.*

Imagine how good Hugh Jackman would look in all his muscle bound glory on a 52-inch television monitor sitting in the centre of your lounge room. You won’t need to see football live again – the clarity and performance of this wide screen TV will outperform any seats at the stadium.

The new Z series BRAVIA is the only BRAVIA to feature Motionflow 200Hz, a technological breakthrough that provides clearer, smoother motion from a wider range of sources. Other benefits include Live Colour Creation and BRAVIA Engine 2 as well as an abundance of connectivity options including 3 x HDMI™ inputs and DLNA home network connectivity. It retails at $5,099.

Not sure what this all means? Check out Answers for the solution!

What’s the difference between plasma and an LCD?

What do the terms HDMI and s-video mean?

What is a good way to tell the difference with motion using motionflow on my Sony Bravia?

How do I clean an LCD screen?

To enter, click here and follow the steps to win!

Caitlin
Community Manager

* Terms and Conditions

We have some planned maintenance scheduled on Friday 21st November from 19:30 AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). We anticipate the work will take approximately four hours, and Answers will be unavailable during that time. If there is any change to the schedule, we will inform you here with updates. This is the second of the two planned outages and will conclude the planned maintenance for the immediate future.

If you’re looking for something to do during the downtime, why not check out some of these pages:

• Get a head start on the Christmas shopping at Yahoo!7 Shopping
• Check out some hilarious videos
• Get the latest news, sport and lifestyle info on the Yahoo!7 homepage
• Find out what you’re missing on the box with Yahoo!7 TV
• Get the latest on the credit crunch at Yahoo!7 Finance

We appreciate your patience while we complete this vital maintenance.

Caitlin
Community Manager

Hey everyone,

The Australian Answers Team is happy to announce that that the site is back after undergoing essential maintenance.  We can see from your hundreds of passionate comments on our blogs worldwide that you are all fond of the site and there are even a few Answerholics amongst you and we’re sorry we had to deprive you of your favourite site for a few hours. But please trust us when we say the work was essential and will make Answers stronger and healthier from now on.

In the short term, there will be another planned outage Thursday 20th of November starting at 7:30pm to 12:00am AEST. This will conclude the planned maintenance for the immediate future.

Rest assured after this maintenance, the site will look just the same as it did before and should help it avoid future downtime.

Many thanks

We have some planned maintenance scheduled on Tuesday 18th November from 19:30 to 23:00 AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). We anticipate the work will take approximately four hours, and Answers will be unavailable during that time. If there is any change to the schedule, we will inform you here with updates.

If you’re looking for something to do during the downtime, why not check out some of these pages:

• Get a head start on the Christmas shopping at Yahoo!7 Shopping
• Check out some hilarious videos
• Get the latest news, sport and lifestyle info on the Yahoo!7 homepage
• Find out what you’re missing on the box with Yahoo!7 TV
• Get the latest on the credit crunch at Yahoo!7 Finance

We appreciate your patience while we complete this vital maintenance.

Caitlin
Community Manager

Today, we want to remind you about the various ways you have to communicate with us and where you can find more information about Answers.

What do I need to know?

The Community Guidelines and the Terms of Service are two basic documents in which all the guidelines that rule Answers are written. You can find a link to these at the bottom of all Yahoo!7 Answers pages.

If you are about to post something, but are not sure whether it violates the Community Guidelines, you have a handy link at the bottom of the page where you can double check.

Where do you have to go if you want to make an appeal?

If your content has been deleted and, after reading the Community Guidelines and the TOS you still feel it was a mistake, you just need to click on the link “appeal” that appears on the notification email and explain us the reasons why you think the content should not have been taken down. We’ll be happy to review it!

And what about if you don’t know how to do something?

Well, especially for that we have created the help pages.Here you can find info regarding how to use Answers and its various features. Just browse the categories to find what you are looking for.

If you cannot find an answer to your question there, you can always go to the Forum or to the Yahoo!7 Answers category within Answers. This category was especially created for you to ask the community about things you don’t know how to do. The community is always happy to help and the most experienced members are eager to share their knowledge.

Want to be the first to know?

Then, the blog is your place. Here you will find the latest news, tips and other interesting stuff from the Answers Community. Subscribe, watch out and don’t miss our next post!

And what happens if you have feedback?

We’ve also thought about that: you can come to the blog and leave us a comment, go to the forum, or fill in the feedback form that you will find at the bottom of each page. We will be happy to hear your ideas to improve the product!

So, if you have any comment now, go ahead and write it after the post!

In September 2007 we launched Community Moderation, a system that allows trusted Answers users to work together to report and remove content that breaks the Community Guidelines and the Yahoo!7 Terms of Service. Due to its very nature, there is always a great deal of interest in this system and how it’s working, so we wanted to give you an update on it and how the subsequent appeals process works.

What is Community Moderation?
Traditionally on Answers if a question or answer broke the Community Guidelines or Yahoo!7 Terms of Service, an Answers user could report it. This report is reviewed by a real person and a decision is made whether to keep it up or to delete it. This system is still in place.

However, Community Moderation works in parallel to the old system. Once a report is submitted to Yahoo!7, Community Moderation automatically measures the contributions and reporting history of both the reporter and the person being reported.

Community Moderation then determines whether it can remove the reported question or answer directly from the site based on community input or whether further review is needed.

So how do I build a good reputation?
First and foremost, it’s important to familiarise yourself with the Community Guidelines. If you’re interested in reporting bad content on Answers, it’s very important that you’re accurate. When you feel you have a good idea about what’s acceptable on Answers as you begin to report content, you will build a good reputation and gain influence.

On the other hand, misuse of the new system will result in a lowered reputation. A low reputation means that the power to report and remove potential abuse is diminished, and may even risk suspension.

The community is very important to the Answers team: without it the site is nothing, so we have set up protection mechanisms to filter out specific targeting of one user by another. Similarly the system promotes accurate reporters, giving them more influence.

How accurate is Community Moderation?
According to our current analysis 94% of reports removed by Community Moderation in the US were correctly removed. Occasionally it makes mistakes, which we would strongly encourage you to appeal, but on the whole your efforts in reporting are making a massive and accurate difference to the site.

What should I do if my content is erroneously removed by the community?
By the very nature of the system, incorrect reports are occasionally going to happen. If your question or answer is reported, we’ll send you an email stating that it has been removed. If you feel that the system’s decision was incorrect, first read the Community Guidelines to check. If you think there’s a strong case, click on the “Appeal” link in the email to submit an appeal. This will be reviewed by a Yahoo!7 employee. If we agree, your question or answer will reappear on Answers, and the member(s) who reported you will have less influence when they report potential abuse in the future.

As a team, we’d like to strongly emphasise the importance of appealing, once you’ve read the Community Guidelines and are certain your content has been removed in error. This is because if your appeal is successful, not only will your content be reinstated but your reputation will be boosted and those that reported you will lose reputation.