What makes Yahoo!7 Answers a great place for users to engage and share information is largely based on the quality of answers we receive from users like you! To ensure users understand what makes a quality answer and to ensure the integrity of the site here is a reminder of when and where to add links so you don’t violate the Community Guidelines.

1. Remember that you are answering to help the asker: Don’t answer the question with just a link. This doesn’t help the user this is considered a bad answer.  If you don’t know the answer, skip to a question you may be more knowledgeable about.
2. Add specific links where the user can find ADDITIONAL information.   Link to existing sources that have the answer to the question: If you know an excellent website or book that might help, mention it – as long as it’s not spam of course.  Also cite your sources; they are always helpful if anyone wants more information.
3. Users are more than welcome to share their Facebook, Twitter or personal blogs but these links should be shared only on your personal profile page.  Personal links should not be posted into answers or questions.

Here on Answers our mission is to share knowledge and advice within the community in an environment that respects the Community Guidelines.   By sticking to the guidelines and reporting abuse, we can all make Yahoo!7 Answers an informative and enjoyable place to be.

Share

The Yahoo! Answers team wants to protect you against all those sneaky liars looking to deceive you. With this in mind, we’ve created a list with a number of tips that will help you identify day to day lies. We hope they’ll be useful!

Experts in deception know that:

• Truth tends to make sense: Words, body language and actions fit into each other nicely when someone’s telling the truth.
• There’s one emotion for every reaction: If an honest person likes your shoes, they will smile first and compliment them or vice versa. A “liar”, on the other hand, will do both at the same time and their reactions will last less than normal.
• When responding to a direct question, a liar will use the same words used by the person interrogating them. For example: “Did you break the vase?” “No, I did not break the vase”.
• Emotions are mirrored in our whole face: Someone who really smiles does so with eyes and brows, too. Liars smile just with their lips.
• Liars tend to touch different parts of their faces when they tell a lie. Nose scratching, lip-biting and head-scratching are some of the tell-tale signs of deceitful statements.
• A liar will take a little longer answering a question than a person who is telling the truth.
• When someone is guilty, they become aggressive when defending themselves. An innocent person will question the reasons they’re being blamed rather than become defensive.
• A liar will try to keep communication to a minimum when it comes to the person they’re lying to. If they must talk to this person, they will be visibly uncomfortable on most cases.
• Liars don’t emphasise different parts of their speech while someone who is telling the truth will accentuate the important bits of information in a story.
• Liars tend to speak more than necessary or change the subject immediately after lying.
• Some liars rub their eyes unconsciously to avoid eye contact with their listener.
• If a person shakes their head while making an affirmative comment, it’s likely that they’re lying.
• When lying, people place objects (glasses, pens, books) between them and the person being lied to.
• Someone who lies will make up excuses before they’re asked to give them.

To find more information on the subject, you can visit the following sites:

• How to detect lies.
• The truth about lying.

Thanks for reading,
Yahoo! Answers Latin America Team

Share

In addition to this, Yahoo!7 Answers also has something called the “Best of Answers” module. This rotating module featured on the Answers homepage showcases some of the quirky and interesting content that we come across on the Answers site. Typically this content is handpicked by a combination of Yahoo!7 Answers team members and editorial team members who surf the site looking for interesting questions that might pique your interest.

We know that each day, each of you, come across potentially hundreds of interesting, quirky, and fantastic questions that YOU consider “the best of Answers” — so we want to see them!

What’s the catch, and what are the rules?

• Questions must have been asked and answered within the last 3 months – freshness matters!
• No questions containing profanity, obscenity, relating to sex, alcohol, etc.
• Questions must follow the Community Guidelines.
• Answers should be thorough and complete and should NOT be plagiarised. Here’s an example of a good question and answer: Is eating the inside of an orange peel good for you?
  
• Question and answer should be relatively free from typos and grammatical errors.

What do I get if my question is picked?

If we select your question and feature it in the “Best of Answers” module, we’ll award whoever suggested the question to us, 100 extra points on Answers.

Ok, so where do I submit my questions?

Think you have a winner on your hands? Submit your questions to us via email at: y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au

If we select your question, we’ll send you an email notifying you that your question has been selected and you should see the bonus points in your account shortly.

We can’t wait to see what types of questions you send our way, so start searching the site, scouring your watchlist, and sharing your favourites with the team!

Share

When you share your thoughts on Yahoo!7, you have the potential to reach more than half a billion people around the globe. Together, you can share stories, exchange ideas, and even change the world, but it’s important to know how to share safely online.

As our latest example of How Good Grows on Yahoo!, we’re encouraging you to share what matters to you, safely. We’ll be posting questions over the next few months to give you the opportunity to share your answers with the Yahoo!7 community.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, join us in kicking off the program by telling the world about a woman (across the globe, across the room, or across the ages) who amazes you.  Share your thoughts at howgoodgrows.safely.yahoo.com, and see what people around the world are saying. Then keep coming back to the site to see other women who’ve made their mark.

• Which woman do you admire the most and why?

International Women’s Day is just one opportunity you’ll have to share safely. Keep your eyes open for more opportunities to share:

• Mother’s Day (May 8th)
• International Children’s Day (June 1st)

Join us in sharing what’s important to you. Spread the word, and watch How Good Grows on Yahoo!.

-Yahoo! for Good Team

Share

Firstly, the module called ‘Best of Answers’ actually features a number of different types of content; so let’s start with an overview of each of these types:

Best of Answers

The purpose of the ‘Best of Answers’ module is to highlight the most interesting questions posted by you, the community. We can use this to feature either open or resolved questions.  Of course, if we choose a resolved question then we include the first few lines of the best answer too.

For this module we really look for content that’s unique or unusual.  The kind of content that makes us go ‘Whoa, I always wondered that’!

Special Feature

The Special Feature template is used to highlight questions that are being promoted by our team.  Examples include Celebrity questions or official questions asked with our Team account (i.e. Safer Internet Day).

Featured Sponsor/Featured Partner

As you’d expect from the name, these feature questions asked by one of our Sponsors or Knowledge Partners.

Featured Content

We use this space to surface posts from our blog or links to our pages on Facebook or Twitter.

How can you make it onto the Best of Answers?

We check the site every day for interesting questions, but that’s not the only way we select what we feature. In fact, we encourage you to submit any content you think deserves to appear on the Yahoo! Answers homepage. Have you found an interesting or quirky question? Have you provided a fantastic answer and helped someone out? Send it to us y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au and it might be selected to appear on the Yahoo!7 Answers homepage!

To increase chances of being featured:

- You’re  question, open or closed, should be of general interest, and ideally something that is not widely known

- Your answer should not be easily found on the internet

- Try finding questions showing unique or experience-based knowledge

- Ensure that an avatar or a personal image is used

- Make sure the content is clear and well expressed

- And last but not least, the content needs to abide by our Community Guidelines and the Yahoo!7 Terms of Service.

If you submit your ideas and are not featured right away, don’t worry: the Best of Answers module is updated several times a week!

We hope this overview will give you a better understanding of how we choose content to as the ‘Best of Answers’.

Share

Answer our special question: here.

This year, efforts will address safety around “virtual lives” encompassing online gaming and social networking. The slogan for 2011 is, “It’s more than a game, it’s your life.” Staying online and being connected has become critical for today’s youngsters, and not being connected frequently means social exclusion.

GET INVOLVED

It’s easy to take part in this exciting one-day event!

• Learn more about online safety tips.
• Share these online safety tips with your family and friends through Yahoo! Pulse, Facebook and Twitter.
• Participate in the global Safer Internet Day Fair.
• Share your own advice with the Answers community.

Learn more about online safety tips

Think before you post. How you represent yourself online – the way you play games, the photos and texts you share, your avatar, and your profile – all add up to who you are. Invest in your online image.

Be a good sport when online. If you wouldn’t do it on the field, don’t do it online.

Take action and report bullying. By standing by and watching, laughing, or doing nothing when you see bullying happen, you become part of the problem. Don’t be a passive bystander.

Spread positivity when texting. Texting is core to staying connected and what you text is a reflection of you. Be thoughtful about what you text and confident that your texts portray you the right way. Remember messages can be misunderstood without body language to support your meaning.

Get out and connect with your world. It’s estimated that teens spend 7.5 hours a day watching some form of media. The Internet is fun, rich world, but don’t forget to unplug sometimes. Get out and connect with your friends in the real world.

Learn more about online safety. Yahoo! Safely is a global resource that provides parents, educators and teens with tips and advice on online safety. The site covers important topics such as managing digital reputations, avoiding cyber-bullying, and learning how to minimize risks on mobile devices, as well as provides guidance on how to safely use specific Yahoo! products, as well as a Yahoo! Answers Safety Guide.

Share these online safety tips for youth with your family and friends

Support Safer Internet Day by updating your Yahoo! Pulse status with:
“It’s more than a game, it’s your life: http://www.saferinternet.org”

Help drive awareness of online safety by sharing this blog post on Twitter and Facebook. It’s easy – just click `Like` or `Tweet` from the box at the bottom of this blog post to share it online.

Participate in the Safer Internet Day Fair

Join us in a “real” celebration of our virtual lives in the SID fair, by registering online or contacting your national awareness centre or SID committee. A video clip has been created in all official EU languages. Watch the clip and find further information about the activities being organised in your country through the Insafe website.

Share your own advice with the Answers community

Now over to you to share your own advice with the Answers community by sharing your tips on how to stay safe online in this week’s featured question:

• What are your best tips for staying safe on the Internet?

The best answer will receive a bonus 50 points and an additional ‘top 5′ best tips will receive 10 points each!

Here’s to staying safe online – not just on Safer Internet Day, but EVERYDAY!

Share

Now, as part of Yahoo’s moves to make the web a more social and open place we are opening up Answers to people with Google or Facebook IDs too.

We appreciate people don’t want to be overwhelmed by different logins for each site you want to participate in on the web and through a technology called OpenID we’re able to eliminate the need for multiple logins across different Web sites.

After you sign-in with your Google or Facebook ID you’ll be able to fully participate on Yahoo!7 Answers.

Check out this video to see how easy it is to sign-in with a Google or Facebook ID:

A few points to note:

• For existing Answers members you’ll still see all of your existing content when you login with your Yahoo!7 ID.  However you also have the option to ‘bind’ your Facebook/Gmail account with your Yahoo!7 account.  If you choose to do this you’ll be able to see all of your Answers content when logged in with either your Gmail or Facebook account.  Read this help page to find out how to do this*
• If you sign in with your Facebook ID you still control what is published to your Facebook feed from Answers through the checkbox on the ask/answer flow.  Your activity on Answers will not automatically be published on your Facebook feed.
• OpenID isn’t available for the Mobile version of Answers just yet… we’re working on it though and we expect to make it available in the coming months
• All participants using Google or Facebook IDs will still be subject to our Yahoo!7 ToS and Answers Community Guidelines when contributing to the site.

For further information on Yahoo! Fast Pass check out the Yodel Anecdotal blog post: http://ycorpblog.com/2011/01/18/id-sign-in/

Share

To celebrate the start of 2011, the community shared their inspirations by answering this question: What will you do to make 2011 special? and submitted their most inspirational photos to our Flickr group ‘Inspiration 2011.’

Now it’s time to show the best answer and a few other contributions that we really loved. Keep reading and see what the community is planning to do to make this year special!

Best Answer

The most inspirational answer came from Lise M who not only touched us with her answer, but also shows that despite her circumstances, she still has a plan and has a lot to look forward to this year.

I’m doing a 365 photo diary for my children and grandchildren. I have a terminal illness and so far have lived much longer than anyone expected. Now I want to document everyday of this new decade in pictures. I take at least one picture of something about my life every day, and then write about that day. Lord willing I will make it all the way through this New Year – if not, I will be with my Savior and that’s okay too. Happy 2011 everyone!

Great Contributions

We had over 2,000 answers and though we can only pick ONE best answer, we felt these answers were just as great. Definitely worth reading!

By Mr. Green:
I’m planning on looking to the new year with a better outlook. Last year was OK, but I want this year to be better. I plan on being more outgoing, meeting more new people by joining interest groups and just enjoying life. I think I haven’t taken enough time to smell the roses. So I plan on being less serious this year, and hopefully making new and better friendships. But I have to get over my fears and just do it! Here’s to another year!

By Jackie Huggins:
I will live life as I have been with the same good lifestyle and strive for the same happiness I have in life. I will start school in a few weeks, which is long overdue, and I will get the best grades I possibly can. I will love my three kids until they’re sick of me and I will try to be a better wife. I’m sure that would be the only change I would make! Life is so very great so I will be happy with what I was given.

By Kenny D:
This summer we have a month long vacation planned to visit Stuttgart, Germany and Vienna, Austria. We will visit our daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law in Stuttgart  for the last 20 days in June, and then travel by rented car to Vienna, Austria and spend the last 7 days of our vacation in Vienna. We will be staying at the Grand Hotel in Vienna and have tickets to attend the Vienna Mozart Orchestra concert at the Vienna State Opera on the night before we fly home on July 7. Our daughter married a German national while she was stationed at Ramstein Air Base and she decided to stay in Germany when she separated from the Air Force. Our last visit was 4 years ago and at that time they was living in Kaiserslautern, but have since moved to Stuttgart after the birth of our granddaughter Emily.

By Tabby:
I aspire to do more for wildlife charities so the beautiful animals and birds in our world are safer from vandals. Then people can have beautiful places to exercise and enjoy the wildlife. I want to make notelets with my photographs of wildlife and sell them to help raise funds, and knit animal hats for kids to buy at Fayre’s. Also to learn more about animals and help on a practical level, too.

By Pink Sherbet Photography:
Paying off ALL our credit card debt by December 2011 so we can buy our first home in 2012 when my husband retires from the military after 24 years of service! Starting with the highest interest cards first, making extra large payments on those and minimum on the others. Once the highest interest card is paid in full, I start on the next highest, making my way down the list. Pinching every penny this year, clipping and using coupons and putting every extra dollar I can toward paying off the debt in 12 months!

By Veronica Barrera:
I’m a girl who loves writing, music, painting, drawing, and taking photos. For a long time I’ve wanted to put these favorites to work but because I’m my own worst critic, I never got around to it. This year is going to be different.

This year:
-I plan to do a painting/drawing
-write some stories and enter them in contests
-get back on the violin and piano
-write a song
-make a series of photography portfolios

This year, 2011, I plan to show off my creative side! Here’s to an awesome and prosperous year! Happy 2011

By rossislx:
Having been through many challenging years as a single Dad I have gotten to a new level, what the biggest accomplishment is my children are all (almost) adults. My youngest is a senior in High School and will be moving on. I am deeply satisfied with their achievements and the direction they are going. It’s been approximately 12 years single parenting. As those of you who know, it’s a huge challenge and effort raise kids. I have had to put aside much of the “me” throughout these years, therefore I am extremely excited about the new prospects that will be available when the time comes. I have a lot of unwinding to do. I have high hopes for finding my life and the things I enjoyed for so many years prior to my role in my family. I am hoping that things will spring back and the old adventurous and enthusiastic guy returns, So I am really excited about being a part of my boys transition into college and feeling rested more focused and less distracted.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Share

2011 has just begun and this is traditionally the time when everyone sets resolutions that they want to fulfill in the coming year. Whether you want to climb a serious mountain, finally try out grandma’s cake recipe that has been lying around for ages, or plan to do something good for your local community, now’s your moment!

Think about what you are planning and if you’re inspired, why not share your aspirations by answering this question:

• What will you do to make 2011 special?

Pictures paint a thousand words, as the expression goes, so that’s why we created the Flickr group “Inspiration 2011”. Here you can look at what other people have been thinking of or share photos that represent your inspiration and the goal you want to achieve in 2011.

Here’s to a happy 2011!

Share

Photo by merfam.

October is the month of the pink ribbon.

In fact, I myself have worn the pink ribbon proudly as I know many women who have been afflicted with breast cancer. Some of them bounced back to life after surgery or treatment and a few others succumbed to the disease.

So when I decided to write a blog post about breast cancer, I was absolutely certain that it would take me less than ten minutes to do so. After all, I knew stories about all these women. And I thought I was mighty pink because as a woman I knew how to protect myself. Right?

Wrong. As I started to write this post, I realised how little I actually knew about this deadly disease though it had touched my life often enough, albeit indirectly.

Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 10.4% of all cancer incidences among women, making it the most common type of non-skin cancer in women and the fifth most common cause of cancer death. This explains the number of awareness campaigns about breast cancer during the month of October.

And yet I was finding it difficult to write about breast cancer. So I decided to take a look at Answers.

It was no surprise that I found a list of commonly asked questions about breast cancer. I decided to post these questions so it could help women and men like me who know about breast cancer but are hardly aware of the facts relating to the disease.

Six links to save a life!
Understand this cancer better so you can treat it on time if need be!

• How does breast cancer develop in women and what are the preventive measures for it?
• What are the symptoms of breast cancer and what are the consequences?
• What kind of tests or examinations should be done for breast cancer?
• Do people with breast cancer have to get their breasts cut off?
• How long can you live with untreated breast cancer and have no symptoms?
• How common is it to get breast cancer when you are a teenager?

Four typical doubts about preventing and treating breast cancer:

• Is it true that deodorants can cause breast cancer in women?
• Can I get breast cancer if I sleep wearing my bra?
• Are there any Ayurvedic treatments for breast cancer?
• How exactly does breast feeding lower the risk of breast cancer?

Other useful links to understand breast cancer better:

• I may have breast cancer, what questions should I ask my doctor?
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer

And here’s how you can help people with breast cancer.

So do you have a breast cancer story? Is there some knowledge about breast cancer you would like to share? Do send us your story (y_answrs_team_au at yahoo.com.au) or leave us a comment.

Go pink!

Bhumika
Community Manager – India

Share