Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

As you all know, the web is a vast place and just like in the real world, you can encounter all sorts of people. Here at Yahoo! Answers, as we strive to improve your experience on Answers, we are also committed to your online security with resources like our Online Safey Help Pages. That’s why we offer many ways to control the personal information you want to display and who can contact you.

Since the amount of information you display on social networks is completely up to you, we wanted to remind you how to control these settings on Answers.

Want privacy?

• Don’t display your real name. Pick a nickname or a screen name. A nickname without any personally identifiable information is best.
• Don’t post your real photo. Pick an image or go for an avatar or no image at all.
• Don’t reveal personal information in your profile.If you don’t want the community to see your questions and answers, make them private.

Want to control who contacts you?

• Limit your network of friends. Your contacts can view your activity on Answers. Controlling your network allows you to add or remove friends, and also block users.
• Activate or deactivate contact options. We never display your email address, but through this feature you can control whether other people can contact you or not.

And now, a question for you: Do you feel too much personal information is shared in the online world?  How do you feel about it?

Let us know…

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

• Please also visit Answers’ official Online Safety Help Pages.

• Can we do better? Tell us here…

Over the years since it launched, Answers has grown and grown. In March ‘09 we had 177.8 million monthly unique visitors worldwide according to comScore.  We have 680 million answers live globally and 100 million questions.

We receive an average of 173,000 questions a day globally. This breaks down to 7,200 questions an hour, 120 questions a minute or 2 questions a second, globally – which isn’t doing to badly, even if we say so ourselves.

The thing is, everyone can always do better and we’re no exception. So this month we’re reaching out to you guys, the contributors to UK & Ireland Answers for your feedback.

The short survey that you can find here or linked to from the UK & Ireland Answers Homepage will let us know what we’re doing well and where we can improve.

We’re all ears here…

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

There are many reasons to love Answers. Some thrive on providing helpful answers that benefit the community. Others enjoy being able to benefit from so much knowledge by a simple click. If you’re an expert in a specific area, why not use that knowledge and become a Top Contributor? A Top Contributor is a member of the community who has shown that they are knowledgeable in a particular category.

How can I become a Top contributor?

With a little dedication a top contributor badge can be yours too. Check out Answers and pick categories you have the most expertise in. Answer questions in the most informative way if you want to increase your chances at getting the best answer.

You can be a top contributor in up to three categories. Remember that the top contributor badge is dynamic, which means that you earn it or lose it depending on your recent participation in a particular category. In other words, the more you participate, the more likely you will earn a badge and but if you stop participating, you will lose your badge. To recover your badge, you have to increase your activity in a specific category again.

Also, most of the users on the Answers Leaderboard happen to be top contributors. The leaderboard allows you to see who’s in the lead and check out their stats. It’s updated every week. Who knows, with a little work, you might make it there too!

Keep in mind that while sharing what you know is encouraged, it is also important to make sure you don’t share anything that puts your answer in violation of the Community Guidelines.

Got any more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!

This week is Refugee Week: we’re delighted to say that Yahoo! Answers are supporting it. The week sees a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrates the contribution of refugees in the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities..For more information visit www.lookbeyondthelabel.org or www.refugeeweek.org.uk.

During Refugee Week, the British Red Cross is asking people to pledge their support to refugees by collectively ‘changing their online status’ across all social networks, instant messenger and email to include the www.lookbeyondthelabel.org web address.

On Answers, the British Red Cross have asked three topical questions, that we’d love you to answer:

• If you had to evacuate your home and didn’t know if you’d be back, what would be the one thing you’d take?
• How do your opinions vary between how you view refugees and other types of immigrants?
• Which famous refugees can you name?

The Red Cross have also teamed up with Desperate Housewives star Dougray Scott to produce an online film highlighting the contribution of refugees and asking people to change their online status in solidarity to include www.lookbeyondthelabel.org.

 He said: “As an actor I’m aware of the importance of identity, something which refugees are denied. We must look beyond this label to the individuals – doctors, teachers, parents and friends.”

Refugee Week 2009 – ‘Change Your Status’
See exclusive shots from behind the scenes of the film on the Flickr Group, which you can join.

Yahoo! Travel have helped the British Red Cross build a Trop Planner asking: where do UK refugees come from? The answer it seems is Afghanistan, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Eritrea and Iran.

Yahoo! Music have also built a playlist of songs by former refugees like Bob Marley, M.I.A., Wyclef Jean,  Emmanuel Jal and Mika. Listen to it here.

You can also change your Yahoo! online status to support Refugee Week (with an image like the one at the top of this blog post) on Yahoo! Profiles or Messenger. Instructions on how to do this is here.

The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. They are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies.

They enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, they help them to recover and move on with their lives.

Each year the British Red Cross supports thousands of refugees in a wide number of ways, from providing emergency provisions for those facing severe hardship to giving orientation support and friendly advice to the most vulnerable. Their services include: orientation, destitution, support for young people and women, and family reunion and resettlement.

• For more info: www.redcross.org.uk

Here at Yahoo! Answers, we strive to provide quality content for the community. Every day, trusted users work together to report and remove any content that violates the Community Guidelines. Since abusive content is the most talked-about topic, here is a refresher on what we expect from our users.

Do’s

Courtesy

Asking and Answering clearly

Sharing what you know

Citing Sources

Categorizing correctly

Staring/ Thumbs-up great questions

Reporting abuse

Don’ts

Ranting

Posting questions aimed at giving out your opinions than seeking knowledge are a no-no. So is answering questions for the sole purpose of venting. When you post a question, it must be written in the form of a question. When you answer, it must attempt to answer the question being asked.

Insulting and Being Obscene

Sexually explicit and profanity and images are not welcome on the site. We also do not tolerate any form of insult, discrimination, hate speech. Answers is a diverse community hence everyone should be respected.

Spamming

Answers is not a recruiting site, a dating site or an advertising billboard. Posting irrelevant links for personal or financial gain is prohibited.

Cheating

Creating multiple accounts to reward yourself along with copying and pasting other people’s answers and asking for points is an infraction.

Being harmful and violent

Don’t promote violence or harmful practices. Threatening and harassing other users also violates the guidelines. Anything that is considered illegal in everyday life is also illegal on Answers.

Illegal Content

You can share information about where to download free entertainment and programs as long as it’s a free and legal download site.

We have received many questions about why this or that was deleted, and we think these explanations will help you understand better the Community Guidelines. In extreme cases, members risk losing their Yahoo! ID, and consequently, access to all other Yahoo! services. If everyone follows the rules, content quality will be at its best.

Have more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!