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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> The Psychology of Offering Help
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 05/22/2008 10:03:16 AM · #1
Every day there are requests for help of many kinds - which camera, which lens, how can I do this, how do they do that, is this legal, is this a good technique, etc., etc. A lot of these questions can very easily be answered by doing a simple search since a lot of them have been asked and asked again and again.

When I look at these threads I am confused as to why a particular question gets a multitude of responses (with lots of duplicate responses) and some get, literally, none. So my question is, what makes you offer your help/assistance/opinion in one thread but not in another (assuming they are equivalent requests and you have the/an answer or opinion)?

Is it the person making the request?
Is it the ease with which you can come up with an answer?
Does it just happen to be something you are sure of the answer?
What is it?

What prevents you from offering help when you have the ability to do so?

Message edited by author 2008-05-22 10:04:02.
 05/22/2008 10:07:49 AM · #2
Many times it's just timing... if I happen to see a question I can answer on my front page. My mood plays a part in it too, of course, and how busy I am.

05/22/2008 10:12:15 AM · #3
Pretty much the same as above. If I have the time and a helpful answer. I have also flagged some previous responses as watched threads, so I can easily copy and paste the answer from my earlier response. I can't hold it against anyone for asking these questions. They are usually new on the site and don't realize the question has been asked before. Besides, it's often new info for somebody else as well. (I'm staying out of the regular "should-I-buy-a-Canon-or-Nikon?" threads, however.)
 05/22/2008 10:12:55 AM · #4
Is it the person making the request?
For me this doesn't matter unless they come across as ignorant or abusive in the thread.

Is it the ease with which you can come up with an answer?
Sometimes, but usually no.

Does it just happen to be something you are sure of the answer?
I usually only try to help if Im sure that I know the answer or can point the person in the right direction to hopefully get the answer they need.

What prevents you from offering help when you have the ability to do so?
For me time is the biggest factor, if I see it as something that is going to take a while to answer I will usually try to mark the post to "watch" then attempt to come back later and give my opinion and or answer. But if there is a good answer there before I get a chance to reply and if I have nothing to add then Ill not bother posting and move on...
 05/22/2008 10:14:19 AM · #5
If the question interests me or if nobody else has replied. I particularly like the IT related questions, since that's my field.

Also, who is asking the question has a bearing on things as well. If a multi-ribbon winning pro asks a question about lighting, I'd be reluctant to respond with a link to strobist.
 05/22/2008 10:35:04 AM · #6
I usually answer if I have time and think I know the answer.

I don't blame anybody for not finding previous answers in the forums. I find the Forum Search feature pretty sucky, but that's OK.
 05/22/2008 10:49:08 AM · #7
I usually offer help if it's something I know pretty well. If it's an area I'm unsure of myself, the last thing I want to do is give someone bad advice. And sometimes, if what I'm going to say has already been posted several times, I won't bother repeating it.

Who asks the question doesn't matter to me. On the occassions when I am able to help but choose not to it's for one of three reasons: 1) I don't have time at the moment; 2) It's something I've answered a dozen times before, some of those times recently (as bad as the search feature here is, it's worth a try, as often times things are discussed recently); 3) I'm just not in the mood to try and explain something complex.

Yeah, the last one is a crummy answer, but it's true. I think we all have days when we've already fielded enough questions at home/work and we just don't want to deal with more here at DPC. Thank goodness those days are few and far between.
 05/22/2008 11:01:50 AM · #8
If I see a question and haven't seen it duplicated in the past week or two, have the knowledge to answer the question or have humor to inject, and I have the time to write an answer I will.

I personally struggle with search systems on forums so I am in general very forgiving of others who ask first and look second.
 05/22/2008 11:03:29 AM · #9
I'm not sure i can help you on that one... ;-P
 05/22/2008 11:08:33 AM · #10
Originally posted by CEJ:
Every day there are requests for help of many kinds - which camera, which lens, how can I do this, how do they do that, is this legal, is this a good technique, etc., etc. A lot of these questions can very easily be answered by doing a simple search since a lot of them have been asked and asked again and again.

When I look at these threads I am confused as to why a particular question gets a multitude of responses (with lots of duplicate responses) and some get, literally, none.

Maybe there's a problem with the search. I ask questions, but before I do I always do a search to see if there's another thread about it and I always come up with nothing. The other day I was going to ask a question about the anti-shake/steady shot feature and when I searched those key words, I got results that had nothing to do with those features.
 05/22/2008 11:31:40 AM · #11
Sorry, I can't answer your questions, you don't have any ribbons. OK, I'm just kidding, but sometimes it feels that way. If someone popular posts about their recent success, you get 5 pages or more of congratulations. Someone like me posts about their one and only time they won POTD somewhere, you get over 200 views of the thread and only 4 replies of congrats.
 05/22/2008 11:39:40 AM · #12
Originally posted by icu1965:

Maybe there's a problem with the search. I ask questions, but before I do I always do a search to see if there's another thread about it and I always come up with nothing. The other day I was going to ask a question about the anti-shake/steady shot feature and when I searched those key words, I got results that had nothing to do with those features.


sometimes it's easier to go into the advanced search and just tick the subject search and hope people have titled the topic well

As for posting help it's mostly a time thing, though if there are no replies and I have one I will make the time ... if there are loads of replies I may well not.

If I can I'll offer help to anyone, don't care who they are.
 05/22/2008 11:44:09 AM · #13
Originally posted by Kelli:
Sorry, I can't answer your questions, you don't have any ribbons. OK, I'm just kidding, but sometimes it feels that way. If someone popular posts about their recent success, you get 5 pages or more of congratulations. Someone like me posts about their one and only time they won POTD somewhere, you get over 200 views of the thread and only 4 replies of congrats.

I can't help it if I'm the Hero of DPC, and everyone looks up to me. Being DPC-Famous is a lot of responsibility. I do make an effort to throw a crumb or two of my shiny-ribbonness to the DPC-Dregs.

05/22/2008 11:49:45 AM · #14
Kelli, you shouldn't care about that. There will always be popularity contests in this world, and eventhough the last place on earth where you would expect to see this happen is on a website with competition at its heart ;) ,beleive it or not, it's here too!

Message edited by author 2008-05-22 11:50:01.
 05/22/2008 11:50:31 AM · #15
I find it easiest to help people who ask clear questions. I don't discriminate on who people are but on how people are.

For example, someone wants to know how to improve their images.
If they post one or two examples from their portfolio and the image carries details of exposure, processing, what they were thinking, etc. Then they're likely to get a comment.
If they post a link to their entire portfolio or (forbid!) an external site...well, they've probably made too much work for me to bother.
 05/22/2008 11:52:40 AM · #16
i try and help if it's a subject i have personal experience in. I think the user depends sometimes because if the same person comes along and asks a million questions that are easy enough to figure out by yourself if you devote time to it, then I get a little annoyed that they're wasting people's time by not thinking for themselves.

I usually offer advice on lens questions and occasionally body related stuff... i don't usually notice who asks something unless it's a name i've seen posting questions a lot, which happens. If there's a load of replies then i'll probably pass on a response because everyone is saying the same things.

But what makes me respond is the topic of discussion, if i have anything relevant to say, and who's doing the posting. But i'm a bit of a judgmental summon a beach.
 05/22/2008 11:54:25 AM · #17
Originally posted by yann:
Kelli, you shouldn't care about that. There will always be popularity contests in this world, and eventhough the last place on earth where you would expect to see this happen is on a website with competition at its heart ;) ,beleive it or not, it's here too!


See, no one replied to what I wrote until a famous ribbon winner answered. ROFL!! You guys do know I'm kidding right?
 05/22/2008 11:58:01 AM · #18
Oh! I get it. Everyone, Kelli was just kidding! Quick hide the torches and silly string!

Originally posted by Kelli:
See, no one replied to what I wrote until a famous ribbon winner answered. ROFL!! You guys do know I'm kidding right?
05/22/2008 12:00:52 PM · #19
Originally posted by Kelli:
Originally posted by yann:
Kelli, you shouldn't care about that. There will always be popularity contests in this world, and eventhough the last place on earth where you would expect to see this happen is on a website with competition at its heart ;) ,beleive it or not, it's here too!


See, no one replied to what I wrote until a famous ribbon winner answered. ROFL!! You guys do know I'm kidding right?

Now I've done my good deed for the week and can go about my general jackassery as usual. ;-)
 05/22/2008 12:53:19 PM · #20
Originally posted by Strikeslip:
Originally posted by Kelli:
Sorry, I can't answer your questions, you don't have any ribbons. OK, I'm just kidding, but sometimes it feels that way. If someone popular posts about their recent success, you get 5 pages or more of congratulations. Someone like me posts about their one and only time they won POTD somewhere, you get over 200 views of the thread and only 4 replies of congrats.

I can't help it if I'm the Hero of DPC, and everyone looks up to me. Being DPC-Famous is a lot of responsibility. I do make an effort to throw a crumb or two of my shiny-ribbonness to the DPC-Dregs.


You just wanted to be a hero so you'd have a codpiece to polish.
 05/22/2008 01:00:22 PM · #21
Is it the person making the request?

Unless the person is a complete a**hat, no.

Is it the ease with which you can come up with an answer?

Sometimes

Does it just happen to be something you are sure of the answer?
What is it?

If I already know the answer, then I'm more likely to reply.

What prevents you from offering help when you have the ability to do so?

Time, or, more usually, the question only shows that the person asking is too damn lazy to use google.

You have no idea how many times I have had to resist linking the person asking to this: Just F***ing Google It

Message edited by frisca - watch your language, please!.
 05/22/2008 03:07:47 PM · #22
I think my own answer has already been given several times here. Time. But I still wanted to say something:

One of *the* greatest things about DPC is its user community and the willingness people have to share their knowledge (often for the umpteenth time) with others. And although, at it's heart, it is a "competition" site, the community and the forums help making it a friends-helping-friends site much more than a cut-throat-winner-takes-all site.

I spend far too much time here. But I do it because of the community. Sometimes I'm on the receiving end of help. Sometimes I'm on the giving end. Sometimes it's just a friendly joke or story here and there. But it's the community that keeps bringing me back.


05/22/2008 03:12:58 PM · #23
Thank you dwterry,

I think my greatest mistake five years ago, was focusing only on trying to get a blue ribbon, and not really taking a part in the community other than topics specific to the challenge. Having come back, with a new camera and a new desire to capture and show the world around me, my photos still suck, however I feel better, because I am no longer trying to beat everyone. And every time I can answer someones question or share an alternate viewpoint I feel even better still.
05/22/2008 03:14:02 PM · #24
I respond to as many threads as I can.

...oh, you said "help" - nevermind.
 05/22/2008 03:46:28 PM · #25
I answer when I'm as close to 100% sure of the factual correctness of my answer as I can be (note that I don't answer often). If it's a question that requests an opinion, I answer if the subject interests me. If I'm reading it, I have the time to answer. The person asking doesn't matter to me.
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