I was trying to explain how to ask a good question to my nephew and totally failed.

We were at my kitchen table last month, and he was stuck on a school project. I told him to just 'ask anything' online for help. He typed 'help me' in a forum and got zero replies. I realized I never taught him the key part: you have to give the details. I said, 'Tell them the project is about local bridges, you're in 8th grade, and you need three sources by Friday.' His next post got five answers in an hour. How do you guys explain this to people without sounding like a teacher?

3 comments

3 Comments

jasonallen26d ago

What's the worst question you've ever seen online?

kelly38526d ago

Oh man, "worst question online" makes me think of those super obvious ones people could just google in two seconds. I saw someone in a cooking group ask "how do I boil water" with complete seriousness. Another time, a guy on a car forum asked if he could use vegetable oil instead of engine oil. It's wild what people will post instead of doing a quick search.

dakota41526d ago

Seriously, vegetable oil in an engine? That's a new level, @jasonallen. Some people just don't think before they post. It's like they want to wreck their car on purpose.