How has Yahoo! Answers impacted your life?

Question

Yahoo! Answers US is celebrating its second year this December, and we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on how it has impacted each of us. We'd like to share some of these stories with you, and also hear how this question-and-answer community has impacted your life.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I have found a hidden talent I never knew I had. I am able to embrace and encourage this new talent within myself whenever I begin a session in Yahoo!Answers. I have a better opinion of my tolerance for others and the opinions that we all have. I am amazed at the amount of empathy within me that I never knew was there. I am astounded by the over abundance of all the different things that I know absolutely NOTHING ABOUT!! This makes me humble and open to new ideas and concepts, giving me a better outlook on the world around me every time I log onto this site. I am confident of my writing abilities and my delivery of a thought or idea to others in a manner that is easily understood and entertaining to read. I use this new self confidence in my every day life, and have found myself engaging with my peers alot more and seeking out more conversations with strangers without my old reservations. I am a good person who can be honest when asked my opinion, when I used to be a passive aggressive, yes man, who feared conflict ,and worse, feared criticism from others. Now, I engage in healthy conflict and resolution without all the insecurity I used to have. This site offers advise, validation, and even cold hard truth, when no one else in your life can. I enjoy the safety this site ensures when you are practicing the act of being blatantly honest to perfect strangers, allowing you to let down your guard and truly explore your inner thoughts and express them, out loud, and sharing those thoughts with other people, sometimes for the very first time. I could then discover how small I am, yet how valued my small little opinion can be. This gave me insight into my stability in my relationships intimately and superfluously . Whenever I am stumped as to what to do, or how to act,or what to say...i just log onto this site and release my inhibitions and air out confusing stresses. Thank you, for all of my new discoveries about me, about the people of this world, and about the power of knowledge.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

We appreciated all the answers, and we thank you for taking the time to reflect on Answers' first two years. We loved the honesty and self-reflection in this answer and found it incredibly inspiring. Thanks again for making Answers the vibrant community it is today.

Answer 2

I have really enjoyed it, I have learned some things, and I have met some great people.

Answer 3

Thank you for asking, Yamster.

I have not been a participant for 2 years, but I can say it has become a great impact in my life for the short time I have been around helping Members and getting great answers for my burning questions.

Though Yahoo! Answers Community is great, it can be very frustrating for those who embrace their account, questions and answers to have their account suspended or terminated for unnecessary reasons.

Take care and I look forward in seeing the Community Moderation change to better.

Answer from Dad.

Answer 4

It is a very big part of my life. Let me explain it in detail. I am 62 year old, handicapped and don't get out of the house much any more. I am a Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Patient since May of 1996. I also have arthritis and Gout in my joints making it hard to type, etc. The computer and the Internet are my eyes to the outside world. I joined this great site July 8th, 2007 and have met many great friends from all over the world. I love the interaction with everyone, answering questions and giving advice to all that ask for it. I would do all of it without receiving any points. The points are just the icing on the cake. I am on the site from 8am to 8pm almost every day. I am honored and thankful to your great staff for such a great community. Please keep 360 as it is a good add-on to this community. Thank You!

Answer 5

It has taught me how to ask questions without getting violations yet that has not worked lately.

I have meet a great group of people that I have never would have meet before so I have that to thanks.

Answer 6

It's not addicting, but actually pretty fun at times. It has not impacted my life however, but it is a great positive way of expressing ourselves and getting things off of our chest that we would not ordinarily be able to do. Sharing, caring, reaching out to strangers is kind of therapuetic for me and I also get a great laugh from some of my contacts and others. I love it when I get a "Best Answer", it's kind of a treat, and also rating others can be enjoyable. To internet 'speak' with these people out in the world is truly a magnificent thing.
The only bad thing I have to say about Yahoo Answers is that it does not work completely well, in that questions get deleted for no apparant reason, the trolls are a pain in the *** and violations are given out too much for silly things. Other than that, good job you guys and gals who created this space for us and thanks for giving us something to look forward to in our crazy lives. Happy 2nd Birthday, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Angel♥

Answer 7

Yahoo! Answers has provided me a means of sharing my knowledge and helping others. I enjoy helping out, and in doing so I also learn a great deal. That old saying, "the teacher learns the most", is so true. While I attempt to provide the most accurate response, I use the Online research tools available to me, and this helps me cement what I know to new heights. While I may have 100% understanding of much of what I offer here, in some areas looking it up helps me go to a deeper degree of understanding, and really helps me out too.

In addition to all of this, and perhaps because of it, Yahoo! Answers can be very addictive! It is fun, engaging, and very entertaining.

I often see abuses here, individuals who put others down by making cruel statements. I also see a individuals who refuse to consider other peoples viewpoints, experiances in life, and belief systems. This makes me feel sad, but I also understand that in any community there will be those malcontent who feel a need to spread their own misery onto others. There is also a lot of low self esteem within these individuals, and I try to tell victims of these people not to take it personally, that it has nothing to do with them as an individual, and if it weren't them who was targeted it would be somebody else.

I see a great deal of diversity here and I enjoy this a great deal. When people are unable to get out and about much coming to Yahoo! Answers communtiy is a great way of meeting new people and sharing experiances.

The major way Yahoo! Answers has impacted my life has been to allow a middle aged disabled housebound woman to meet new people while sharing what she knows. Sharing not only technical exact imformation such as how to clean up a hard disk, make it work one last time in order to recover data, but also life experiances which are just as valuable.

Answer 8

It is good in the way which you can ask questions which you cannot find information for anywhere else on the web, or you cannot be bothered to search online. It is also good for meeting new people, and you feel good when you have helped people with their questions.

But I do not think Yahoo Answers should be a place for little kids needing help with their maths homework, for they are not learning anything, and they need to work things out for themselves.

Answer 9

It takes away the boredom most of the time

Answer 10

its fun and i must say, i gt addicted it, it make life allot easier, i got great answers to most of my questions and i've made allot of friends, i really thank u for making Y!A it helped me sooo much in my life, and its a great way to waste the day, usually because i have nothing to do on the computer. thanx again for Y!A

Source(s):

Aussie

Answer 11

I have found good friends, good times and good advice. I only wish you would lighten up on that chatting thing. Some of my best advice came from deleted profiles and answers.

Answer 12

I grew 2" taller, lost 30 lbs., grew long luscious hair, my teeth became whiter, and I no longer have bad breath OR type with a lisp -- all since I joined Yahoo Answers! It's truly a blessing!

Amen, let's eat!

Answer 13

Answers has helped me in the process of buying an engagement ring for my girlfriend as I received a lot of advice about temporary vs permanent settings and what type of cut/color/clarity/carat I should be getting. It confirmed the type of ring that I wanted to buy....thankfully, she said yes so I can attribute my engagement partly to Yahoo! Answers.

Answer 14

I like YA very much and spend a lot of time answering and trying to help people.. I made a lot of friends here and I've also learned a lot of new things

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Answer 15

yes, a lot of sleepless nights, initially

Answer 16

Maybe a more appropriate question would be, How has Yahoo! Answers not impacted my life? :)

I learned that when you can't find something online no matter how hard you search, there's still a way. I learned that when you're feeling down and need help figuring things out, there will always be someone there if you're just willing to reach out.

Most importantly, Yahoo! Answers has taught me that even if you have interests that seemingly don't go together at all, it's still not hard to find someone with those same interests most of the time. I've met some very interesting people through Yahoo! Answers, and have made some great friends.

While learning from other people's experiences is great, experiencing things on your own is so much more more. Since I joined the Yahoo! Answers team last summer, I've moved out to California. I've made friends with many fellow Yahoos, who have introduced me to all kinds of new food. I even got to travel to Montreal once, and had some poutine. And one evening my home was shaking, and I finally learned what an earthquake felt like.

But the easiest thing to note without looking too deep is how Yahoo! Answers has impacted my fashsion sense. I hardly go a day without wearing something that says Yahoo! or Yahoo! Answers on it, and my cube is decorated with many Yahoo! Answers smileys and a few Yamsters too. :-D

Answer 17

want to know answers' impact on me?
then sit back, relax, and get some tea.

want an opinion on some good food?
or how to be in a better mood?
or maybe you want to know where to go,
to quickly escape storms of snow?
or how to be good and impress,
the ladies with the way you dress.

there's no need in shame to hide,
on answers, people from everywhere collide,
anonymous questions i can ask,
getting answers is an easy task,
about all matters of life,
and how to deal with typical strife,
a nice place to know what people think,
talk about anything and the kitchen sink.

so happy birthday to the site,
that makes me fly with knowledge like a kite,
answers answers i dare say,
you impacted the life of many today.

Answer 18

I spend most of my free time on YA. It is a good feeling to know that we are actually interacting with other people around the world through this forum. Furthermore, on my free time, i know that i am just home sitting safely answering questions and dont have to worry about i will spend if i decide to go out instead.

It is good to help others, gather opinion of others in comparison to mine.

Answer 19

Yahoo! is an awesome place to get everything you need. From the excellent email application to their Answers service, the corporation has demonstrated that they can come up with stuff we, the users, can count on.

Basically, Answers is an excellent tool to get other's point of view on one's problem. What's better is that most of the internet has not being corrupted or controlled as it is with TV and the newspaper. Here, we can get ideas, opinions, and sometimes a glimpse of reality that pumps us up to become better or to help us adapt and enhance our lives. That's how it really impacted, impacts, and will impact mine, and many of other's lives.

Thank you!

Source(s):

Me.

Answer 20

I now need Yahoo Answers anonymous! This is the most addicting site ever!!

Answer 21

Y!A gave me a purpose to extend the hand of shared knowledge and has helped in keeping me sober.

Answer 22

Thru answers i am able to put things out for others opinions to aid in my decsions without involving the feeelings of people close to me so noone gets hurt. I love it plus its fun

Source(s):

everday on yahoo

Answer 23

I have been using yahoo for over 25 years, it is the best e-mail on the market. Thanks for being here Yahoo!

Answer 24

Wow! Has it ever. I find myself trying to help people, I probably spend wayyyyy to much time looking at the questions and trying to formulate and research an intelligent answer.

In the end it's absolutely an awesome feeling when my hard work is rewarded with a best answer and a nice comment from the questioner.

Along the way I've been chosen as a Featured User, a honor for which I was humbled and proud (although the wife didn't see the big deal!) And I've worn the badge of top contributor for Golf....which is the forum where I spend the majority of my time.

So yes, it has impacted my life in a positive way, despite the frusterations of working on an excellent answer and not getting chosen as 'best', it's still worth it to try!

EDIT:

I noticed I've been here since the beginning, I joined 12-14-2005!! Just celebrated my two year anniversary too :)

Source(s):

http://blogs.botw.org/cachedblogpost.asp…

Answer 25

It has impacted my life greatly as I have met the love of my life right here! Thanks,Y!A!

Answer 26

I’ve had the opportunity to work on Answers from the very beginning, and over the past two years, I’ve seen it grow into an amazingly large and exciting place to visit. Clearly, there was a need for something like this and millions of people are getting the answers they need everyday!

On a technical side, there isn’t a work day that goes by where I’m not searching the site for some quality Q&A to feature on the Answers homepage, blog about, or highlight in other areas of the Yahoo! Network. I especially enjoy it when I see someone get the exact answer they were looking for and I can share that with others.

On a personal side, I’ve become a better cook by trying out easy-to-cook recipes offered by the community. And I’m more in tune with environmental issues as I peruse Green Living and Conservation Q&A. I’m expanding my knowledge in a few areas close to my heart, like History, Country Music, and all things Home & Garden-related, where I spend way too much time researching answers to give questioners the perfect responses to their tough inquiries.

While these aren’t huge impacts on my life, they are small ones that make certain areas a little easier for me.

Answer 27

im adict to this place.
wen i see this place, i think this place is nice because isnt as easie visit websites like this.

Answer 28

It's taken over my Life- Can I have my Life back please Mr. Yamster!!

Answer 29

greetings,
its a great stress-buster! your on it as long as you want to be;you ask or answer in whatever catagory of your own choice;you get several solutions to try;you're helping others with problems , etc. i could go on and on.

my favorite use for this an opportunity to evanglize and secondly to help animals!!!

Source(s):

myself. these are just some of the ways i enjoy using Yahoo Answers.GOD please Bless all who read this.

Answer 30

It has helped me with my advice giving skills a lot. I almost always go in the "friends" section and answer people's questions about how to stop being mad at their friends and how to make their friends stop being mad at them, ect. It has helped me waste a lot of time as well. Allthough the advice given is usually not as detailed and caring as I'd like, it is still fun to ask questions. Keep up the good work!

Answer 31

It is always there if I need to ask a question. That is a great impact in itself!