Answering your own requests

1. 79

   mroconnellposted 17 years ago

   Can you answer your own requests?  When you make a request, it immediately brings you to a screen with the prominently featured red button that says "answer this request". 
   
   It feels like abuse to make a request and answer it yourself, so I'm not doing it.  But I feel like there are cases where it might make sense.  If somebody asks for hubs that review sites where you can get free books, it is reasonable that they might make one hub as an example that features a couple free book sites.  Then everybody else can make hubs covering other sites.  Alternatively, if you make a request that nobody answers and you find the answer somewhere else in the world, you might come back a few days later and make a hub answering your own question.
   
   But again, it seems like it would be easy to abuse the self-promoting aspect of putting yourself on the request list (since it seems like request answers get a lot of traffic by virtue of being on the request page).
   
   Thoughts?

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   1. 79

      mroconnellposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Like it says right above:
      
      
      Or as Amy Jane puts it:
      
      
      Relache, one might ask "Why would you ever make a request if you can just build the hub on that subject in the first place?"  But I'm sure you've run into a situation where you ask about something nobody knows about and you find yourself learning a lot about it over time and *tada* Now you're the expert.
      
      Although I do like using "gauche" as a standard ;D

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2. 67

   relacheposted 17 years ago

   Don't you think that's sort of gauche?
   
   Why not just build a hub on the subject in the first place?

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3. 62

   amy janeposted 17 years ago

   I made a request a while back that was never answered. I needed the info, so I ended up researching the topic myself. I have not answered the request, but I will probably just write the hub anyway, without officially answering my own question. Seems silly I guess, to answer my own question.

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4. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 17 years ago

   I think relache is questioning why you would post a request if you already knew the answer, because posting the request wouldn't add much value.  It might get your Hub some attention from fellow Hubbers because they'll click on your Hub to see how you've answered - however Hubbers don't click on ads much, so that's not the traffic you really want.
   
   In fact, I could see posting a request being counter-productive, because it encourages several other people to write on a subject as well as you - which is just competition!
   
   Some people seem to think they get income from Hubs written in answer to their request, but that's not so.

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   1. 79

      mroconnellposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Without thinking too much, I found an instance where this might happen and I've repeated it above. 
      
      I repeat: you might put up a request about something you don't know.  Then, you might learn about the topic and suddenly have knowledge to contribute.
      
      I've written hubs that I know answer old requests so I go back and post them as answers to that request.  I feel like it's in the spirit of the system.  It's not just about getting conversion stats or traffic.  But is this so gauche that it's a bad idea?  Will it get your hub deleted as relache suggests may have already happened?

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5. 67

   relacheposted 17 years ago

   I've seen several hubs deleted because the person was just answering their own request, but I'm sure the Hub team can speak more to that.
   
   But it does happen...

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6. 68

   darksideposted 17 years ago

   I think that the most interesting point being raised is why, straight after posting the request, you get a button inviting you to "answer this request".
   
   It's sending out the wrong message. And causing confusion.

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   1. 79

      mroconnellposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Precisely!  I wouldn't have had the courage to even ask such a relatively silly question if the button wasn't the first thing I saw every time I made a request.  I guess the quick fix is just having it redirect to a page OTHER than your request page.

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7. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 17 years ago

   Good point darkside, very true.

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