Voting for best answers in the Undecided Voting Queue can be fun and rewarding, not only can it be fascinating to read other users answers and get to know Mahalo members, but you also get points for your votes.

One trend I have noticed recently is Mahaloians voting for really bad answers as “best answer” – I just want to remind you that you still get your points if you click the “No best answer” button.

No Best Answer

Sure, this means no answerer is rewarded with a tip, but to maintain the quality of Mahalo Answers we have to avoid rewarding those we feel do no deserve the reward. Sometimes its OK to vote for their effort, but I would only do so if you plan on leaving a comment and provide additional sources for the answerer.

We ask before voters vote we’d like you to consider how your voting effects the community as a whole. If a question is not rewarded “best answer” it goes away, it will not turn up in search engines, and will not show up on Mahalo pages. If a question receives a “best answer” it will represent Mahalo where ever it turns up. Mahalo has a great reputation for provide accurate and quality answers. The more bad answers get rewarded the more it dilutes the quality of Mahalo and perhaps our reputation down the road, which in turn could hurt all our earnings.

Sorry for the harsh, honest approach, but when I see inaccurate, un-sourced, short sentence answers being awarded best answer, I make it my duty to post these reminders.

Enter the Undecided queue and find some questions that you think might fall under the category of “No Best Answer” link to them as your answer here and we can discuss whether or not it deserves the “no best answer” vote.