When Replying To An Ab Post.......

[jd_1984]

Do you.....
Read the question and answer immediately?
Look at the question, the last answer and then answer?
Have a quick skim over previous answers and then answer?
Read the entire post, all responses then decide if your answer holds any merit and/or hasnt already been discussed so as to avoid repetition?

[hc4361]

Cut in half and grill for five minutes each side.

[rockyracoon]

Depends, if it's chatterbank I usually just wade in, anywhere else I read question and answers properly, then decide if I want to poke my oik in. Doesn't always work out that way though, especially if there are a gazillion answers.

[AlwaysConfused]

Read the question, skim answers and hopefully avoid repetition. But I usually Cut in half and grill for five minutes each side.

[aelmpvw]

i always refresh before answering crossword questions to check for answers but someone invariably beats me to it

[grasscarp]

Read the question. See there are no answers. Press submit. Look now at the list of answers and see that there are now about five or six others have all answered at the same moment in the frenzy to help. (Turn off the grill)

[jd_1984]

Do you ever feel a responsibility to give correct info (if its an imporatant matter) rather than giving an opinion not factual based answer and then the OP acts on your advice. Or do we accept that this is the risk you take when asking strangers for help?

[ummmm]

depends on the question. If it's 'what are you having for dinner' I will answer before reading the other answers but I will go back and read them all (I love talking about food)

If it's a serious question I will read the answers and either give my own opinion or agree with someone else's.

[jackthehat]

Out of the confines of Chatterbank, where it often seems that the more off-topic the response the better.....any other question 'ought' to be answered sensibly with correct/factual/responsible/topical answers.

I usually read the previous responses to see if my answer has already been given.

[pusskin]

Agree with ummmm.

[joko]

depends on the question and how many answers there already are.
if its an opinion based answer then others responses are not relevant to check really anyway.

and if there are hundreds then it can be tedious to wade through

but also repeating an answer is fine - in fact, it is best if many people give similar answers because it means its more likely to be true or right.

i would never just take the answer of one person - id like many people to agree to confirm it.

i always find it amusing when someone gets arsey because other people give similar answers to them - as though just because they have spoken the question should end and no further input is needed... if people just wanted a single answer they may as well google.

personally i read and reread the question and try to consider what they are actually saying -
because it drives me mad when people respond who have clearly just scan-read the post and jumped in but have gone off on a wild tangent, and have totally misread or misunderstood the post - its very tedious to deal with someone who is convinced that their interpretation of a post is correct, even when you tell them otherwise.

[TheOtherHalf]

I always read all the answers first, usually to make sure Im understanding the questions correctly. Some questions are just too complicated for me. I like nice easy flowing posts and dont like getting into too much of a debate

[sue11]

Hi jd-1984, I always read through all the answers before I post anything. If there are lots of responses that I agree with, I will try to acknowledge this in my post.
Regarding how I answer, I will always try to make it clear how much actual knowledge I have of the subject I am answering, I would hate anyone to act on any advice/helpful suggestion I have given if it turned out to be wrong.
Like grasscarp and I am sure hundreds of others, I have thought I have been first to answer a question delighted that I can be of help and pressed submit, only to find that lots of people have been quicker off the mark than me!
I think it is because I tend to write novels when I answer questions rather than short snappy answers!
I also try to read through my answer thoroughly before posting to check for spelling and grammar etc, but still find mistakes after I have pressed submit, grrr!!