What's up with the generic replies on the official Windows help forums

[adawe]

What's up with the generic replies on the official Windows help forums (http://answers.microsoft.com) by supposedly, dedicated community members?

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ee?msgId=98db46a5-d1bb-4ba2-b864-99c01d3229cb
For example in that post, the posters asking a specific question regarding Microsoft narrators ability to have custom voices. The first answer simply post a very generic introduction to what Microsoft narrator is, and doesn't even remotely address the posters concern.

I have seen quite a few of these answers from supposedly "community stars" and "Microsoft MVPs". These answers are all very generic look like they were copy and paste and fails to even remotely address the original question being asked.

So what's really going on here? Are these people just trying to answer a ton of questions as quickly as possible in hopes of some of them garnishing them some "thumbs up "so that they can increase their reputation perhaps to put on their resume when applying for jobs in the IT field?

 

[TrainableMan]

Dear fill in name here,

First and foremost, we have no affiliation with Microsoft Forums so you might be best to ask your question there.

But if I were to pose a guess, just based on the questions we see here, 95% or more have been asked before and it seems like people just never run a search to look for an answer before they post; because of this many helpers maintain a database of replies for common questions and then we simply copy and paste. What is important is that the question was understood and the answer be accurate.

If this has answered you question satisfactorily, fill in name here, then please click the Thanks button under my post.

 

[Liam W]

What's up with the generic replies on the official Windows help forums (http://answers.microsoft.com) by supposedly, dedicated community members?

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ee?msgId=98db46a5-d1bb-4ba2-b864-99c01d3229cb
For example in that post, the posters asking a specific question regarding Microsoft narrators ability to have custom voices. The first answer simply post a very generic introduction to what Microsoft narrator is, and doesn't even remotely address the posters concern.

I have seen quite a few of these answers from supposedly "community stars" and "Microsoft MVPs". These answers are all very generic look like they were copy and paste and fails to even remotely address the original question being asked.

So what's really going on here? Are these people just trying to answer a ton of questions as quickly as possible in hopes of some of them garnishing them some "thumbs up "so that they can increase their reputation perhaps to put on their resume when applying for jobs in the IT field?

Macros (or canned replies depending on what you call them) are useful when used correctly

However, in this case they really aren't useful, and people just use them to quickly answer as much questions as possible without actually caring about the asker's issue.

I'm a Super User on the Spotify Community, and I use multiple macros, but they're only links or something else. I always personalise them, and I always type out a reply - like I said, macros are for links only

Liam

 

[adawe]

The Windows help forums are very haphazard 50/50 chances of getting a good answer. I love sites like stack exchange., Although sometimes the moderation gets heavy-handed and close good questions.

 

[Liam W]

The Windows help forums are very haphazard 50/50 chances of getting a good answer. I love sites like stack exchange., Although sometimes the moderation gets heavy-handed and close good questions.

I like stake exchange, you just need to know which questions are going to be deleted. Most newbies don't know that a question isn't a good fit for the network.

Source: I'm a member of a stack exchange site with more than 5k rep

Also, to be on topic, I've never really used the Windows help forums.