Why Do People Get Upset When You Ask a Question Similar to Someone Else's?

What I always want to know is why people respond to a post when they clearly have not read the question in full. It drives me crazy.

Another vote for sucky search engine,

i don't mind you asking, although i will never answer another Could i be preggo question again. I might still make fun of them sometimes but all in good fun.

J. T,
I agree with you.First of all,children are all different when it comes to that subject,you may also have different issues then a previous parent.that aside,like the other mom said,"why take the time to write to you if its sooo old?Who are they to tell you what to ask?Captain Mammapedia?Dont sweat it.

I don't have the entire day and night to just sit on the computer and figure out all the ins and outs of Mamapedia. I say...if you see a question that is repetitive...don't click on it. Simple as that. And for those who get upset...let it ride. Some just like to try and flaunt their intelligence...by giving smart elick answers. Comes from their bordom of having nothing better to do but try and increase their creative writing skills but sitting on here all day. Ask what you want.

The search feature here is hopeless/sucky. I answer maybe 50 ADHD posts a year, and STILL it finds ones from 2007 but not this year??? And not all of yhem from 2007, either! Just random ones. No rhyme, reason, or organization. REALLY bad algorithms, that my 9yo could probably write better.

Sometimes, though, certain questions get/got asked 50 times a WEEK (am I pregnant?)... OR... There might be a similar Q with GREAT answers someone wants to refer you to. I do that periodically.

I have been on here for like 10 years and until last week when I asked how much to tip my dog groomer, it never occured to me to "search" to see if someone else asked it. I don't think I've ever searched anything and didn't even realize there was a way to do that! LOL! I'm a creature of habit, come on here, clear my flowers, and start going backwards from current until I get to where I left off last time and I'm caught up. So I never search before I ask a question. I mean, its MY question and MY situation so I just assume I will need MY own answers! =)

I dont think most of us use the "search" option on here, but it IS really good to use. I have found answers to many things by going there first.
For the most part I think a lot of us use this almost like a delayed chat room, and just want to hear our girls tell us something fresh.

When it's a question about weeing from the breast, bottle or paci, I think that's a good one to use the search for. Also questions about how to get you child to sleep through the night, that's another one that gets asked way too often. Zillions of answers are there to be looked at and then you don't have someone giving you a sarcastic answer if you dont have to post the question.

I HATE using the search bar on this site. If it listed previous posts in a chronological order, or popularity, maybe it would be better... but I know I tried to search something out once, and the top of the list had answers from 2007. I would MUCH rather hear answers people come up with NOW. People's opinions change through time. Besides that, a lot of times there is something specific to your question that is a pain to try to search. (Potty training a 5 year old who is scared of the potty vs potty training a 5 year old who just doesn't want to...)

If I want to search it out on my own, I would use Google, not Mamapedia...

My thinking is, that if you don't like seeing the repeats... don't answer. Let the moms who want to go for it.

For the record: I liked mamasource's search engine just fine. No problems. When it became mamapedia, it......bites. I can't stand it.
I like it when someone says "this has been asked before" and adds a link to it so you can see the answers. How great, and helpful, is that? Awesome. But for someone to not give an answer or link, I agree is lame.

under the word mamapedia is a search bar.
I dont get upset when people ask the same question, but I dont like repeating myself! lol There are some topics that are asked so often that after you've answered it 15 or 20 times, you just don't care to retype it! Therefore people could be missing out on some great advice. It's easier to suggest someone search it. That doesn't have to mean anyone was irritated. They were just telling you "there is a wealth of info, more than I can write here that you can find on the subject". Usually rather than telling someone to go search, I'll paste a recent link that I answered hoping the answer they need is there. You might be taking it as someone being irritated, when they are actually trying to be helpful.

I've already answered why I don't like answering...sheesh people. :)

Psst - another little hidden thing about MP - see the blue underlined phrase in your question - it links to everything under that topic. :)

I don't take the time to search either, plus just because someone else had a question about potty training, doesn't mean it applies to your situation as well. If I see the same question too many times, I just don't answer it anymore, unless I have something really valuable to add.

When you write your message, you should be prompted to pick a topic and subtopic and/or age group or something to make searching easier. I'd probably use it if I could search for a 3 yo and potty training, instead of getting over 7k articles when I hit the blue "potty training" link above.

I don't get it either. I also don't understand why some people can get as nasty as they do. Why some people feel the need to try and personally attack the person who wrote a question/ statement they didn't agree with. I've never used the search bar and probably never will. I also only read the first few questions that pop up unless I'm kinda bored. I use to get a daily email with recent questions and those were the only ones I read. It was awhile before I realized you could see more than that. Like Momto1andahalf said I also don't like when people don't read the question in full.

No clue.
The search feature stinks, that's for sure.
Kind of like when people write paragraphs about how they couldn't possibly get through someone's entire post, so they can't offer help....duh...why respond at all, right?
I mean, maybe someone that sees it feels compelled to tip you off that there was a similar question asked recently and with a little looking for it, you might find some answers that someone doesn't feel like typing out again?

I don't think people get annoyed, but some questions are asked SOOOO much, that it's just silly to have to answer them every other day. I don't click on potty training questions any more. I also don't click on 'Could I be pregnant?' questions any more. I don't click on 'Getting rid of paci', 'What to do at Sea World', or 'What to do at Disney World'. Some are just asked SO much. That doesn't mean I'm annoyed. I might point it out to a poster because maybe they don't know there's a search bar.

That said, I hate using the search bar. It would be one thing if it listed results in chronological order, but it doesn't. But if it's an over-asked topic, I use it.

I don't get annoyed at the person who posts, but I figure the poster might be missing some great answers to the question by not seeing if it's been asked already. And sometimes the same topic comes up several times in a week or several times in a month. Especially if it's a fairly basic question, it seems like asking yet another time would mean fewer responses. If someone wants the best responses, it might help that person to search first, since the first tiime a question gets asked is the time when it will be new and people will be most interested and engaged when answering it.

I know exactly what you mean J.! I get that on other forums as well. I would just ignore it or as you just stated that you want fresh answers.

I don't get it either. IMO, it means that those negative people spend way too much time on here, to even notice something like that.

There are different posters with different experiences on different days. Also, people might want want updated/current information or a fresh perspective.

I have said that before! Really, I'm not annoyed. I say it, because there might be even more helpful answers on the other posts. If I remember the previous question having particularly good answers, I'll mention that question. I figure the more answers you have, the best chance of getting good information.

I wouldn't take something like that personally...

Who knows maybe they need something to complain about that day. If they want to share the sam info with you they shared with someone else previously all they have to do is cut copy and paste thier answer to you, they dont have to be nasty.

It's just because a lot of us are on here every single day and it gets tiresome giving nearly identical answers, when you could scroll back a few pages or search and find the same information. They always seem to be the exact same ones..could I be pregnant, which car seat is best, potty training, ear infections...I seriously thought that I wished I could permanently copy and have ready to paste my answers to those questions, since there aren't many variables that would change my responses. It probably takes longer to find, copy, and paste my old answers than it does to search for similar questions.

I completely agree that the title of the questions needs to say what it's about so we know whether or not we can help without opening it! Not just "need advice" or need help from moms"..don't we all need those things? Be more specific people :)

I agree with Casey. The search only gets you so far and doesn't always include the most recent posts. Yet it's hard to scroll through a days worth or posts to see what's already been asked. If someone notices it's nice if they link to the post but to tell you to search isn't always the most constructive advice with the limitations of the site and Internet.

I don't know why people get upset about it. I don't even know how to search on this website for other questions similar. To me if they don't want to answer a similar one don't do it!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think people are necessarily annoyed. They probably just don't want to type everything all over again so they point you to the posts that have happened before.

I have seen this too. Plus, recent questions don't show up in the search. Some people don't even put the question in the title.