4 ms·

Is it weird to post the fake question and your own answer to the question at the same time? I havent had much luck in the overflow communities so I am unsure h

Is it weird to post the fake question and your own answer to the question at the same time? I havent had much luck in the overflow communities so I am unsure how common this is. Is it what most people do?

OwlsParlay 4y ago
If you know the answer and it's a valid question (i.e. it's not trivial or easily googled already), it's fine to do. The point is less to reputation farm as it is to share knowledge.
josephcsible 4y ago
There's nothing "fake" about self-answered questions, and Stack Exchange even includes UI specifically for posting an answer at the same time as your question.
- vanderZwan 4y ago
  I suppose the part where the writing structure is "question written as if by someone who does not know the answer themselves, answer written as if it's a different person", even when explicitly posting to share knowledge, is what throws people off. I assume this is part of the SO guidelines but I can't blame anyone for being confused by that.
  - rippercushions 4y ago
    SO allows multiple answers per question. I have on occasion asked something and given a crappy/hacky self-answer as a stopgap, with somebody else eventually chiming in with a much better one later.
  - quietbritishjim 4y ago
    There's nothing about the question or answer that suggests that they're different people. FWIW I've done the same, even more like that than the post here. (Not about Lego though!) I had a problem, was disappointed not to find the answer on StackOverflow so when I came to post the solution I put the question in the way I would have written it before I figured out the solution. Seemed more likely to be found by anyone with a similar problem.
unwind 4y ago
No, it's not weird. At least on Stack Overflow it's a common way of sharing knowledge. Source: been using SO quite intensely, have many reps.
megablast 4y ago
It is called a faq.

OwlsParlay 4y ago

If you know the answer and it's a valid question (i.e. it's not trivial or easily googled already), it's fine to do. The point is less to reputation farm as it is to share knowledge.

josephcsible 4y ago

There's nothing "fake" about self-answered questions, and Stack Exchange even includes UI specifically for posting an answer at the same time as your question.

vanderZwan 4y ago
I suppose the part where the writing structure is "question written as if by someone who does not know the answer themselves, answer written as if it's a different person", even when explicitly posting to share knowledge, is what throws people off. I assume this is part of the SO guidelines but I can't blame anyone for being confused by that.
- rippercushions 4y ago
  SO allows multiple answers per question. I have on occasion asked something and given a crappy/hacky self-answer as a stopgap, with somebody else eventually chiming in with a much better one later.
- quietbritishjim 4y ago
  There's nothing about the question or answer that suggests that they're different people. FWIW I've done the same, even more like that than the post here. (Not about Lego though!) I had a problem, was disappointed not to find the answer on StackOverflow so when I came to post the solution I put the question in the way I would have written it before I figured out the solution. Seemed more likely to be found by anyone with a similar problem.

unwind 4y ago

No, it's not weird. At least on Stack Overflow it's a common way of sharing knowledge. Source: been using SO quite intensely, have many reps.

megablast 4y ago

It is called a faq.