

Don't ask your questions in private - emillon
https://chris-lamb.co.uk/posts/dont-ask-your-questions-in-private

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Turing_Machine
I always had this policy when I was teaching college classes.

Obviously, the rule didn't apply to personal problems (grade worries, student
(or family) illness), but if I got a generic question about an assignment in
email, I'd ask the student to repost it in the online forum for the class.

It worked very well -- it's a rare assignment question that only one student
is wondering about (whether they actually ask or not). It cut down on the
number of emails I had to answer, saved time for the other students (they were
supposed to check the forum before asking questions), and gave me a central
location to check when I was prepping/improving the course for the next
semester (rather than being buried in the Satanic depths of my email box, all
of the questions and clarifications for that particular course were collected
in one spot).

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The_Great_Gazoo
One reason why people ask questions in private is for fear of looking
incapable and dumb. It's not an entirely unfounded fear when you consider that
we're knowledge workers. Our worth and opportunities are heavily influenced by
how others perceive us.

Most people are probably aware of the benefits that others would get from
asking questions publicly. The people that are not aware may pick it up when
you publicly post the original question and answer yourself, e.g., "Someone
recently asked me how to make a perfect soft boiled egg. Here's how I go about
it."

