Yahoo Answers Safety Guide
Yahoo Answers is a diverse online community where you can ask questions and get answers from the worldwide community. From answers about how to be successful at business to sharing expertise around travel or cooking, people from all over the world come to share and learn from one another.
Basics of the Answers community
- Individuals 13 years and older are welcome to post on Answers.
- Everyone who shares on Answers needs to follow the Answers Community Guidelines and Yahoo Terms of Service.
You on Answers
Yahoo profile name: Your Yahoo Answers identity is associated with your Yahoo profile. By default, Yahoo uses the name you have listed in your Yahoo profile as the name associated with your Answers activity. Choosing a name without any personally identifiable information is a way to prevent unintentionally sharing personal information with people who you don't know. Since the nickname doesn't have to be unique, instead of something like "tedjones1992dallas," opt for something more generic, such as "BlueSky." You can select a nickname via the Yahoo Answers preferences page.
What you should know
What you post is public: All content posted on Answers is publically accessible. This includes questions and answers you post, and aspects of your Answers profile (depending on the settings you choose). So remember, share only personal information and details that you'd be comfortable having everybody knowing.
Your Answers network: With Yahoo Answers, you can build a network of people you trust. The ability to follow other profiles and have people follow you provides the community with an option to keep up with people whose advice is trusted. To follow someone, simply click the Follow button on the person's Yahoo Answers profile. Be selective about who you follow, and be sure the person is someone you can trust.
People can contact you directly: Answers has settings that allow others to follow your activity, email you directly via Yahoo Mail, and contact you by Yahoo Messenger. You can edit these settings and choose how the Answers community can connect with you through your Answers preferences. There are two options for direct communication:
- Can contact me via email: Community members can email you directly through Answers.
- Can contact me via Yahoo Messenger: Community members can contact you via Yahoo Messenger. Choosing this option will make your Yahoo Messenger ID and Yahoo ID public.
Your homepage is personalized: You're able to engage with the Yahoo Answers community through My Questions, My Answers, and My Network's Questions, all accessible on the Answers homepage.
- When you go to the Answers homepage, you will see the stream tabs under the profile banner. Streams default tabs include Everything, Recommended Recent, Popular, and My Questions.
- Find your Answers, your most popular questions, and comments all in one place by checking out My Activities.
Answers safety: best practices
Use privacy settings: Know how to choose the visibility of your questions, your answers, and who can follow you. You can also adjust how people can contact you and who can view your activity. Simply visit Answers preferences and check the appropriate box to select whether you want content visible by everyone, followers, or just you.
Report abuse: Help shape a better experience for everyone. If you are exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo Terms of Service or Yahoo Answers Community Guidelines, report the abuse by using the flag icon located in various locations of Yahoo Answers content. More information.
Block users: If another community member is annoying you or targeting you with communication you don't want, you can block the person. That person will lose access to your activity, including your question-and-answer history that may have been visible via your profile. The person also will no longer see the option to contact you via Yahoo Messenger or Yahoo Mail.
There are three ways to block someone:
- Move your cursor over the profile picture of the person you've chosen to block, and click Block.
- Go to the person's profile banner page, and click block. (If you're following that person, you'll first need to unfollow them.)
- Block someone after you've received a Yahoo Answers message from the person. To do this, follow the link in the person's email that points back to their profile page, and then click Block.
For more information about Yahoo Answers, visit Yahoo Help.