Participation required, why do only a few people answer threads?
I noticed that up to 150 members can read a question, yet only 4 or 5 answer it, mostly always the same. And out of all those not many actually vote for a good question or answer.
What's up with that people, shy, too busy, have nothing to say? In my opinion the more you participate in a community the more you get out of it...and that's the free gift. Everybody here is so friendly, the only risk you are taking by answering a question is to give the wrong answer and someone will politely give you the correct answer, yet another gift as you will go to bed having learned something.
So...vamos amigos y amigas...participation is a winner 
30 Answers
I've started threads and they would be buried five pages back within a few minutes. I've answered questions and a lot of times those threads would die and I would never know if the person was helped or not.
There's not much encouragment to participate in threads like that. There are some people here that ask one question after another and bombard the forum, so the other threads get pushed back a couple of pages in a matter of minutes.
This site is bombard with threads of simplistic questions that could be answered by either using the dictionary or the translator. Laziness.
I only refrain from answering a question when 1) I don't know the answer; or 2) someone has already given the answer and I have nothing new to add.
I, too, wonder why people don't vote more. It costs nothing to give your vote to a game or topic that interests you. Sometimes, I see a game that has 150 responses and gets only 9 votes. How is that possible?
Please people...vote more!!
To be honest, I don't answer more posts because a. I don't know the answer, or b. it's already been answered comprehensively and any more posts would be superfluous, (very like this post, as I'm just echoing what everyone else has already said!)
I'm also cripplingly shy when it comes to making mistakes, so if I'm unsure of anything I tend to wait for someone much more experienced that I to come along 
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Oh, and also, I'm frequently on here when I'm supposed to be revising and it makes me feel better if there's no evidence that I was being a procrastinator! 
It seems you are forgetting that many of us beginners that are reading the posts ( to get involved, to learn, to get a feel for a good post) are not allowed to vote. Pure and simple.
And when you say "4 or 5, mostly the same" the part about mostly the same is reinforcement for me - at this early stage I don't need to be any more confused than I am!
Fabulous site ... thank you all!
Can I mention that we should vote up more first time posts. No matter how inane or poorly worded the question (unless slanderous or inappropriate) the user deserves some encouragement to further participate in the forum. I think that we are fairly consistent with welcoming new members to the forum, but I think that if the person tried to participate in the forum we can, at least, not let him continue on with 0 reputation points.
Hi Frenchie,
I don't think it's necessary that all of us answer every single question; no need for that and it will only create confusion. I personally restrain myself from answering because I'm not very confident in my Spanish and I believe that wrong answer can be more misleading than no answer at all. But I do take part in almost all games and challenges.
I agree with the voting part, we should vote more generously.
Sometimes I look and don't reply because I think the question has been answered sufficiently already or I don't know the answer. Sometimes I don't reply because it's a topic I don't want to get involved in, but that doesn't happen very often.
I almost always chuck in a vote, and sometimes vote for more than one post - I don't know if that's ok or not!!
Fear of giving an answer that is incorrect or criticized by others.
I agree with you Frenchie that we need to vote more diligently for one another. Of course the rule is to vote for high quality questions and answers. But I see so many high quality threads and answers that receive minimal participation and few votes. I am always amazed when I see intelligent, useful threads opened that have only one or two votes. Some of these threads have tons of answers already. If a thread is worthy of so many answers, than I think the number of votes should be roughly the same. Members may vote an unlimited number of times each day. It takes very little energy to click "vote". It is very confusing to me why people don't vote more.
*I know there are the usual arguments that people are not interested in points, badges, etc. They are only here to learn. Well that is very true. I would say the majority of us are here because we want to improve our Spanish/English or to help others who are in that process. However, there are many things we all do each day, not looking for a reward. We take care of our families, do kind things for friends and even strangers on occasion. Although we are not doing these things for the reward of compliments, it is nice to occasionally receive that sort of feedback from others.
This is a community of people who are here to learn and help others learn. Wouldn't it be nice if we encouraged each other a bit more? This can be done through participation in threads, encouraging comments....and of course voting for each other.
I always vote for all answers .
I agree with quesito, it is best to vote good answers, the other way even wrong answers might be accepted.
And please also "accept" answers! Such few answers are accepted !!
A lot of the time I read the thread to learn, not to answer the original poster's question.
There is a thread here now, for example, about tocar vs. golpear especially as the two terms relate to knocking on a door. The responses were informative to me, and I learned something. But I had nothing to contribute by posting a response to that thread.
Seems to boil down to a mix of personality - am I an answerer or a reader and practicality - I don't answer if I have nothing more to say.
My question would be - does this forum exist simply to answer questions like "how do I translate elephant" -> "un elefante" - end of show - or does it provide us with an excuse to communicate with each other at the same time that we provide answers and help out?
Personally I lean a very long way to the latter. Apart from enjoying the interaction, I am convinced that the questioner will be more likely to remember the answer if I dress it up a little.
Gracias por aclarar este asunto, la verdad tenía la idea que hacía falta dar los votos con moderación (no sé de dónde mi vino esa idea) ¡pues ahora voy a volverme loca votando a gusto!
In answer to your query, I am often too late to add anything to what has already been given, especially if the answers are extremely comprehensive. Often, I add comments rather than opening another answer box. I probably don't take the time (and really, how much time does it take ) to vote, I'll try to do better on that.
Thank you all so much for your answers and opinions. First let me say that I do not vote for all answers but it was late when I put up my original post and I forgot to include the word "educative." To me voting is not intended to compete in a points race but rather to say, "thank you for taking time sharing your knowledge. Because of you I learned something and I appreciate it."
As for answering questions, should we (us beginners) even attempt to open our mouth (keyboard) and take the risk of making fools of ourselves? My position on this is YES. Where I am from they say, "ridiculous doesn't kill." If the subject is way over my head you will not see my name in the posts but if I know even a little part of the answer I will post. The worse that can happen is that someone will say "tss tss tss Frenchie, that's not it" and they will give the right answer. In term it will motivate me to learn it since I hate being wrong LOL.
Should we reply to questions already answered? Sometimes we can, if it adds to the subject/explanation, maybe to insert an anecdote or personal experience. Also I have taught college at some point and noticed that often it is beneficial to explain several times using different routes. In any case there is no punishment or blame for posting, so why not.
Finally can someone tell me what Accepting an answer does?
