A way to re-organize Linden Answers?

Considering the overwhelming and increasing volume of unanswered questions in this forum, and the amount of animosity that unanswered questions create, perhaps Linden Answers should take a page from Dear Abby, Ann Landers, and other advice columnists.

Dear Abby gets FAR more letters than can possibly be answered in the paper. As with Linden Lab, Abby screens all the incoming mail, then chooses which to reply to. Hopefully, in both cases, each letter still does get read, even if no one replies. But the public doesn't see Abby's in-tray for her mail...

Given that it appears you can not possibly keep up with answering every single valid post to Linden Answers, perhaps you would be better off to make a blind "mail drop", where concerned residents can leave posts for the Linden Answers assigned staff person to review. Those posts that the staff feel they can answer, and which represent concerns applicable to the widest range of the community can get answered in a public, read-only forum, like an FAQ.

Dialog isn't even coming close to happening now. So admit you are incapable of doing a dialog with two million residents, and only post questions and replies to what you feel capable of answering. Yes, that means that for most of us, our unanswered letters will seem to "go straight into the Bit Bucket". But that is already how you handle abuse reports and most other resident communications. So why hold up a false hope that any reasonable question posted to Linden Answers will get a reply, when you know it won't?

Thanks for the suggestion Ceera. Both Robin and Andrew have posted in the past indicating an inability to address every question in a timely manner at current. We are looking at workable solutions, but perhaps you're onto a stopgap. I'll definitely bring it up to the community team

I think this is the way we'll have to go. The next challenge is coming up with the best way to filter the questions. What do you think about creating a section in the knowledge base for the answers so that they become institutional knowledge that's more easily searched (keep in mind we're upgrading the KB software next quarter)?

Moving this so we can have additional discussion.

Hi Blue, Robin,

I think that expanding on the knowledge base would certainly help. The largest problem is that the information there rapidly becomes obsolete, as revised releases change how SL works.

Still, even if all you do is to establish a more in-depth FAQ, it certainly would be useful.

As a first step, how about establishing a "mail bin", where requests for answers can be sent? The individuals assigned each week to answering questions can then sort through the incoming e-mails, and respond to them, either in the Forums, or in the Blog. Questions that get answered could be categorized and added to the knowledge base, where appropriate.

Another issue that LL really needs to address is how they should be contacted or respond for time-critical issues. I know I have had times where I really needed help, in person, from someone with more authority and permissions than I had at that time and place. Much has been said recently by various Lindens about making it more of a "community responsibility" to police proper behavior. Yet at the same time, we, as individuals, or even as land owners or sim owners, are powerless to sanction someone who simply should NOT be allowed access to SL - such as a minor who insists on frequenting XXX venues, or persistent groups of griefers, or a thief who is stealing land or L$ from others. I will certainly agree that many of the questions that crop up in Linden Answers, or which are asked of Live Help, are issues suitable for an FAQ or a knowledge base. But others are very much time critical, and can NOT be handled appropriately by anyone other than a Linden employee with authority to enforce the TOS.