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Is it acceptable to ask questions one knows the answer in order to animate site, which is in beta phase?

Asking a question you know the answer may sound a bit weird, but there are some trivial questions, which can drive new users from search engines. There is also some propability of non-trivial answer to trivial question, which makes the asker to learn something more to the topic...

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Be careful about cracking open the text books and seeding the site with questions that been asked on every other site on the subject. This isn't a trial, demonstration, nor a "call for questions" just to shore up your numbers. This is your actual site.

Please ask about problems you actually have.

Asking the First Questions

When users are suddenly put on the spot to "come up with questions", they typically post the conspicuously-boring questions that have been asked on ever other site on the subject. Ask actual questions about problems you really have. That's what will bring experts to your site.

The questions you ask now will set the tone and topic for a long time to come. Try not to "seed" your site too much or the whole thing is going to start to look staid and forced. That will not make for an interesting site.

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  • While I agree that extremely common and mundane questions should not overwhelm the site, this recent blog post says we should "ask" questions that we already know the answer to. I think generally - as well as with this push from the powers that be - that some questions are right to put up in this fashion.
    – Gaffi
    Jun 12, 2012 at 4:11
  • @Gaffi The intended use case for self-answered questions is writing canonical answers to questions which keep getting asked over and over — blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/01/…. I like 'Isaac' comments to the blog post you linked. " ... otherwise, you end up with 'questions' that are really just placeholders to set up the answer, and you’ve lost the value of the Q&A format, which is that people who have a similar question are more likely to find what they are looking for." meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/307/409 Jun 12, 2012 at 13:23
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Absolutely. The point of the beta is to build the site and demonstrate what the 'full version' would be like. If you have a question that could conceivably be asked (whether you know the answer or not) and is applicable to the site, then it should be asked.

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