I wouldn't say so. I would say asking and answering questions is what it is dedicated to. The socializing and opinionated banter sort of creeps in the edges.

No i don't, I like asking and answering questions. It is a good place to learn alot that i don't know.

I think that's been going on all along, it just kind of floats around the site in various sections as a natural process.. There are the serious answer-seeking questions and there are the contentious opinion-bating questions and they're pretty easy to tell apart. Individual users will find what they need. The whole personal grudges thing kind of needs to be handled, though. It doesn't fit the site and is disruptive.

AB faces the problem all the ranked organizations face, the strongest the top of the pyramid gets the less motivated new comers are. Yes, I think we might start seeing a bias on opinion since we are not diversified enough and many questions don't tend to increase knowledge but strength the corpus.

I wish the site offered an "ignore" feature so that if you feel someone is deliberately antagonizing you and you both are frequent posters... you have the option to ignore/not see/not be drawn in by any posts/comments from that person. I think unless you are in a bad/negative mood .. the majority can ignore those they do not wish to communicate with on their own. Some posters want to make your differing of opinion into a debate to push why their opinion is "right" instead of allowing room for individual opinions. Ignoring someone bent on getting a rise out of you is the best way to solve a problem and prevent more problems from arising. I do not think it is a place to get emotionally involved but I see some that do and think an ignore feature would help them and others. - MOO

I do, and I think if it continues to get any sillier and the questions AB'ers come up with get any more insipid and subjective/personal, that AB's original purpose will go down hill. When people come here to see what questions are asked and how they are answered, they might just go to Yahoo or elsewhere. Everyone, especially those in the higher rank levels, know damned well that they can "pepper the board" with alot of questions that are totally of no consequence to the masses, but they will gather points for them, either by the question or in a spin off answer. Seriously, look at some of the questions AB people have asked in the past week or days! Some of them are very close to the kinds of questions we (when I was here) saw and didn't like answering, or thought were a bunch of kids playing around because they were so insignificant. "Who has the coolest hair as a actor?" "Who is the sexiest guy on TV today?" Chitt like that. And the people who ask those questions are people strangers to this site are supposed to trust with serious questions about love, abortion, pregnancy, health, suicide, death and feelings about others topics? Do as you all wish, but I am going to look again, (just for a laugh) at what AB staff states is the purpose of AB. I am sure they won't censor anyone unless they are terribly inappropriate or abusive in their questions. But I also think they aspired to a little higher level of questions, and did not want the whole rank system to be for many, an excuse to think up and post any question that pops into their mind to get points. And we all know what kinds of questions they are. I truly like many of you! I just don't like what some are doing with AB to wile away the hours or "move up in the ranks." It doesn't honor the intelligence and knowledge I know many of you obviously have, for one thing. Have fun with your non social, non banter. Goodbye, again. JOG

I wouldn't say dedicated, but there is a fair amount of users who seem to use this site for much more than it was intended. A clique, even if it is not intended to be elitist, can come across that way to new folk and is definitely evident here. Some of the social "comment tennis" becomes off-putting, epecially when you read comments that are only decipherable by the two/three people "chatting". Perhaps the site owner will develop a chat forum for this purpose and then we can choose what we want to visit. As it is now, I am not keen to stay on here as much as I have done or would like, for a few reasons.

Hey, there's plenty here for everybody. if you don't like a question, don't answer it. You can still ask stuff like, "Who was the first president of the U.S.?" and get the right answer, and if you want to socialize you can do that too. Awesome site, I think.

I do and I think it is utterly ridiculous. I do think (as was asked in another question) that it is good to have lighthearted questions. I also believe that some of the personal questions are okay--it's fun to learn about other AB Users. JOG nailed it for the most part though. And how some of "look at me I'm witty!" answers that come nowhere near answering the question make it to the top is just beyond me. Why bother to give a serious answer since it won't get any points and points are THE single most important thing here (note the sarcasm). Forgive my rant, I just miss the good old days. Just take a look at the first few pages of New Questions. . . .enough said.

Since I was not here before I cannot say if it has changed at all. I certainly would not say that it involved socializing. I would say it just involves asking and answering questions when I have a break here and there during the day

You took the words right out of my head. Yes. Even some of the most innocent questions I've answered diplomatically and with kindness have had surprisingly negative feedback. There are many categories that I'm afraid to even make answer contributions in. So I go the "comments" route. I don't mind the lighthearted trivial questions as a change of pace. The ones that are subjective and request opinions are the real landmines...you never know what folks will write back and what emotions will erupt. Perhaps if ratings were labeled with the rater's nickname, things would even out and get more real?

Socialising yes. Opinionated banter, mmm, lots of opinions that is for sure, as well as lots of arguing and bitching between members.