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For many of the questions that have been posted, if I do a quick Google search, a relevant Grammar Girl article with a nice, long, in-depth explanation is one of the top results. Is there something we should do about that?

Also, it seems this resource would be helpful as well to many potential questions.

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    480 articles since Sep'2006? If it were a beta at SE, it would have been closed due to inactivity. :) Good articles, though. Jan 27, 2013 at 6:08

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Well, first off, we can't really do anything about Grammar Girl. At least, we shouldn't.

Beyond that... If this site isn't improving on what's already generally available on The Internet, you should probably question its reason to exist.

During the private beta, strive to focus on questions that aren't well-answered elsewhere, or where you can clearly demonstrate both the need and the ability of the folks here to provide something both novel and useful. Long-term, this is somewhat less important, but it's still a good idea to remain aware of what else is out there.

And if nothing else, adding a link to a useful, relevant off-site article when composing an answer to a question can help folks who are learning find other resources to aid them in their quest.

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Whoever is asking the question should be doing that Google search first. If one of Grammar Girl's posts is among the first results displayed, and Grammar Girl explains the issue in a very understandable way, then the question probably shouldn't be asked here. We shouldn't be Grammar Girl's middleman.

People in the community shouldn't be asking questions for the sake of asking questions (or, even worse, for an opportunity to earn rep points). The key phrase – highlighted in the FAQ – is "based on actual problems you face." If Grammar Girl can answer a question just fine, and that post is easily found, then the O.P. no longer has a problem.

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    +1. Couldn't agree more!
    – Mohit
    Jan 26, 2013 at 19:56
  • I've never heard of something called Grammar Girl (I'm going to check it out of curiosity), but I agree with what you've said completely. I find it ridiculous that time and energies are wasted for "fake" questions...
    – Paola
    Jan 26, 2013 at 21:57
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    -1: I was sooo with you until this: "asking questions for the sake of asking questions (or, even worse, for an opportunity to earn rep points)". (1) During private beta, we all ask questions to seed the site. (2) Answering your own Q is accepted and encouraged. When asking Q, there is a checkbox to post Q+A at the same time. Obviously, you do have an answer at the moment of asking, and it is not "an actual problem you face". And finally, (3) why do we do it? For reputation. I did not say, "reputation points". Appreciation is often a measureless thing. Jan 27, 2013 at 6:50
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    @bytebuster: I agree that my answer is perhaps more applicable after the site has reached a steady state than during beta, when we are trying to demonstrate the usefulness and viability of the site. My answer was written looking more long-term. As for being able to answer your own question, I think that's fine, so long as the question would likely be a true poser or stumper for those who frequent ELL. On the other hand, if I frame some question that's easily answered with the first Google query that comes to mind, but ask/answer it anyway, I think that clutters the site, more than helps it.
    – J.R. Mod
    Jan 27, 2013 at 8:40

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