We need more answers!

Question

There are a lot of questions on this site that only have one answer attached to them. Although many questions may not neccessarily need more than one answer, I feel a lot of questions are left with only one either because the first answer was accepted by the OP, or everyone is of the opinion that the first answer wasn't wrong, so they feel it would be inconsiderate, or rude, or arrogant–or whatever–to provide their answer.

This isn't meant to be a first come-first served kind of network, it's an up-vote the best answers kind of network. A healthy site gets an average of 2.5 answers per question or more, and the best answers get voted up.

Just because an answer isn't wrong, or because it's good enough to be accepted, doesn't mean that it's the best answer out there. An accepted answer only means that it was the answer the OP liked, the community chooses what answer they think was best by giving it upvotes, and you can upvote more than one answer, but only if there's more than one answer provided for a question!

We've got a lot of users on this site from all over the world that all have some wisdom to offer so lets make the most of it and offer more answers to all of the good questions on this site that don't have enough, especially the questions that get a lot of views. More answers means more activity, which means more traffic, which means a healthier beta, and ultimately: graduation!

I don't want people to feel like toes are getting stepped on if they answer overtop of another answer, a lot of what is shared on this site isn't original thought, so just because something has been shared once doesn't mean someone can't come along and write up another answer that is more well written, with some illustrations or pictures and some references to good reading materials or online resources. I'm a strong proponent of making things better, and will often resist old answers of mine if I feel they can be improved upon.

Don't always be satisfied with the first answer, and give a question some time to generate a couple answers before accepting one. Lets make this site a healthier beta and answer more questions!

Answer 1

I'd have to agree 100%.

I think one of the reasons this happens is that there are a few individuals here who are obviously very experienced in a particular area, so the answers they post are rather good: complete, well thought out and covering the question well. This can put off other answerers as they may feel their answer may look bad by comparison, and if an answer has been accepted, that really puts off a new answer post.

I wouldn't suggest that the experts or experienced members of the community don't answer, as we'd then lose out on their high value posts, but one possible option is for them to wait a wee bit and see if other answers come in.

Also, let's make sure we encourage new members by upvoting their posts if they are good, even if there is a better answer that you have already upvoted (in fact all good posts should be upvoted), even if the new answer just covers one part of a question; if it is new information, and that new information is good, give it an upvote - it costs you nothing.