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Please ask meta-questions in chat!

A meta-question is a question that implies other questions, for example:

Can I ask a question?
Does anyone here know about N?
Has anyone here taken the Yandex course on Coursera? I have a question about text analysis…
Guys, I have a quick question about %framework_name%

— "I see, but what is good about these questions and why should I ask them?"

— They show politeness! Both yours, and of other people who want to help you! You try to be polite by not jumping straight to your problem, as people do in person. And chat is exactly the same! People need time to switch context. Instead of rudely dumping a problem, you give another person the opportunity to prepare while you formulate the question, which leads to better communication.

Be sure to use such messages: "Hello", "Hi. Are you there?", "Got a minute?", "Ping". Do not dump the problem right away!

Besides, when you ask a meta-question, an opportunity for synchronous interaction opens up. If the interlocutor is busy, they can answer you later when they are free, and then you can discuss the problem in real time, instead of them reading a huge wall of text that might no longer be relevant.

The essence is in two examples:

Bad:

You
Hi. I am currently working on this and that and I want to do this...
Your colleague
... waits for you to get to the point, loses focus, gets intimidated by the wall of text ...

Good:

You
Hi
Your colleague
Hi
You
I have a question about N, can you help?
Your colleague
Yes, go ahead