New Trend in Plagiarism: Tormenting Cheaters on Yahoo Answers

I learned at a recent Cinco de Mayo party that many teachers are distraught over Yahoo Answers. After years of dealing with Wikipedia entries being used as a source for plagiarized papers, students are now posting entire exam questions on Yahoo answers, asking, even demanding help. I don't know any teachers who've actually caught students cheating using Yahoo answers, but it's increasingly common for teachers to search for phrases from their assignments in an attempt to catch students seeking illicit aid online.

I'd already noticed this obvious cheating, chiefly in Math Homework. It's so prevalent that Yahoo has even added a "Homework Help" section. When challenged, many Yahoo answers users respond with phrases like "It's not cheating" or "I'm just asking for help" clearly unaware of, or unconcerned with, the difference line between "help" and "cheating." I continued chatting with the teachers at the Cinco de Mayo party, discussing students plagiarizing content from Wikipedia and the various "Homework Help" sites floating around the Internet.

I then revealed one of my less savory hobbies. Whenever I see someone asking a Math question on Yahoo Answers, and it's obvious that they're trying to cheat on an assignment, I post an inaccurate answer, often trying to make it sound plausible. I received noting but praise from the teachers, and one of them asked me to start doing the same with other subjects.

Thus was born my plan to subvert Yahoo Answers. My goal is make sure cheaters get a failing mark on their assignments. To accomplish this, I need to post believable, yet inaccurate answers. Below are some of the fruits of my labor, and a description of the methods I employed in crafting my response. I'm not concerned with the Yahoo Cheaters finding this article, as their questions highlight their complete lack of even basic research skills. Besides, if I'm found out and my Yahoo account becomes known to the Yahoo answers cheating community, I'll just create a new account.

I started with an easy one.