Soliciting Opinions to Share an Opinion

Recently in several venues I’ve observed a similar situation and behavior.  It goes something like this, usually in the form of an e-mail list message or a post on a forum:

Hi there, so-and-so asked me for my opinion on the best way to do X.  I don’t have very much experience with X, so I was curious what y’all might suggest I tell them regarding X.

I would offer up my opinion which is that if you have to ask this question, you aren’t qualified to answer, and instead of playing middleman you should refer “so-and-so” to an authoritative source rather than asking for help on the internet and then portraying yourself as an authority.

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