Not sure where anyone inferred a “pat on the back” answer from me.
I will re-iterate that some questioners already know exacltly what they want to hear and they get angry, irritated, disgusted or just plain mad if anyone else answers their questions in a way in which they didn’t want to hear or expect, so limiting the “core audience” of the answerers will help the OP to get a good answer that they wanted in the first place. It also helps to suggest that the OP only wanted a “pat on the back” to reject any realistic or legitimate answers from anybody else except the “core (read: useful) audience”.”
Believe it or not, I also think that some people are so angry and pissed off by previous answers of certain OP’s or posters that they word their Q’s so as to dismiss those people, outright, just because they are pissed off at them, rather than wanting to take everyone’s opinions and knowlegege as acceptable.
Sometimes atheists know more about faith than you might imagine. Sometimes young people know about all kinds of things than you would imagine. Sometimes homosexuals know more about relationships and sexuality than you would imagine. Sometimes men know more than you would imagine, sometimes women know more than you would imagine. Sometimes senior citizens know more than you would imagine.
Limiting who you “want” to answer questions, also limits the amount of information (good, bad or nuetral) that you get.
Some people only want info or news or “facts” that support their current beliefs.
Fluther is a forum for everyone, even if they don’t fit the demographics that any particular OP is looking for. That’s why it’s a Q& A site. That’s why it’s not a (you better fit my demographics!!! or else!) site.