I’ve always been a “lurker” on all platforms and communities because when I do have a question or would like to contribute my first thought has become:
Actually, let me google it first
In which case I’ll usually have some answer. Usually it isn’t a complete answer but enough for me to not want to share my question anymore.
It really really depends.
“What time does ASDA shut?” - well the answer involves someone in the comment section googling it, I can see the “just Google it” frustration.
But
“Why is the bottom of my 3D print really messy?” - anyone who could claim to be intermediate at 3D printing would know that it is either a support material issue, or maybe they haven’t got “bridging” settings turned on. Replying with “a simple Google would find it was an issue with bridging” but the person asking the question may not even know that phrase to use.
Edit: I like to do the old “this is what i think it is, but here are some terms you could use to better understand in case my solution doesn’t work”
That second scenario you’ve described is why I loathe this “just fucking google it” mantra.
Searching for stuff needs some amount of information to begin with. You need to know what search terms to use, which means you have to know something about the problem you’re trying to solve. And a lot of times, that is precisely the problem: not knowing what even to include in the search query. With a human on the other side of the tube, it’s something that could easily be remedied with a few follow-up questions, but a search engine can’t do that–nor do you want for it to do that.
EDIT: Clarified things.
Changed “And a lot of times, that is precisely the problem: not knowing how to formulate the search query” to “And a lot of times, that is precisely the problem: not knowing what even to include in the search query.”