How to Find Information?

The first step is to go to the official websites and try to find the required information there. You can find official websites through Google and through AI search.

If you do not find the information you need on the official website, you can visit their “contact us” section or other relevant sections to find their contact details and send your query. You may also call them. Most organisations are more welcoming to queries than we realise.

If you are still unsure, you can search using AI. The commonly used AIs are ChatGPT and Gemini. But you may choose to use another AI.

Next, you can search through various blogs, Instagram, Reddit, X, Facebook groups and posts for others’ advice and experiences. You can also post your query on these online forums.

If all of the above fail, you can inbox people who might have the knowledge to help you.

Facebook’s message request feature will alert the other person to your message, even if you do not send them a friend request. Most people are hesitant to accept requests from people they are not familiar with.

Mention your educational/professional circumstances and your current plans. This should be brief and to-the-point. The purpose of your introduction is to allow your helper to tailor the advice according to your situation.

Ask your question right away, so that when they check your message, they can answer your query in a single go. This will save the time that an additional conversation would have taken.

If you have more than one question, it is best to organise your thoughts and send them with proper numbering. This will allow your helper to get back to you sooner.

If you keep your message short, your probability of getting an earlier reply would be higher.

Organising your thoughts and writing clearly, with grammatically correct structures and proper spelling, can help the other person process the information you share more quickly.

Do not forget to say thank you. They are helping you by spending the most precious currency they have: time.

Starting the conversation with messages like “Hi!”, “Hello!”, “I have a question for you.” and waiting for them to get back to you is not ideal. It can make your helper hesitant to reply, since you would not have shared your query.

Please do not expect your helper to have a continuous chat with you. If you still have multiple questions after your initial query has been answered, again, send in an organised message with numbered questions.

Even if your helper sends audio messages, please avoid replying with audio messages. It is easy to send audio messages, but it takes more time and concentration to listen to them and to reply to them. This can take longer for your helper to get back to you.

This can cause two problems. One, it can cause problems with your message being properly perceived. Two, it can show your lack of seriousness about your query.