Bounties always get my attention. It seems like they should be a bigger part of SN. At the same time, I've never posted one myself. I'm trying to figure out why.
Zapping is mostly something I do after I read a post or comment. Bounties are kinda like pre-zapping (agreeing to zap before you read) but also not because you don't have to assign the bounty until you are satisfied it has been fulfilled.
I wonder if I haven't done any bounties because it feels more like paying while zapping feels more like tossing some money to a street musician. Paying doesn't feel as good. It's more serious. (I don't think there's anything wrong with paying for a thing, just examining why it feels different than zapping.)
I agree with @Undisciplined and @jasonb that it would be cool if you could find all open bounties in one place (and sort them by value or something). I often give a shot to bounties people post that are in my wheelhouse and I would probably do more of this if there was an easy way to check what bounties are open.
I've only played around with bounties a couple of times.
I interpret them a little differently. I feel like it's the poster making it known that the answer is especially important to them and they'll zap a good answer much more than the normal amount.
We have several weekly contests that run regularly and could be bounties, but that's just not how they've been organized.
I agree with you, though, about feeling like bounties should be a bigger part of SN.
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