RM:
We do quite a bit on GA, and it takes two of us to answer the messages. We always try to get to them within 24 hours, sometimes they pile up 100 messages by Sunday Night on weekends. Most of the questions are helpful, and some of the folks help us correct mistakes and so forth. I can't speak for my friendly competitors on there, though; I've heard similar stories from yours from our local friends here in Tenn.
I guess, when I was teaching, I got in on where the Dept. Chair royally ate some of my colleagues' lunches, so we always try to avoid that.