I don't think that doing a /who for help from other players is bad advice at all!

When I leveled my first toon, I did it without addons, such as Carbonite, Lightheaded, etc. and without checking websites likes Thottbot because I wanted to figure things out for myself the first time around. I'd only ask for help in trade chat whenever I was really stuck, and while some people were decent enough to reply with advice or directions, most of the time I'd get stuck in a flurry of "look how witty I am by making fun of the noob in chat!" banter that would just annoy me and waste my time completely.

I would do a /who and then select someone from my class who was in a city (less likelihood of interrupting their grinding/questing). I'd ask *very politely* if they would mind giving me advice on something, since I was confused about where to go/what to do. Nine times out of ten people replied- and even better, often became buddies and even "mentors." Once, while asking for advice on a class-specific quest, a higher-level player not only gave me advice, but rode out across the map to help me, since he remembered what a pain that quest had been to solo. I think it's all in how you approach people and you need to respect the fact that some will not be interested. Still, it was one of the best ways I found to get advice and even make new friends on my server.

Now I try to do the same for other people who are new to the game, although I am more willing to help when they genuinely seem to appreciate my time rather than expect me to cater to them.