Quora: The be-all-end-all Answers website?

January 13, 2011 at 10:38 am | Posted in Other, Social Media News | 2 Comments

The Social Media Answers Site

“What is Quora?”

Don’t be surprised if that question is on Quora itself. And don’t be further surprised that people are taking that question seriously.

Quora has been getting a lot of social media press ever since 2011 started. It’s amazing how this site came almost out of nowhere to being one of the most hyped social media platforms today. I personally got quite a few emails to check it out and with the seemingly never-ending streams on Twitter about it, check it out I did.

After a few days of really trying it out (answered 10+ questions so far, browsed at least 3x that), I have to say that I’m impressed by how the system is designed. One would think that it’s a direct rip-off out of any Answers engine but it’s much more than that. Yes, there are certain similar elements between Quora and the traditional Answers, but I find Quora doing things just a little bit better.

Quora – The Social Media Answers Site

If you ask anyone on what Quora is, you’ll probably get that answer above. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that answer; it is in fact an Answers site with integrated social media elements. What makes it particularly worth your time is how well that integration is. Here’s a rundown of exactly what I mean.

1. The ability to follow people AND questions/answers.

The follow command has taken on many forms, but it is omnipresent in virtually all social media platforms. The same applies here but it’s done in an utterly simple and effective fashion. People can choose to follow the topics (subject matter), the questions/answers (specific topics) and/or the people behind the answers (experts). In a real life question-answer relationship, these are all the elements that you’d need to know behind it. The ability to follow any or all of them according to your preference ensures that whatever you see on the site is applicable to you – something traditional Answer sites currently lack.

2. Social recognition

Let’s face it – you want to get yourself recognized. Whether it’s your personal skills, your company’s offering or your industry and field of expertise, you want people to notice it. Quora allows you to do just that. Expertise is demonstrated when answering a question. Credibility is established when people recognize it, thank you for it and “like” it. What makes this work even more efficiently is that people have accountability on Quora: you can tie answers to real faces and real people. It’s a commendable risk for Quora to take and is one that seems to be paying off. Because…

3. Professionalism

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Answers site without spam and, for the lack of a better term, crap answers until Quora. There were a bunch of things that can go wrong when tying online personas to offline people but in Quora’s case, this happened to work just fine. The questions in Quora are much more professionally presented – formal and clean answers are expected and required. This really brings out some exceptionally good answers by experts in your particular field which makes the site that much more worth your time.

I personally don’t think I’m in any position to make a judgment call on Quora. But, because of the previously outlined points, I continue to use and have high hopes for it. It’s another excellent networking tool and functions exactly how it should as a Q-A site.

As for how effective it is in giving dating advice… that’s another story.