5 ms·

Getting your users on-board - thoughts on Quora, Path.com, Instagram etc.

45 points by destraynor 16y ago

mattdeboard 16y ago
Quora lost me. It was a great place that attracted interesting people who were spending time answering insightful questions with compelling responses. Now, unfortunately, it seems to me that it has become yet another marketing channel, packed tight with cruft. Good? Bad? I don't know that I can or would make such a judgment. All I know is that Quora has become a slightly less obnoxious Yahoo! Answers.
- ojbyrne 16y ago
  You raise an interesting question, that the article (or perhaps a followup) could address. How do you ramp up without becoming just another PR vehicle?
- wh-uws 16y ago
  I feel like that depends on who and what you follow. Also if answers aren't helpful downvote them. I still get lots of great content through quora
npturner 16y ago
I haven't explored Quora much yet, but Instagram, as you pointed out, has built in some great features that have helped them grow so quickly.
cd34 16y ago
I visited Quora a while back. It had a login page, nothing that really described what it was, no examples. I figured it was a walled garden that invited participants. From the front page, you still can't tell what it is or why it is worth taking the time to sign up. Maybe it is a decent service, but, they lost me on the landing page. Path.com, maybe I'm stupid, is it a dating site? Instagram was interesting and I was able to figure out what that site was almost immediately. Since I was around when the SX-70 Land came out, their design and presentation actually was interesting. Too bad I use Android. A landing page should tell me precisely what you offer, in quick and simple terms so that I can see how that site is going to benefit me. I'm not going to sign up - no matter how easy it is - to investigate whether this site has anything of interest. I'm still unsure what path.com is other than a hyper-local facebook newsstream. Maybe Quora and Path are still in stealth mode and doing the google invitation rollout, but, Instagram does look interesting.
- destraynor 16y ago
  Quora makes plenty of sense once you're in, but I agree overall, and Path.com is certainly over-doing the vague pitch way too much.
  - cd34 16y ago
    But there is nothing on that page that would ever entice me to log in. Just a very vague statement. Is it technical? is it health? general? I understand if they are trying to keep it below the radar until they are ready to release, but, I see nothing there that would make me create an account.
- farnsworth 16y ago
  Path looks like you take pictures, tag/title/share them, and the idea is to show your "Path" through life? He's scrolling through encounters with the girl he's about to propose to.
jayzee 16y ago
One of the things that goes unmentioned and I think that this is an important thing, even for facebooks valuation that we have all been talking about: With the right feedback loops companies can ramp up quickly like never before is true. But those same loops are in place for the site to down down very quickly too. In the valuation for such companies analysts often use a multiple times revenue (or users etc). This multiple is based on the old school model that it took time for companies to die, for competitors to emerge etc. Doubt that is true anymore. One bad move that pisses off the community and people will leave in droves too. Digg anyone?
- destraynor 16y ago
  It went unmentioned cause it wasn't really relevant in the article. The danger all of these type of applications face is that it's very very hard to tell if you're delivering anything of value, when you're not charging money. Some people just delete their account. Some people stop logging in. Some people log in but far less often. Some still log in as often, but are bored when doing so. Some do it, but are really just waiting for the next big thing. The risk of the high valuations is that all of these guys look like potential users, people who will click adverts. Bebo had a shit load of active users when AOL shelled out $850,000,000 for it. The danger is that no one ever checked if any of the users actually gave a shit about Bebo.
wallflower 16y ago
I have never logged into Quora. Yet I find the fact that a few of the people answering the questions are authoritative sources fascinating. So stuff like being deluged by a stream of activity from people you follow on Quora is irrelevant for me. In a way, I think Quora stands out because its community of users acts as a sort of imperfect funnel for quality. Interesting questions and answers may become popular. With Twitter, it's hard to see what is relevant. But with Quora, if someone passes along a Quora link you almost know it is going to be good. Especially in the narrow niche of technology and Silicon Valley. Twitter is too democratic; Quora is more republican. Also, clever name.

45 points by destraynor 16y ago

Quora lost me. It was a great place that attracted interesting people who were spending time answering insightful questions with compelling responses. Now, unfortunately, it seems to me that it has become yet another marketing channel, packed tight with cruft. Good? Bad? I don't know that I can or would make such a judgment. All I know is that Quora has become a slightly less obnoxious Yahoo! Answers.

ojbyrne 16y ago
You raise an interesting question, that the article (or perhaps a followup) could address. How do you ramp up without becoming just another PR vehicle?
wh-uws 16y ago
I feel like that depends on who and what you follow. Also if answers aren't helpful downvote them. I still get lots of great content through quora

npturner 16y ago

I haven't explored Quora much yet, but Instagram, as you pointed out, has built in some great features that have helped them grow so quickly.

cd34 16y ago

I visited Quora a while back. It had a login page, nothing that really described what it was, no examples. I figured it was a walled garden that invited participants. From the front page, you still can't tell what it is or why it is worth taking the time to sign up. Maybe it is a decent service, but, they lost me on the landing page. Path.com, maybe I'm stupid, is it a dating site? Instagram was interesting and I was able to figure out what that site was almost immediately. Since I was around when the SX-70 Land came out, their design and presentation actually was interesting. Too bad I use Android. A landing page should tell me precisely what you offer, in quick and simple terms so that I can see how that site is going to benefit me. I'm not going to sign up - no matter how easy it is - to investigate whether this site has anything of interest. I'm still unsure what path.com is other than a hyper-local facebook newsstream. Maybe Quora and Path are still in stealth mode and doing the google invitation rollout, but, Instagram does look interesting.

destraynor 16y ago
Quora makes plenty of sense once you're in, but I agree overall, and Path.com is certainly over-doing the vague pitch way too much.
- cd34 16y ago
  But there is nothing on that page that would ever entice me to log in. Just a very vague statement. Is it technical? is it health? general? I understand if they are trying to keep it below the radar until they are ready to release, but, I see nothing there that would make me create an account.
farnsworth 16y ago
Path looks like you take pictures, tag/title/share them, and the idea is to show your "Path" through life? He's scrolling through encounters with the girl he's about to propose to.

jayzee 16y ago

One of the things that goes unmentioned and I think that this is an important thing, even for facebooks valuation that we have all been talking about: With the right feedback loops companies can ramp up quickly like never before is true. But those same loops are in place for the site to down down very quickly too. In the valuation for such companies analysts often use a multiple times revenue (or users etc). This multiple is based on the old school model that it took time for companies to die, for competitors to emerge etc. Doubt that is true anymore. One bad move that pisses off the community and people will leave in droves too. Digg anyone?

destraynor 16y ago
It went unmentioned cause it wasn't really relevant in the article. The danger all of these type of applications face is that it's very very hard to tell if you're delivering anything of value, when you're not charging money. Some people just delete their account. Some people stop logging in. Some people log in but far less often. Some still log in as often, but are bored when doing so. Some do it, but are really just waiting for the next big thing. The risk of the high valuations is that all of these guys look like potential users, people who will click adverts. Bebo had a shit load of active users when AOL shelled out $850,000,000 for it. The danger is that no one ever checked if any of the users actually gave a shit about Bebo.

wallflower 16y ago

I have never logged into Quora. Yet I find the fact that a few of the people answering the questions are authoritative sources fascinating. So stuff like being deluged by a stream of activity from people you follow on Quora is irrelevant for me. In a way, I think Quora stands out because its community of users acts as a sort of imperfect funnel for quality. Interesting questions and answers may become popular. With Twitter, it's hard to see what is relevant. But with Quora, if someone passes along a Quora link you almost know it is going to be good. Especially in the narrow niche of technology and Silicon Valley. Twitter is too democratic; Quora is more republican. Also, clever name.