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Do people outside the start up / technology world really use Quora? I've never seen anything there that's of value to "real people", and worse, Quora pages seld

Do people outside the start up / technology world really use Quora? I've never seen anything there that's of value to "real people", and worse, Quora pages seldom (if ever) are returned when I search for something on Google (while other Q&A sites like StackExchange and others come up all the time). I personally find Quora confusing and the content in there more on the navelgazing side. Not sure I get it.

timjahn 14y ago
My thoughts exactly. Not sure what the point of Quora is and don't see it being around in a year or two personally.
- killahpriest 14y ago
  I vehemently disagree. You could say the same of HN, Reddit or any other site. The value is in the users and the content. Where else on the internet can you ask any sort of question and expect high quality responses? Yahoo Answers has terrible answers. Reddit is full of trolls. HN is technology only and requires a lot of effort to get attention, most submissions die at one or two points. StackExchange's model is great for technical and highly specific questions, but its approach doesn't work well for the sort of questions Quora does. Where else on the internet can you ask and get great responses to these questions? - How can I explain SQL injection to my grandmother? http://www.quora.com/SQL-Injection/How-can-I-explain-SQL-injection-to-my-grandmother http://www.quora.com/SQL-Injection/How-can-I-explain-SQL-inj... - How can Delhi be made safe for women? http://www.quora.com/New-Delhi-India/How-can-Delhi-be-made-safe-for-women http://www.quora.com/New-Delhi-India/How-can-Delhi-be-made-s... - What should I do to get over my fear of public failure? http://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-to-get-over-my-fear-of-public-failure http://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-to-get-over-my-fear-of... - Is there a physical, theoretical limit to how accurately one can measure the speed of light? http://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-physical-theoretical-limit-to-how-accurately-one-can-measure-the-speed-of-light http://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-physical-theoretical-limit-t...
  - fabian2k 14y ago
    The first one was also asked on security.stackexchange.com (http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/25684/how-can-i-explain-sql-injection-without-technical-jargon http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/25684/how-can-i-...). The last one would probably be on-topic on Physics.SE.
    - killahpriest 14y ago
      Nice find. However, go ahead and actually compare the two answers. There is no way my grandma would ever be able to follow the explanation on StackExchange, especially compared to the answer on Quora.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - timjahn 14y ago
    I can't read any of those questions/answers because I'm not logged in to Quora. Which, in my opinion, further proves my point. Find me a real world person who googles a question and is able to find a Quora answer as a result. To each their own I suppose.
    - killahpriest 14y ago
      I can't read any of those questions/answers because I'm not logged in to Quora. Log in.
      - untog 14y ago
        That's an absolutely huge barrier to someone first arriving at Quora- how are you supposed to know the answers are worth it? And as others have said, if it's not on Google, how are you going to find the site in the first place? For a Q&A site that really needs to start turning a profit, this is not a trivial issue.
        14y ago
riffraff 14y ago
The question gets asked all the time quora is discussed, my 2c: I guess it's hard to tell, but I don't know anybody who isn't a techie who is on quora. On the other hand, I don't know anyone non-techie using *.stackexchange either. And TBH, I don't even know anyone using yahoo answers, but judging by the number of results from YA I still get in random google searches, I'd assume way more people find it useful than we may expect.
- runemadsen 14y ago
  I find that the Quora email digest is the only newsletter I'm looking forward to reading EVERY time it's in my inbox. I can't come up with anything that is as insightful, interesting, and fun on the internet. It takes the enlightenment of a TED talk and removed the bullshit. That alone makes for Quora to be a survivor.
  - untog 14y ago
    Survivor in what sense? E-mail newsletters are not the stuff of huge cash profit.
- VonGuard 14y ago
  Yeah, thing is though, YA allows people to ask absolutely retarded questions. It's basically a place where teenagers with ultra-religious parents can ask questions about their illegitimate pregnancy. Quora specifically tries to be above such rabble, and thus, misses the meat of this "market." Quora and other Q/A sites are for people who don't know how to use Google if the answer is not on the first page. Unfortunately, Quora thinks it's far above such an assessment, and is therefore nothing to no one.
muratmutlu 14y ago
I think Quora has improved loads, there's a real diverse set of users (including San Quentin Prisoners) I wrote about it last month http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2012/12/quora-initiative-allowing-inmates-at-san-quentin-prison-to-answer-question-is-amazing/ http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2012/12/quora-initiative-allowing...

timjahn 14y ago

My thoughts exactly. Not sure what the point of Quora is and don't see it being around in a year or two personally.

killahpriest 14y ago
I vehemently disagree. You could say the same of HN, Reddit or any other site. The value is in the users and the content. Where else on the internet can you ask any sort of question and expect high quality responses? Yahoo Answers has terrible answers. Reddit is full of trolls. HN is technology only and requires a lot of effort to get attention, most submissions die at one or two points. StackExchange's model is great for technical and highly specific questions, but its approach doesn't work well for the sort of questions Quora does. Where else on the internet can you ask and get great responses to these questions? - How can I explain SQL injection to my grandmother? http://www.quora.com/SQL-Injection/How-can-I-explain-SQL-injection-to-my-grandmother http://www.quora.com/SQL-Injection/How-can-I-explain-SQL-inj... - How can Delhi be made safe for women? http://www.quora.com/New-Delhi-India/How-can-Delhi-be-made-safe-for-women http://www.quora.com/New-Delhi-India/How-can-Delhi-be-made-s... - What should I do to get over my fear of public failure? http://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-to-get-over-my-fear-of-public-failure http://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-to-get-over-my-fear-of... - Is there a physical, theoretical limit to how accurately one can measure the speed of light? http://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-physical-theoretical-limit-to-how-accurately-one-can-measure-the-speed-of-light http://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-physical-theoretical-limit-t...
- fabian2k 14y ago
  The first one was also asked on security.stackexchange.com (http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/25684/how-can-i-explain-sql-injection-without-technical-jargon http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/25684/how-can-i-...). The last one would probably be on-topic on Physics.SE.
  - killahpriest 14y ago
    Nice find. However, go ahead and actually compare the two answers. There is no way my grandma would ever be able to follow the explanation on StackExchange, especially compared to the answer on Quora.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- timjahn 14y ago
  I can't read any of those questions/answers because I'm not logged in to Quora. Which, in my opinion, further proves my point. Find me a real world person who googles a question and is able to find a Quora answer as a result. To each their own I suppose.
  - killahpriest 14y ago
    I can't read any of those questions/answers because I'm not logged in to Quora. Log in.
    - untog 14y ago
      That's an absolutely huge barrier to someone first arriving at Quora- how are you supposed to know the answers are worth it? And as others have said, if it's not on Google, how are you going to find the site in the first place? For a Q&A site that really needs to start turning a profit, this is not a trivial issue.
      - 14y ago

riffraff 14y ago

The question gets asked all the time quora is discussed, my 2c: I guess it's hard to tell, but I don't know anybody who isn't a techie who is on quora. On the other hand, I don't know anyone non-techie using *.stackexchange either. And TBH, I don't even know anyone using yahoo answers, but judging by the number of results from YA I still get in random google searches, I'd assume way more people find it useful than we may expect.

runemadsen 14y ago
I find that the Quora email digest is the only newsletter I'm looking forward to reading EVERY time it's in my inbox. I can't come up with anything that is as insightful, interesting, and fun on the internet. It takes the enlightenment of a TED talk and removed the bullshit. That alone makes for Quora to be a survivor.
- untog 14y ago
  Survivor in what sense? E-mail newsletters are not the stuff of huge cash profit.
VonGuard 14y ago
Yeah, thing is though, YA allows people to ask absolutely retarded questions. It's basically a place where teenagers with ultra-religious parents can ask questions about their illegitimate pregnancy. Quora specifically tries to be above such rabble, and thus, misses the meat of this "market." Quora and other Q/A sites are for people who don't know how to use Google if the answer is not on the first page. Unfortunately, Quora thinks it's far above such an assessment, and is therefore nothing to no one.

muratmutlu 14y ago

I think Quora has improved loads, there's a real diverse set of users (including San Quentin Prisoners) I wrote about it last month http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2012/12/quora-initiative-allowing-inmates-at-san-quentin-prison-to-answer-question-is-amazing/ http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2012/12/quora-initiative-allowing...