Comments on: Why We’re Moving From Status Updates to Q&A

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:22:45 +0000

“What is the motivation for so many of these companies to be popping up?”

That's what I've tried to answer in the post. Looks like I didn't get through!

By: Mark Essel

Mark Essel — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:05:53 +0000

Q&A's ok. It's not so much I'm looking for answers, as interesting questions. And smart folks have a knack for coming up with interesting questions whether it's on their blog, twitter, Google Buzz or Q&A sites.

By: Ellie K

Ellie K — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:17:32 +0000

I have been wondering about that for the past few months! Apparently you were too!

Why the need for so many of these sites, sometimes with vast VC funding e.g. Quora's $68mil? I could see a few popping up now that PHP interfaces are getting better, I use Quora, their app is proprietary but it is nice.

However, these Q&A sites are not social networking nor particularly fun, except in a very pedantic way, which I like more than I care to admit. Ultimately, though, I prefer the insipid Yahoo!Answers, as Quora is a VERY tough crowd. But then there are others: Factotum, Fluther, Aardvark, maybe more. And again the question: what is the motivation for so many of these companies to be popping up? I am curious.

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:50:06 +0000

Ha ha!

By: Observer

Observer — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:47:10 +0000

Yes, because I answered that telescope question, Facebook 'knows' that I'm an astronomy enthusiast. But not a birding enthusiast. Nor a sailor. In fact I'm a peeping Tom and am getting all these stupid astronomy ads.

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:32:21 +0000

Thank you for the feedback, Aqute Intelligence. I never opined on any specific service's success of quality in my post – rather, the point was to explain why these Q&A services are being introduced.

But, I tend to agree with Marshall's post on RWW on this. The idea that if it has not worked so far, it will never work, is also not true. Facebook may well be the game changer. We'll have to wait and see.

By: Aqute Intelligence

Aqute Intelligence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:15:42 +0000

Q&A sites are not all they are cracked up to be. Aardvark isn't all that useful when you try it out. Look at Yahoo! Answers, which is filled with nonsense and lightweight answers. A quality site like uclue.com has never managed any traction. Google Answers closed down for a reason - you could say it was too early then, but Q&A takes effort on the part of the users that they don't want to put in. The idea that if it works in Korea, it will work elsewhere, has turned out not to be true.

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:09:32 +0000

Very true. I hope Google doesn't botch it up, like it did with other acquisitions. This time, they have others up and running already, so they should make the most of it.

Whether Buzz or Google Me remains to be seen.

By: Atul Arora

Atul Arora — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:04:58 +0000

It will be interesting to see what Google does with Aardvark. Will it show up via Google Buzz? Or whether it will be a part of the Google's rival to FB