I recently discovered Quora, a Q&A site that puts all others to shame, after reading an article in Business Insider in which Irene Au, head designer at Google, praises the site and its design. The article explained that Quora is above and beyond what you will find at sites such as Yahoo! Answers as they have more meaningful questions, less and the community continues to build on the answers so each question ends up reading like a professional article.
I have always been a big fan of Yahoo! Answers and am a regular contributor so I thought I would check it out. The signup process is meant to be easy, connecting with your Facebook or Twitter account, but in reality it is rather slow. Once you do get through the registration process, you can select categories that you’d like to subscribe to. I started out with topics in startups, entrepreneurship and angel investing. I was amazed at both the types of questions being asked and the answers.
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Unlike Yahoo’s version, you get a high percentage of professionals answering questions, including founders of startups and industry professionals. The discussions take on a different feel and just seem more informed then what you’ll find at other Q&A sites. Answers are definitely more knowledgeable and in depth. I literally spent hours during my first visit there reading various questions and answers as I explored all Quora had to offer.
After spending time at Quora, I doubt I will be frequenting other Q&A sites when I’m bored. This is above and beyond any of the other sites and would have made a perfect acquisition for Google has they not blown $50 million on Aardvark earlier this year. If you’re a fan of Q&A sites, would like to read in-depth answers and opinions from experts, and are looking for ideas for your business or startup, I highly recommend you explore Quora.