What is Quora and should we care? No, it is not a vegetarian meat alternative – nor an allergy free equivalent of Flora – but the latest social media platform being talked about on every, well, social media network. A crowd-sourcing, question-and-answer based twitter-type site, Quora has infiltrated the blogosphere and inevitably, exposed itself to intense scrutiny – and that’s before ordinary folk have even had a chance to sign up.
From what the Eulogites can gather, the founders of Quora looked at Twitter and realised a significant percentage of tweets were people asking questions. So they got to thinking about taking this away from the Twitter platform and providing a space where users can build up a network around various subjects and position the question to a more targeted audience. So far, so on-trend –marketing is heading towards an era of personalised messaging that is aimed at carefully segmented audiences. So the general business proposition seems to be accurate.
Founded by two former Facebook employees (note the invite to link Quora with FB on the homepage) in California, Quora has been steadily feeding a growing obsession over the last few months. It is now in full access mode (after a stint as invite only). Simply put, it is a Q&A platform that is created, edited and organised by its users.
Sound familiar? Well it is different to Wikipedia, apparently. Namely its ability to follow topics and attract reputable users – they are confident that the questioners can trust the opinions of the answerers. Quora has coined the phrase ‘continually improving’, in that once one question has been answered, the page continues to be developed into a stronger and more useful resource – with a narrower focus we can assume. Interestingly, there is no requirement for a neutral point-of-view (like Wikipedia), but a desire for some consensus…between both masterminds and laymen. How refreshing.
As far as we can tell, contributors aren’t paid for their knowledge. If you are a cynic, this might beg the question of their validity. That is, invariably, the better informed you are, the busier you are and the more likely you might demand payment. But if Quora fulfils its aims and is indeed shared and spread across other social networks, then the revenue potential for experts thus increases. There will be some aspect of editing – by trained individuals who can navigate their way through the quagmire that is libel law. But censorship will be kept at a minimum as much as possible. Busybodies can also amend and edit content as they see fit.
What does all this mean for PRs and marketers? Well the general sentiment is that it actually has mass appeal, by dovetailing with Twitter and Facebook – thus reducing social networkers own network management time. It also nicely hones in on target audiences who are interested in specialist subjects (linked to a relatively sophisticated search function) and offers geeks – and gleeks! – the chance to interact with likeminded users. The blog-like facility may end up in client’s coverage packs and could aid natural search, even complement news aggregation.
However, PRs will need to take an active involvement – we’ll need to be on there, monitoring, waiting patiently for updates. It will also be good for assessing our spokespeople’s competition and another way of seeing who is talking about what. Be aware that Quora users are expected to use their real identity when answering questions, so transparency remains key.
Overall, people seem unanimous in their intrigue with Quora, if not united in their praise. Seasoned social network observers are already asking about the iPhone app – apparently it’s on its way. The mobile site is already live.
I found out that Quora is named Quora because a group of people coming together and reaching a consensus is a quorum. Apparently it’s got nothing to do with the new Tron character. But the highlight of my Quora-tive research was this Tweet:
http://twitter.com/rhodri
I joined Quora and now I’m a member and people are following me and I’m following them and I don’t know what’s going on and want my mummy.
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