

Now You Need Quora Credits To Ask Questions - esalazar
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/21/now-you-need-quora-credits-to-ask-questions-but-can-also-use-them-to-promote-content/

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tatsuke95
>“Quora is this place that gives you access to people who are interested in
particular topics and an audience for things you want to share,”

How is this any different from one million other internet forum-type places?
Like, say, Hacker News or Reddit or Stack Exchange or Seeking Alpha? Only,
when I venture into smaller, more specific communities, I can escape some
noise(as opposed to Youtube comments).

I never understood how Quora thought they'd overcome this problem, or why
everyone (read: Techcrunch) was making such a big deal about what Quora was
doing. I suppose it was really exciting for the SV echo chamber, but I don't
find it to be a spectacular resource. And the fact that there are now a bunch
of hoops to jump through to even _ask_ a question?

I don't know. But, I'm open to being surprised.

~~~
untog
I've often wondered how many people, outside of the tech realm, actually use
Quora. I don't know anyone that has even heard of it. But plenty of non-tech
categories seem full of questions and answers- is it just techies talking
about their other areas of interest or has it actually spread?

~~~
learner4life
I know many in the tech realm who do not know or use Quora.

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bravura
I feel very uncertain about this.

Consider this finding: "I think I just accidentally discovered a Quora Credit
goldmine: www.quora.com/DeathByPuns I went from about 500 to over 1800 in less
than two days. Now I can actually afford to ask people to answer questions;
it's pretty cool."

[http://www.quora.com/Quora-Credits/How-do-I-earn-Quora-
Credi...](http://www.quora.com/Quora-Credits/How-do-I-earn-Quora-
Credits/answer/Jesse-Lashley)

I understand that the goal is to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high, and
discourage low quality questions.

However, it also will encourage users who contribute low-quality but easily-
upvoted content, which creates a feedback loop encouraging the Quora-hive
mindset.

~~~
el_presidente
> it also will encourage users who contribute low-quality but easily-upvoted
> content

Sounds like Hacker News. It seems to me that only the StackExchange people
have avoided this.

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ericdykstra
Just conjecture on my part, but this seems like it will help keep the Quora
ecosystem content quality high. Any Quora user that is even slightly active
will always have enough credits to use the site without having to think about
them, but people who just ask, maybe not always good questions, and don't
continue in any meaningful way might hesitate before posting the 5th iteration
of the same question.

the real killer feature of credits though is being able to get access and
attention from people you don't know. It's easy enough to ignore emails from
strangers or at replies on twitter, but getting asked to answer on Quora gives
a bigger social obligation. Like "hey not only does this guy want to know my
opinion, but he thinks lots of other people will, too".

I think Charlie and Adam are building a great platform and great community at
Quora. Bravo.

~~~
simonw
I've been noticing a sharp uptick in bad questions in my Quora feed recently
(questions that are poorly spelled, difficult to understand or just exhibit a
lack of thoughtfulness) - maybe this change is Quora's way of encouraging
people to think a little harder before posting their questions.

~~~
potatolicious
Quora sent me a daily digest email this afternoon, where the highlighted
question was "What's it like to be in a bar fight?" I figured that was the
jumping the shark moment, if I'm not too late to it already.

~~~
simonw
Yeah - I'm fed up of all the "What does it feel like to..." and "Which Quora
users like to" questions. Haven't figured out how to get them out of my stream
yet.

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jtchang
The first step is letting people spend their credits/karma. Then they can
start selling credits.

I know for reddit there are people selling accounts which can be used to
upvote things all the way to the front page. I can almost see that happening
to Quora.

~~~
redslazer
Im pretty sure reddit does not have "power users", sure someone could sell a
ton of accounts or a service by which they upvote posts through a large number
of accounts.

There is no easy way to get to the front page of reddit.

~~~
phillmv
Well… The same 20-30 people control most popular subreddits.

 _insert ominous music here_

On a related note, there's money to be made by being on the top of reddit,
ergo there are a lot of people actively trying. I would not be surprised in
the slightest if people have cracked it - albeit it may not be as easy to
manipulate as the Digg of yore.

~~~
redslazer
Im not sure where the money is coming from but the moderators of the major
communities do have a lot of power. I dont think it would be hard to create a
upvote (or downvote) brigades plus the way reddit has done it with fuzzing the
votes its very hard to tell.

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majani
I think they are giving new users way too many hoops to jump through before
they can start having fun with the site. First, get a Fb account, then get an
invite, then use a real name they are comfortable with, then get some credits,
and enjoy!

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rdl
I've never really cared about credits (I have about 13000).

The problem with all of this is that the main content I love is when a deep
subject matter expert or insider writes a single answer to a question. Getting
someone like Larry Summers to write about economic policy during his tenure,
or various PayPal Mafia to write about their experiences at PayPal, etc. is
worth a lot more than someone else answering "What is the best way to dump my
girlfriend". I don't think those guys care about credits, and any hoops they
have to jump through are good many.

Quora should focus entirely on recruiting real experts or people with deep
insights to make 1-10 answers or posts. Have a Quora staff member edit or
otherwise guide the process, and maybe give real-world benefits to those
people. Probably the best benefit is link juice for a personal blog, Amazon
book, etc. -- Quora is great for that.

Avoiding being taken over by social media douchebags (which was the big threat
around January 2011) is the other problem, though. I'm not sure how Credits
helps with that either.

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kingsidharth
So Quora is the new Yahoo! Answers?

