What's so bad about Yahoo! Answers?
I have to disagree that it's the worst thing in the world. It has shortcomings for sure. But Yahoo Answers serves the masses, while Quora still serves the niche. Quora has a strong following in Silicon Valley and in general among internet entrepreneurs, software geeks, etc. But that would hardly be 2-5% of the masses. I have to believe that average intellectual level of the community on Quora is pretty high and I would not expect them to use Yahoo Answers. If you somehow bring the 100 million users of Yahoo Answers on Quora then they are likely to create a significant amount of spam on Quora as well. No community moderation can stop that. Turns out that what is "spam" for a few of us, is actually entertainment for millions out there. People actually visit those pages (in millions) and click on ads as well! Yahoo does not pay or promote people to create spam. In fact, a lot of research goes into how to tactfully deal with spam without hurting the community. I love Quora and spend a lot of time on it. However, I find it very hard to get answers to non-tech questions on Quora. I have to turn to Yahoo or Aardvark for them. I believe both Yahoo Answers and Quora can coexist like any other niche and mass products in the world.
Is Quora just a glorified Yahoo! Answers?
Sure, in the sense that a Tesla is just a glorified golf cart. At the most basic level, they both work on the same principle, but one has design, functionality, capability and even looks that's far beyond the other. The problem here is that you have two competing definitions of the word "glorified". It can mean something that's given glory for no good reason, or it can mean something that's been made glorious. If you mean the first, then no, Quora isn't given glory for no good reason. It's far more prestigious because it has a great deal more to offer. The differences between the sites may be subtle (some are, and some aren't) but they cumulatively make a huge difference in the user experience (at least, they did in my case). If you're using the second definition, then the answer is yes. Quora took the basic concept behind Yahoo Answers and they made it into something glorious. And good for them.
Is Quora just a glorified Yahoo! Answers?
Sure, in the sense that a Tesla is just a glorified golf cart. At the most basic level, they both work on the same principle, but one has design, functionality, capability and even looks that's far beyond the other. The problem here is that you have two competing definitions of the word "glorified". It can mean something that's given glory for no good reason, or it can mean something that's been made glorious. If you mean the first, then no, Quora isn't given glory for no good reason. It's far more prestigious because it has a great deal more to offer. The differences between the sites may be subtle (some are, and some aren't) but they cumulatively make a huge difference in the user experience (at least, they did in my case). If you're using the second definition, then the answer is yes. Quora took the basic concept behind Yahoo Answers and they made it into something glorious. And good for them.
Why do people prefer Quora over Yahoo! Answers?
Oh boy, this is going to be fun.Q1: Why do we need water to survive?Quora: Our bodies are mostly made of water, so we need to continually replenish our water supply in order to survive.Yahoo! Answers: WE DONT!!! I ACTUALY FOUND A HEALTHY WATER SUBSTITUTE IF U GUYS R INTRESTED!!!!!!!Q2: What is 2+2?Quora: 2+2 is equal to 4. For instance, imagine you had two cookies and your friend gave you two more. How many do you have now? You now have 4 cookies.Yahoo! Answers: 2+2 is an aDITION PROBLOM. your duMb.Q3: Why is the grass green?Quora: Grass and many other plants have a pigment called chlorophyll which absorbs light to be used for photosynthesis. However, green light is the one wavelength in the spectrum that chlorophyll cannot absorb. Therefore, it is reflected back to our eyes, which perceive the grass to be green.Yahoo! Answers: the same reason teh skys blue god made it that way now just be happyBONUS: Yahoo! Answers strikes back!I’ll let you be the judge of why people prefer Quora.
Weird shoe stink problem! Absolutely weird... can't figure it out.?
Well, after wearing my shoe (KWSISS CLASSIC) for a few hours, it starts to stink... After wearing it for the whole day and coming home and taking off my shoe, however, my feet smell completely clean and fresh. In the morning, before wearing my shoes, the shoe smells clean and fresh as well. I sprayed it with Febreeze... used Baking Soda - none of it works because thats not the problem. My shoe doesn't smell! My feet doesn't smell! It's only when I wear it for a few hours does it begin to do so... Does anyone have any ideas??
Is it weird that I find the Nazi uniform attractive?
Appreciating the appearance of the uniforms is a very objective thing. Don't feel like a freak for being able to do it. Many people are not good at separating the good from the bad. Most are distracted by the history, or overall picture... Kinda like if your car has always given you problems, most would not readily admit or consider that it still looks great, even if it does. Most people who hate the band Rush, will not admit Neil Pert is one of the best, most influential drummers, cuz they can't look past their dislike of the music he participates in. You'll say "what about Niel Pert?", And they'll be like "who's that? if he's in Rush, he probably sucks". The German WW2 uniform is very distinctive, and has been the inspiration for many science fiction and fantasy uniforms. The helmet is one of the most memorable helmet designs in the history of wars, next to the spike-top helmet of WW1. It continues to this day as the main inspiration for chopper helmets. The march has been "glorified" (can't think of a better word) by Hollywood, and they probably didn't walk that way through the woods. But it is a display of extreme control and precision. If you are impressed by it, it's because it was meant to impress.
What is the best way to answer "What makes you unique?"
Well how about I answer that question and you tell me if I sound egotistical:What makes me unique:I think differently most people I know, I apply logic, reason and emotional aspects in equal proportion to the solution of problems. I have an unusual amount of intuition when it comes to people, I am able to figure out motivations and intentions with a high rate of accuracy. Even with people whom I've had very little interaction with. I don't fit stereotypes very well. I'm often the odd one out in a group. I surprise people often with my reactions and perspectives. I have a high EQ, which I feel is incredibly useful, particularly in my fields of management and life coaching, so I make a point of flexing and improving these skills. I love to read and have the ability to absorb and apply abstract principles, and transfer these points of learning to other fields and applications, which I'm told is a relatively rare ability. I love being different and surprising and not fitting stereotypes. I'm rather pleased to be me. I have a great self esteem and good confidence which makes me willing to seek out and accept challenges which I may not appear to be able to deliver on initially. I'm not afraid of failure. In fact I think it is an essential part of the experimental process that gets you to success. This is why I'm unique. Do I sound arrogant? Or just self aware? I don't believe they are testing to see if you're arrogant enough to "toot your own horn".. If I asked that question in an interview I really would want to know how you are unique as an individual. .. a sarcastic or amusing answer just tells me that you aren't very self aware. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes you harder to read and harder to manage as an employee. The more self aware a person is, the easier it is for me to say "let's look at the events, can you see where things went wrong? If you could, how would you change things? What would you do differently?" and have a person self-correct, without having to lead them step by step through their behaviour/words and the ensuing results.You can work on self awareness, and doing so would considerably improve your EQ scores and make you a more "attractive" candidate in interviews too.
Why is Quora so successful as a question-answer website, given that it was pretty late to the game and similar sites failed in the past?
This is an interesting question, and I think User-9321647196036314135 has the main point, which is that Quora provides dimensions of a social experience that neither of the other two attempts mentioned in the question did--their design was relatively two-dimensional, which would have been OK if superlative answers were available, but they were not.To take Erik's point one step further, I think that part of Quora's success has been to retain and attract a very high level of users in terms of knowledge base and writing skills, and that this comes about partly because the social dimension of Quora provides a kind of intrinsic motivation to answer questions in ways that are thorough and interesting--a sort of virtuous cycle. When an answer I provide is upvoted by someone whose own work on Quora I follow and respect, it provides an incentive to keep using Quora, in the same way that finding a really interesting and nuanced discussion of a particular question does--often one about which I have only small knowledge beforehand. There are a lot of facets to Quora that are partly social in nature--the comment feature, the ability to message others, the ability to blog and follow blogs--and yet Quora has managed to bound these elements in a fashion that prevents the site from falling into the pitfalls of FaceBook, on the one hand, and Reddit, on the other.I almost started doing answers on Yahoo Answers, a few years ago--there was some pay involved, but it was tiny compared to what I generally make in my spare time from consulting--and I realized that there would be no pleasure in the work for me because of the way the interface worked and the very thin opportunities for dialogue and intellectual exchange it offered.Quora strikes an extremely interesting and nuanced balanced between the social and the intellectual, and I am sure that managing this balance as it grows will be a challenge. For me, it has been a place where I can hang out with other intellectuals, learn a lot and share knowledge in a way that gives me some pleasure, and experience just the right amount of social interaction--not very much, but enough to humanize the experience and make it something more than merely an exercise in participating in an online Q & A site.