Imagine my excitement when on Wednesday morning my inbox was filled with Google alerts telling me Facebook had finally launched its Facebook Questions application! (Yes I do need to get out more).
Then imagine my disappointment when scouring my own Facebook home page and profile I find no mention of Questions anywhere…if only there was some way of asking 500 million people how I can make my life more exciting! Continue Reading…
Facebook has a thundering presence on the web with about 500 million users and counting, scores of visitors actually spending time on Facebook all day long. Isn’t it time for it to pitch direct competition to answers.com, Quora and Yahoo! Answers? Isn’t Facebook almost naked without having anything to do with a Q & A site given its popularity and a high traffic scene? I guess it’s time to get into the game now and here’s why I think Facebook should hop right in: Continue Reading…
Previously, I wrote about Experts-exchange and discussed how well-structured the site was and how it proves to be quite a place to go to get your technical problems solved. Focus is a busy site with almost the same kind of emphasis on technology and happens to have a Q &A section which seems to be just as robust as Experts-exchange. However, there are differences too. Here are some of them:
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It seems our beloved question and answer sites aren’t just for us ordinary Joe’s.
Recently former Apple employees Chad Little and Justin Maxwell published posts on Q & A site Quora detailing information on what it was like working for Apple. Chad Little, who now works for Facebook, and Justin Maxwell (Mint.com) replied to a post asking ‘What is the internal culture of Apple like?’ giving away company information such as the benefits package – pretty lacking apparently; security policies – which even limits what you can say to your other half; worker mentality – employees work on an almost religious level of commitment; and the corporate culture – if you’re not working on a project for Steve Jobs don’t expect anything to happen fast . Continue Reading…
What would you get if you combined a website with a professional look, a highly targeted and profitable niche and a great idea? I couldn’t help but think about this killer combination when I stumbled across Experts Exchange– a Q &A site focusing on solving consumers’ problems related to technology.
Whether you are an individual or a small business, infrastructure or equipment breakdown could prove to be expensive. All too often, almost all us would have faced a ‘system crash’, ’malignant software’, unresponsive programs or even the much dreaded ‘blue screen of death’. It always helps to have help standing by. Here are some reasons why Experts Exchange is a great example of another good niche Q &A site: Continue Reading…
The usual Q & A fare revolves around the word “free” –much retained by Internet’s free information premise. However, as we all know by now, the free information available online is usually polluted. Good and reliable information comes only from educational sites or those that are owned by governments; some strictly controlled forums could be good too.
I tried to ask a few questions and got some of my questions answered but I must admit that the experience left me frustrating.Would paid Q &A hold any promise? If what you get is what you pay for, should you get better answers when the Q &A site itself requires paid membership? Here are some sites I checked out: Continue Reading…
Let’s admit it: we barely give a thought to our language, tone of voice, intent of the message, etc., when we participate in forums and Q & A sites while answering or asking questions. It’s a well-known fact that interest levels of online readers are fleeting, fickle and laced with tons of impatience. Your Q & A site needs to attract quality knowledge base, eager and enthusiastic users who ask and answer questions while being genuinely helpful and caring. To make this happen, you will have to take initiative, set trends and make it all happen. Here are five habits of a super star Q & A contributor: Continue Reading…
After dwelling on Q & A sites for a while now, I was out searching for something that can make some more noise than the usual; I was looking for the sizzle, the steak and a dinner set to eat it all with. I stumbled on Experience Project – a truly, well-rounded, a –lot-more-than-a-Q and A-site. In love at first sight, I could help but notice the subtle ways in which experience project does more than just answer questions. Here are five different things experience project boasts of: Continue Reading…
While some question and answer sites rest on the cushion created by their popularity, sheer fame, heavy traffic and wide-spread usage by users from all over the world, there are still some specialty Q & A sites that are immensely popular but might not seem to be at first glance. Continue Reading…
When interacting with like-minded netizens on Q &A sites and forums, your presence on the Internet is anonymous; you could hop in, write out something and vanish and no one would know. You will, however, still leave a mark behind. You might bail someone out of a problem. For all you know, your presence on these Q &A sites or forums is highly appreciated. But are you providing value while on a Q &A site? There are plenty of lessons we could pick from super successful Q &A sites or forums: Continue Reading…
