Typed a question into the Google search engine and saw links to Quora pop up? The next thought that ran through your head must’ve been, “why should I care about answers on Quora?” Well, the question of competency is the one we’ll answer below. Additionally, we’ll tell you whether the platform is safe for children and teenagers. The platform can also serve as a way to build a reputation or gain a section in your resume. It can also have monetary value and be used for marketing. If that piqued your interest, let’s get straight into what is Quora.
Definition of Quora
Quora is a Q&A (questions and answers) online platform ran by volunteer Internet users. The owners and employees only maintain the website, which has a rank of 371 on Alexa.com (might change over time), the global website index. The users get to ask the question, give an answer or expand upon an existing one, or track and follow questions for new answers. As a user, you can also join so-called Quora Spaces, which are communities built around a common topic, interest, or niche.
Furthermore, you can get detailed analytics of every inquiry or reply you made. The answers are usually well-researched and filled to the brim with content. Plus, you can see who the person that answered is, and what their qualifications are. At one point in time, video answers were also allowed alongside the text, but this was very short-lived.
How can I contribute to Quora?
Quora is free and only requires you to set up a user account and edit your profile to match your interests and qualifications. From that point on, you can start asking questions or giving answers you have an interest and knowledge in. In short, you volunteer to help the world by sparking debate or inciting research into the topic. On the other hand, you can share your knowledge out of the goodness of your heart, for free, to those who need it.
Unpopular use of Quora
Marketing
There’s a murky territory that isn’t its primary purpose, but people use Quora for it nonetheless. That is free advertising – the platform has hundreds of millions of unique monthly visitors. Quora allows you to add a link to your website if the answer is in-line with the question, and enhances the point. This is often abused, unfortunately. Companies and entrepreneurs are driven to “hustle” for profit. For that reason, they seek and find posts tied to their niche, no matter how small the connection is. Then, they add links to their websites, services, or products.
Making money on the platform
A user with lots of answers and answer views, usually above 10K, can become eligible for monetization through the Quora Partner Program. The issue is that to earn money, you must start asking questions you know will get a lot of answer views. Or, you must ask tens of questions per day. The platform loses its purpose, and asking questions turns into a sport. Also, instead of things you’re genuinely curious about, you must come up with short, high-engagement, often clickbait titles.
Is there quality control on Quora?
The main issue with an online community focused on inquiries and replies such as Quora is spam. Next in line are low-quality answers for advertising, and answers that don’t provide any value. For that reason, Quora does have an automatic system and a team of moderators that keep the platform running. Quora is rated for kids aged 13 and older, so there shouldn’t be any explicit material or adult topics.
User moderation
Users keep the platform afloat too. They can upvote, downvote, and flag for spam on questions and answers. This reduces redundancy, and brings up-to-date or high-quality answers to the top of the page, making them easy to spot.
Vetting users
The reality is, you can’t verify if the people are who they say they are. The same goes for whether they possess the resume and achievements they do. Those that join the Quora Partner Program get vetted by the platform, however. That’s because ads are placed in-between their questions or answers. Other users are free to edit their profile and profess whatever they want. The only way to gauge their competency is by reading what they wrote. Unfortunately, for that, you need to possess knowledge of the topic already.