For Quora, Community Is Everything

(page 2 of 2)

Even Wikipedia—which Cheever says Quora has looked to as a model of how to create a community around "user-generated content"—has had its own growing pains involving its community and the rules that govern who can edit pages. That kind of backlash is one of the reasons Cheever doesn't really like the word "community." While it has lots of good overtones of real-world communities, he says, it can also have a more negative connotation: something closer to an exclusive club, where only certain people are allowed in. Cheever says that, within reason, Quora wants to appeal to as broad a cross-section of people as possible. Unlike Wikipedia, which often removes topics because they aren't deemed "notable" enough, Quora wants as broad a selection of topics as well.

Adapting Policies

A stroll through the site shows questions that range from thoughtful queries about the inside workings of Facebook and what hot Silicon Valley startups are most likely to fail to such esoteric questions as, "What is the best way to track my APM in StarCraft II," to which Cheever himself posted an answer. The Quora founder says he now spends three to four hours a day not just answering questions on the site, but also helping guide users and oversee responses in cases like the Asperger question, where policies need to be adapted or developed.

For now, Quora feels like a really fascinating series of conversations you might overhear while wandering through a particularly popular—but very civilized—bar or restaurant in San Francisco or Palo Alto, Calif. The company's real challenge will be to maintain that civil society even as it scales beyond the core group of like-minded users who, until recently, provided the bulk of activity on the site. And what about competitors, such as Facebook's own Questions feature, which many took as a direct shot at the startup run by two prominent former employees? "We don't really talk about that much," Cheever said. "I don't even know what Facebook Questions is like, really."

Also from GigaOM:

On a Path to Nowhere

Are You Giving Away the Keys to Your Mobile Kingdom?

Is the 'Free' DVR Tivo's Last Stand?

Ten Green Cars to Watch for at the L.A.Auto Show

Why Google Should Fear the Social Web (subscription required)

Provided by GigaOm—

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.