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I used to love futuristic movies as a kid. In 1990s Hollywood made us imagine that the future world would be a utopia where human factor would be minimised and electronic machines would control the cities, maintain security and restore information. Boys of my age were mesmerized by flying cars and digitalized weapons whereas I was fascinated as a girl by the flow and accessibility of information and visuals. At the time, even internet was an unfamiliar and intimidating platform. Watching voice commanded cars, rhetina reading security systems, touch tone computers were all part of a technological dream. Demolition Man was one of those movies that made me think that in a few decades information technologies will revolutionize the way we get information and interact with each other. Although the movie took us to an unrealistic setting, alternate Los Angeles where there was no crime and chaos, and people greeted each other saying ‘Be well,’ I truly liked the idea of connecting to the world through an ATM-like-computer on the street.
When I first heard of Quora and read its mission statement, it reminded me of a scene from Demolition Man. It was the scene where Wesley Snipes’ character, the evil criminal from the 20th century, was using the interactive ATM-like-computer that connected him to an infinite database where one can retrieve everything. This was revolutionary for me who was juggling with various encyclopedia to reach the info I needed.
Today, we have very many sources of information. Maybe, more than we need. That’s why we need to be selective when we research and try to get to reliable sources and accurate information. Sometimes we have questions that need to be answered by experts, sometimes we are the experts that can help others. With the aim to connect the one who knows with the one who inquires, former Facebook employees founded Quora, an online Q&A site that collects questions and answers from the users who have the access to create, edit and organize all contents. According to the web page, people use Quora to document the world around them. Quora team has an ambitious target: The database of knowledge on Quora should grow at a point where almost everything that anyone wants to know would be available in the system. When knowledge is put into Quora, it is archived forever and shared with anyone who would like to refer to that piece of information.
What is asked in Quora? Among recent questions, you can see diverse topics from different regions: ‘Who are the best French-language musicians of all time? What is China’s Qixi Festival? Is the toll expensive for a drive from Vienna to Berlin and back? What are the most famous newspapers on financial and market news for the BRIC countries? What are the biggest obstacles to Russia’s economic growth?’
Every input – question or answer – is open to improvement. Quora can be edited by everyone who knows how to improve it. It is like Wikipedia where people put content, edit and check quality of the information. As one writes questions, the best way is to tag questions to topics of interest. So that people who are interested to know about the topic will access the info easily. I think what is unique about Quora is that every question or answer is tied back to a real person. Either you write an answer or edit someone else’s answer; your changes are displayed with your name. Members of Quora use their real names and pictures as well as a short bio describing who they are. This feature helps you understand whether you read an expert’s opinion or amateur’s.
Who came up with this idea of question and answers databank? Founders and lead officers of Quora are not new to the social media scene. The team is made up of former Facebook employees. One of the two founders, Adam D’Angelo was previously CTO and VP of Engineering at Facebook. The other founder, Harvard graduate Charlie Cheever was in charge of leading Facebook Connect and Facebook Platform. The Product Designer Rebekah Cox was also building and designing interfaces as well as overseeing the Product Design at Facebook. Kevin Der, who is in charge of Communication Design & User Experience, previously worked at Pixar and Facebook.
If you have a Facebook account, it only takes a few minutes to be a member of Quora and start asking questions.
In the years to come we will see whether this Q&A venture will bring a new breath to social media and change the way we get information.
Ela Erozan Gürsel writes a weekly column named “Değişim Yelpazesi ” on global business trends for Dünya Gazetesi on behalf of Datassist for almost two years. Her feature topics include: green energy; climate change; impacts of financial crisis on companies, sectors and regions; innovative technologies in sciences, human resources and management; social networks transforming business and politics; changing dynamics of marketing and branding.
She also writes articles for international magazines published in Singapore.
Prior to her writing career, she worked at Datassist as a Project Manager in a project that combines human resources and mobile communications with the aim to connect blue-collar workers and employers through mobile phones. Before engaging in this exciting project, she was in pharmaceutical sales working for a multinational company. She graduated from American University, Washington, DC, majoring in International Studies with a concentration on International Business and Europe. She worked in Washington D.C. as an Account Manager at a boutique telemarketing firm that specializes in fund raising and publication renewals. She speaks Turkish, English, French, and Spanish. She currently resides in Singapore with her husband.
