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technology
understand
I get my answers collapsed on a regular basis because they are not mainstream. Then main way they are not mainstream is that they are thoughtful. But this is a culture of soundbites, and so if you have something to say that is more than a few sentences then you are cut off.
The most frustrating thing about Quora is returning to an answer after I have spent quite a bit of time working on it to find it collapsed. Basically this makes me feel as if my opinion was censored. And it make it so others do not get to see what I have to say on the subject, which they might find more enlightening than the various soundbites that are normally available.
But in the end I do not care, because I place all my answers on another service which I control and I advertise that instead of the Quora site. Basically I believe what others have said that either Quora is going to degenerate due to their poor design decisions, or they will become irrelevant because someone will figure out that by designing a better system for the expression of thoughts, Quora is just not worth bothering with anymore.
For me Quora is just an advertising medium for my own substantive quasi-academic work. But since I take all my material and make it available via Google Docs and I advertise those answers on G+ and Twitter, I see Quora only as a means of getting the initial idea for a new commentary on some topic. But the basic carrier for this information are my various blogs and Google Docs. So to me Quora as a platform is irrelevant.
When someone comes up with an actually good socially appropriate design I will jump ship immediately. I thought I found that in Namesake but it went bottoms up overnight, and I think the same thing could easily happen to Quora because the public is fickle, and the fact it is clear that Quora has a certain arrogance toward its content creators, makes for a lot of discontent which may eventually lead to its demise.
I think that the only thing that Quora has done is show that there is a market for the Question and Answer format beyond what is available on StackOverflow. People want real answers not manufactured ones like we see in other sites like Ask.com.
Now that there is a proof of concept it is just a matter of making a design that works better, and I believe that who ever does that will attract content providers like myself. Quora is exploiting the content providers because it intends to sell our work, without giving us anything, so we should not feel any compunction to move on and create our own competing service when the time is right and enough people realize the problems with Quora are insurmountable due to their ignorance of what they are actually trying to do, and their arrogance with respect to the way they treat content providers.
I have a Ph.D. in Sociology, and a Ph.D. in Systems Design and so I know about what I am talking about, I am not just talking through my hat, as it were. What is said in this post is the truth about Quroa at a deep level and the fact that they don't recognize it and do something about it, means that they are headed toward the trash-bin of history eventually. I suggest all content providers keep their own copies of their works. I have them copyrighted on my own sites, and this material could be moved to another better site overnight. Everyone should be ready to move and take their content with them at a moments notice. We will hang out here until something better comes along, but as soon as someone who is responsive to the needs of the content providers comes along we are out of here. We are the heart of Quora, without us they are nothing, and they are merely planning to make money off of our works without truly serving our needs. Slowly the anger about this implicit exploitation will grow as it has for scientists against Scientific Journals, who have started their own open journals and are now starting to boycott the publishers of closed journals who have been exploiting them and closing off knowledge behind fire walls for years making money off the backs of academics who get nothing for their works. Quora needs to read the tea leaves and smell the coffee because if they don't respond to the needs of their Content providers with a system that actually works properly, then they will be abandoned by those content providers and will go elsewhere, and we can let the people who can down vote but cannot give answers themselves have the system to themselves. If you want to see other similar and perhaps more grave design flaws in Quora discussed see my other posts on questions and answers on quora. In truth Stack exchange is much better in this regard. But they deal mostly with technical questions and answers and this more general format is something new with Quora.
Anyone who wants to design a better quora, I would be happy to consult with them on that design, or just read my answers concerning questions and answers and address those issues I bring up there. Actually down voting is really irrelevant if you back up your answers here to a source that you control. I recommend the podcasts of Todd Cochrane at Geeknewscentral.com as a reference for the importance of controlling your own brand and your own content. Follow his advice and you will not go wrong.
Most of my answers are in the Question That Contains Assumptions topic.
Maybe the Quora admins will be happy, knowing that the page views will be going high, pleasing the lowest common denominator, but we will go elsewhere and get fixated on the new thing, leaving them with the old thing.
This has given me my 4th startup idea. I'll let you know once I've started launching websites.
This is why Quora should sell to Facebook like Mark Zuckerberg wants. That way, everyone would be included and connected.
I got my question regarding stupid questions deleted by an admin. o_O
What would happen if all collapsed answers were deleted?
They provide no value to Quora, right?
technologyunderstand
tynamite
Kent Palmer
I agree with the tenor of this answer if not all the details and it confirms what I have been saying for some time about Quora not understanding the nature of Questions and Answers and thus having a poor design, but not recognizing it nor trying to change it so that the site improves.I get my answers collapsed on a regular basis because they are not mainstream. Then main way they are not mainstream is that they are thoughtful. But this is a culture of soundbites, and so if you have something to say that is more than a few sentences then you are cut off.
The most frustrating thing about Quora is returning to an answer after I have spent quite a bit of time working on it to find it collapsed. Basically this makes me feel as if my opinion was censored. And it make it so others do not get to see what I have to say on the subject, which they might find more enlightening than the various soundbites that are normally available.
But in the end I do not care, because I place all my answers on another service which I control and I advertise that instead of the Quora site. Basically I believe what others have said that either Quora is going to degenerate due to their poor design decisions, or they will become irrelevant because someone will figure out that by designing a better system for the expression of thoughts, Quora is just not worth bothering with anymore.
For me Quora is just an advertising medium for my own substantive quasi-academic work. But since I take all my material and make it available via Google Docs and I advertise those answers on G+ and Twitter, I see Quora only as a means of getting the initial idea for a new commentary on some topic. But the basic carrier for this information are my various blogs and Google Docs. So to me Quora as a platform is irrelevant.
When someone comes up with an actually good socially appropriate design I will jump ship immediately. I thought I found that in Namesake but it went bottoms up overnight, and I think the same thing could easily happen to Quora because the public is fickle, and the fact it is clear that Quora has a certain arrogance toward its content creators, makes for a lot of discontent which may eventually lead to its demise.
I think that the only thing that Quora has done is show that there is a market for the Question and Answer format beyond what is available on StackOverflow. People want real answers not manufactured ones like we see in other sites like Ask.com.
Now that there is a proof of concept it is just a matter of making a design that works better, and I believe that who ever does that will attract content providers like myself. Quora is exploiting the content providers because it intends to sell our work, without giving us anything, so we should not feel any compunction to move on and create our own competing service when the time is right and enough people realize the problems with Quora are insurmountable due to their ignorance of what they are actually trying to do, and their arrogance with respect to the way they treat content providers.
I have a Ph.D. in Sociology, and a Ph.D. in Systems Design and so I know about what I am talking about, I am not just talking through my hat, as it were. What is said in this post is the truth about Quroa at a deep level and the fact that they don't recognize it and do something about it, means that they are headed toward the trash-bin of history eventually. I suggest all content providers keep their own copies of their works. I have them copyrighted on my own sites, and this material could be moved to another better site overnight. Everyone should be ready to move and take their content with them at a moments notice. We will hang out here until something better comes along, but as soon as someone who is responsive to the needs of the content providers comes along we are out of here. We are the heart of Quora, without us they are nothing, and they are merely planning to make money off of our works without truly serving our needs. Slowly the anger about this implicit exploitation will grow as it has for scientists against Scientific Journals, who have started their own open journals and are now starting to boycott the publishers of closed journals who have been exploiting them and closing off knowledge behind fire walls for years making money off the backs of academics who get nothing for their works. Quora needs to read the tea leaves and smell the coffee because if they don't respond to the needs of their Content providers with a system that actually works properly, then they will be abandoned by those content providers and will go elsewhere, and we can let the people who can down vote but cannot give answers themselves have the system to themselves. If you want to see other similar and perhaps more grave design flaws in Quora discussed see my other posts on questions and answers on quora. In truth Stack exchange is much better in this regard. But they deal mostly with technical questions and answers and this more general format is something new with Quora.
Anyone who wants to design a better quora, I would be happy to consult with them on that design, or just read my answers concerning questions and answers and address those issues I bring up there. Actually down voting is really irrelevant if you back up your answers here to a source that you control. I recommend the podcasts of Todd Cochrane at Geeknewscentral.com as a reference for the importance of controlling your own brand and your own content. Follow his advice and you will not go wrong.
tynamite
Me
Please repost your collapsed answers into my Upvote Cabal board so I can read it. I fully agree with everything you've said.
tynamite
Elizabeth
I strongly feel that Quora should at least notify people when an answer is collapsed.
tynamite
Me
Same here. I get 1-3 answers collapsed for every 10 that I write, and it's just ridiculous.
tynamite
Stephen
Why? On what sort of topics?
tynamite
Me
Every topic.Most of my answers are in the Question That Contains Assumptions topic.
tynamite
Jevan
You are able to articulate everything I feel about this site. They have finally accomplished their goal; I'm gonna take all my answers from here and start my own blog then deactivate my account. I don't conform to the circle jerk here so I'll just go elsewhere. The sad part is so many people leave this site for the exact same reasons you listed. It's no wonder site activity is so low; only a handful of users are encouraged to engage.
tynamite
Me
What will happen is what always happens to websites like this. All the intelligent people like us will leave the website, leaving the rest to rot in squalor.Maybe the Quora admins will be happy, knowing that the page views will be going high, pleasing the lowest common denominator, but we will go elsewhere and get fixated on the new thing, leaving them with the old thing.
tynamite
Achilleas
Perhaps you will be interested in reading the pages under Evaporative Cooling (Social Dynamics)
tynamite
Jevan
Yea and the sad part is this site has great potential, the best question answer site I've ever been on but sadly they just don't care about improving the product. Traffic is low, new user activity is almost nonexistent, and it is all because they refuse to take any steps on fair moderation. O well, I'm not waiting any longer. I'm wasting my time here and will go start a blog that is 100% anticensorship
tynamite
Me
Let me know once you launch it.This has given me my 4th startup idea. I'll let you know once I've started launching websites.
This is why Quora should sell to Facebook like Mark Zuckerberg wants. That way, everyone would be included and connected.
I got my question regarding stupid questions deleted by an admin. o_O
tynamite
Alan
Interesting. Is it true? No new users? Sounds like a failing program. I agree that there are many very attractive things here; it could be a truly GREAT site. That's why I still care.
tynamite
Jaeae
What are the other applications or sites that disapprove any answers or questions they deem inappropriate or enjoyable?
tynamite
Me in 2014
Reddit.
Most people here are not open minded. They dislike others who have different opinions than them. Sadly they don't believe that downvoting answers purely for disagreeing with them, to constitiute as censorship. This causes herd mentality, where a majority group downvotes the minority group, despite a substantial answer.
Quora doesn't provide notifications for when answers are downvoted, which implies that certain stances are disapproved without repair. That no matter how much the answer is articulate, sufficent, or soft spoken; it can never be considered an acceptable answer for the public, even though it is.
Duplicate answers are not allowed on Quora, so different perspectives should be embraced with open arms. What is instead happening, is what always happens. The lesser popular users get their top answer and 15 minutes of fame, then after the ripples of activity is made, the more popular users jump in, and take that person's former glory.
This is due to bad product design. It's fine now, as site activity is low.
So if all collapsed answers were deleted, we would lose a lot of value from this website, as most of the collapsed answers do not deserve to be collapsed.
However, Quora admins do not care about this. All they care about, is making sure that every question possible, even stupid ones, and ones you can find on Google; be answered. Quora wants to be the source of all information and all questions.
If Quora really wants to upthrone Wikipedia and not be the next Answerology, they should adopt a better policy towards downvotes, downvoter bias, and collapsed answers.
Collapsed answers provide a fresh context to the situation at hand, and allow people to learn the truth that we don't want to hear. Let's not forget that most of these answers aren't flagged.