When Quora came on the scene I was excited by the prospect of a questions site that might prove useful. However, after spending some time exploring the site I simply couldn’t find the motivation to stay. I would return from time to time to see what had changed and noticed that the populated data seemed to grow at an incredible rate. However, I just didn’t get what all the fuss was about. Part of the problem was that I was never able to garner valuable information in the sea of data. Quora it seems posses the same characteristic as the class of wikis and black holes; that is, data goes in, but information never escapes. However, I recently returned after following a Clojure-related link regarding the rise of functional programming or some such topic and it was then that the appeal of Quora finally dawned on me.

> People LOVE to give their opinion.

In hindsight the realization seems obvious and I must be more dense than I ever imagined to have missed it. Alas, here it is - the secret of Quora. Sadly, I am not sure that this bodes well for Quora. Granted it is a beautiful site and its idea of community classification seems strong, but as a keeper of opinions I fear Quora’s days are numbered. When viewed under this lens it seems obvious what drove the early growth. That is, in the beginning Quora was a vast frontier of unsullied questions awaiting opinion – a virtual pontificator’s nirvana. However, this state can only maintain as long as there are opinions to be provided. Granted the Internet is a veritable cornucopia of opinion, but this is part of the problem. Quora’s competitor is any pretty site willing to provide yet another untainted garden for others’ to plant their sentiments.¹

But this is just my opinion. Take it for what it’s worth.²

:F