I just recently started using Quora, the social network based around asking and answering questions founded by several former Facebook staffers, including Adam D'Angelo, their former CTO and VP of Engineering. I can hear you saying already, "Have you been living under a rock? You JUST learned about Quora?" No. I've known about it for awhile, but I just started using it a couple days ago and already find it tremendously useful. I haven't actually asked any questions yet, but I'm already following several topics of interest (such as Silicon Valley and Startups, among other related topics) and a few key people I've identified as interesting or knowledgeable. Once I start asking and answering questions, however, the utility of it can only increase. I'm going to outline some of my first impressions as to why I find it useful:
Knowledgeable People
Quora has a huge population of people with vast knowledge on topics of interest to me, such as technology and related topics, including people those who run or work for startups, VCs and angels, programmers and engineering folks as well as product folks. This is in stark contrast to Facebook questions, which I do find useful but only minimally so and only if I'm searching for a specific question. Quora, on the other hand, I find useful just browsing my followed topics and people. I'm gaining real insights from these folks with real experience relevant to the topic and question. Those who ask the questions also tend to be knowledgeable, and ask detailed, interesting questions. This makes for a winning combination.
This is largely because the service is mostly popular in the Valley at this point and is saturated with those types of people. Think about the way Twitter was early on: it was used mostly by those in the tech sector and there was a lot less "noise" than there is today. The same could be said of Facebook to some degree. In using Quora, I've found very little of the type of noise the plagues Twitter and Facebook Questions, not to mention the utterly useless Yahoo! Answers. This may change with popularity, but I suspect not to the degree we've seen with other services.
Topics
The ability to find new topics based around topics you already follow is valuable in and of itself. The subtopics menu in any given topic is a veritable treasure trove of new things to learn about. It's an educational experience before you even go into a topic. For instance, within the "startups" category, I've found new topics, including: lean startups, pivoting, startups in bangalore and Y Combinator, to name a few.
When following these topics, I've found many questions and answers to be of interest. There is a job utility to Quora, as well; there are questions such as "Which startups in NY are hiring?" as well as "What startups in SF are hiring designers / programmers / etc.." This is particularly valuable given the number of people involved with these companies that are on the service.
Quora provides a richer, more user-centric experience than traditional searching and is a very different experience than traditional social networks. I've heard many questions about what new social service will be the next big thing, and some argue that Quora is it. Given the potential of the service, I tend to agree.
