Changes

Launched in very late 2005, [http://answers.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Answers] became the [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384345/ second-most popular] reference website after Wikipedia in less than a year's time.  Seeded with "Featured Questions" to get the juices flowing, in the earliest days these might have included questions such as:

Launched in very late 2005, [http://answers.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Answers] became the [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384345/ second-most popular] reference website after Wikipedia in less than a year's time.  Seeded with "Featured Questions" to get the juices flowing, in the earliest days these might have included questions such as:

 

    <li>Are all [http://web.archive.org/web/20051220075200/http://answers.yahoo.com/ snowflakes] really different?</li>

::Are all [http://web.archive.org/web/20051220075200/http://answers.yahoo.com/ snowflakes] really different?

    <li>What's your favorite [http://web.archive.org/web/20051211040657/http://answers.yahoo.com/ chocolate] recipe?</li>

::What's your favorite [http://web.archive.org/web/20051211040657/http://answers.yahoo.com/ chocolate] recipe?

 

The database allows anonymous posters to ask questions for free, and it allows any registered user to respond to questions (under the "free" model, which means people doing substantially meritorious work get paid the exact same amount as a prankster posting jokes -- not a dime).  Why would people contribute time and effort for free?  It would seem that the elaborate grading system that awards "points" to players participating in the knowledge marketplace is sufficient enticement to keep the site populated.

The database allows anonymous posters to ask questions for free, and it allows any registered user to respond to questions (under the "free" model, which means people doing substantially meritorious work get paid the exact same amount as a prankster posting jokes -- not a dime).  Why would people contribute time and effort for free?  It would seem that the elaborate grading system that awards "points" to players participating in the knowledge marketplace is sufficient enticement to keep the site populated.

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<td class="photocaption" style="text-align: center;">#2 online reference site?</td>

<td class="photocaption" style="text-align: center;">#2 online reference site?</td>

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For the past few months, I myself have been asking questions and contributing answers to Yahoo! queries in the categories I'm most adept -- market research, travel, and Wikipedia.  I admit, it is predictably addictive to see myself rise up from nowhere to (currently) the [http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/stars?sid=2115500146 fifth best] contributor on a topic.  But, I have ulterior motives, too.  By watching and answering questions, I've been building up some material for this very Akahele article, while occasionally posting a link to other Akahele articles, when appropriate.

For the past few months, I myself have been asking questions and contributing answers to Yahoo! queries in the categories I'm most adept -- market research, travel, and Wikipedia.  I admit, it is predictably addictive to see myself rise up from nowhere to (currently) the [http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/stars?sid=2115500146 fifth best] contributor on a topic.  But, I have ulterior motives, too.  By watching and answering questions, I've been building up some material for this very Akahele article, while occasionally posting a link to other Akahele articles, when appropriate.

<strong>Lost souls</strong>

==Lost souls==

From my recent experience, I have found both the questions and most of the answers delivered on the Yahoo! platform to reveal a careless level of engagement at best, to an appalling lack of sensibility at worst.  Indeed, Jacob Leibenluft [http://www.slate.com/id/2179393/pagenum/all/ writing in ''Slate''] called Yahoo! Answers "every middle-school teacher's worst nightmare about the Web".

From my recent experience, I have found both the questions and most of the answers delivered on the Yahoo! platform to reveal a careless level of engagement at best, to an appalling lack of sensibility at worst.  Indeed, Jacob Leibenluft [http://www.slate.com/id/2179393/pagenum/all/ writing in ''Slate''] called Yahoo! Answers "every middle-school teacher's worst nightmare about the Web".