Lately, an apparently older concept is witnessing a revival: websites where members can ask and answer queries. A host of start-ups in the domain are gathering momentum and managing to attract both eyes of investors and wallets of venture capitalists. A generic albeit interactive idea of question-answer based search sites has for long been largely dominated by some of the high-traffic incumbents such as Yahoo Answers and WikiAnswers.
It is sometimes felt that some platforms are often cluttered with rather repetitive questions, at times. Also, the accuracy and authenticity of the answers provided can be debatable. Their quality can vary wildly. Now, the brains behind the newer sites claim there’s a huge opportunity to be tapped in revamping of the popular question and answer model.
Search for accurate and latest data leads to novel ideas
A section of some enthusiastic entrepreneurs is adopting a slightly modified approach, but the core concept remains the same. The need for this crop of new services can be attributed to an effort and demand to fill in the information gaps a generic Web search fails to satisfy, search experts explain.
You can get to read the Wikipedia information page about the crisis in Egypt or Libya. However, it might not comprehensively reply to an actual question that someone has posed about what’s happening there right now, they elaborate.
Separate and customized topic-specific sites
An expert, a lay reader, a student, a historian all may have something to offer based on the ground situation. Also someone having specific knowledge and awareness would well be able to answer relevant questions in real time. This is the nature of interaction that forms core of ventures like StackExchange. It was launched more than two years ago, initially with a single website or channel. It was solely for programmers who could share their technical expertise.
It has since fast expanded to over 40 separate and customized topic-specific sites. The company looks to build new niche sites in ‘overlapping circles’. For example, even though it began with programmers; many of them with interest in photography started sharing their interest in pictures. So the company soon expanded its channel to photography that took off in no time, and also attracted professional photographers who aren’t programmers.
Tightly knit user base or community
The effort while expanding the question and answer based search platform is to keep the user base or community tightly knit. Of course, another challenge is to maintain the quality and accuracy of answers, which takes most of the effort on its part. In the last year or so, the company has raised $6 million from a well-known investment firm, Union Square Ventures. More than 700,000 users have been drawn to it and have written a question or have left an answer on its different channels.
