[programminggeek]

Quora is great for geeks, but I've always found it off-putting that you have to sign in with facebook to see all the content. I understand why they do it, but I just don't much like it. One more point of friction maybe? I'm not sure.

Also, a lot of the best discussion on Quora is too "inside baseball" in the tech world. It has amazing discussions on frameworks, scaling, interesting company history on Facebook, Google, etc. but I just can't see people outside of tech using Quora. Why would my non-techie wife use Quora? Why would people who already latched on to Stack Exchange sites, Yahoo Answers, and so on use Quora?

[kinkora]

Firstly, you don't need Facebook to login. I signed up with an email account and I've always been using that to login.

I was also attracted to Quora due to the more "techy" questions and answers that they have[1] but I've noticed for the past year or so, there are quite a lot of interesting non-techy questions and answers that people like your non-techy wife will enjoy.

In example:

1. What are some news stories that the American mainstream media completely misconstrued and/or presented out of context that ended up helping change American laws or culture? http://www.quora.com/digest/track_click?source=1&tid&...

2. Why is there this belief that the USA is a conservative country? http://www.quora.com/digest/track_click?source=1&tid&...

3. What are some things that airline pilots won't tell you? http://www.quora.com/digest/track_click?source=3&tid&...

4. What is the most beautiful number, and why? http://www.quora.com/digest/track_click?source=3&tid&...

I can give you more but they do have a lot of interesting questions (and answers) about politics, life, science, etc.

[1]disclaimer: I've been a Quora user for nearly 3 years.

[incision]

>Firstly, you don't need Facebook to login.

As I recall, Quora did require a Facebook account for a while [1]. I imagine that someone initially put off by that requirement isn't going to be particularly inclined to continually check back to see if/when it changes.

Also, since removing the Facebook requirement the means to sign-up with an email address has gone through several iterations of varying unobviousness.

1: http://www.quora.com/Why-did-Quora-decide-to-stop-requiring-...

[earbitscom]

I've used Quora for all kinds of things outside of tech, including diving deep into shows like Breaking Bad to understand the symbolism and other aspects of it. I've used it to ask questions when I lived in a new area for a few months. It can be very useful beyond just talking startups and technology.

[intellegacy]

Interestingly enough, Quora's beginning userbase may doom it to forever niche status. The people, while intelligent, seem a little edgy and too sure of their opinions. From what I've observed, this attitude is very off-putting to non-techie, normal people who just want to have a conversation and learn something.

I have a new vision for a website, targeting those dissatisfied with Quora. You can see it here. http://pozium.com/vision.html

[sedachv]

There already was a non-edgy, mainstream Q&A site for normal people before Quora got on the scene: Yahoo Answers. This video is a good summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_RaPOOVX1Y

[theorique]

This may be non-PC, but I think the IQs and maturity of the Quora users and their responses is head and shoulders above those of Yahoo! Answers.

This may be a function of niche vs wide adoption, or real name usage on Quora, but regardless, it's a very apparent effect.

[intellegacy]

Their mean IQs surely are. Know what else sometimes comes with smart people?

Snark, arrogance, responses that come flying at you. Mainstream people don't want to post on Quora. They're intimidated. One of the insecurities of dumb people is to have their dumb-ness pointed out. In their philosophy to ensure quality answers, they've driven away a lot of potential users.

There are some really intelligent, insightful answers on Quora. There's also a lot of attitude.

The sad thing is, Quora is a wonderful niche site. But since they've taken VC money and there are so many expectations in the startup world, they've put themselves in a tough situation in regards to growth. Though they should probably stick to the 'intelligent professional' niche, they probably need to pickup more mainstream users to justify valuations; but it's hard to go mainstream now with the userbase they've built up.

[theorique]

Yeah, I see this a lot in the atheism v. religion debates on Quora (big surprise I'm sure).

[rhizome]

I think a part of the reason is that those people want those posts to be associated with their meatspace identity.