Aol Answers – America Online is now trying to get into the rather overpopulated Q & A category, with its new feature, Aol Answers. The question is, do they offer anything that the other major Q & A players do not already have? Based on my personal familiarity with the existing major players in the field such as Yahoo! Answers, Wiki Answers, Yedda and the like (see the top ones on our Q & A faveline on the Education page), the answer is: not really.
That does not mean however, that making use of Aol Answers is not a rewarding experience. The interface is simple, appealing and user friendly, which makes posting questions or answering other users’ question easy as pie. In addition, the range of Q & A topics you will find here is immense, but so is Yahoo! Answers.’ As I see it, Aol is trying to push itself into an already inundated market, and unless it offers an added value its counterparts do not include, I doubt they will be able to cope with the competition.
FunAdvice – Another cool question-and-answer site in the neighborhood, FunAdvice is here to help you get the information you’re looking for (covering more than 20 categories), and you’re invited to answer others’ questions and make friends along the way. The latter is a nice added value other Q & A sites currently lack, and this is refreshing.
Navigating through FunAdvice is easy and interesting; you can choose between Questions, How-To’s, Updates, Interests, People and more. Although you must be a registered user to be an active FunAdvice member, it’s free, easy to do and totally worth it. I just love it when a site offers a good service and throws in some cool extras for the user community. See this important question many mothers all over will identify with (it includes all the answers users provided).
Quora – Yahoo! Answers is a really cool questions platform I use every now and then, and no matter what field my question concerns, I’m always happy with the answers I receive by the Yahoo! community. So when it was time for me to try out another Q & A service, I was delighted. Quora is a “collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” I just love it when the user community pitches in and helps those in need of information, but it’s important to note Quora’s aim is bigger than that. They stress the importance of accumulated information, as each question & answers page is archived and will be accessible ‘forever.’
The Quora interface is clean and simple, and the question topics are diverse and unique. It’s great to see such a big steadfast participation by the user community. Although the site’s concept isn’t a new one, I seriously think Yahoo! Answers should watch out.
