Over the last week question and answer website Quora, now slap bang on every 'companies to watch in 2011 list', has been causing a hubbub not only in inboxes as users fail to turn off the alerts feature but also across Twitter. Whilst the two serve different features, the gushing Tweets about it so far have prompted many to ask "will Quora be bigger than Twitter?"
To be distinguished from Kiora, the fruit flavoured drink that rose to fame in the '90s, the site is essentially a smarter Yahoo Answers. Notably though, this in itself isn't too exciting. Quora offers more in-depth answers than Answers, whilst not solely focusing on tech (a quick search providing results for knitting and cooking) but the emphasis is on who is using it, and that's tech geeks, which is easily reflected in the content.
At somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 users at present, as more sign up to the site, this early-adopter geekery niche may disappear. And you have to wonder how Quora will avoid resembling the IT Crowd's geeky Moss and Roy infiltrating footie fans at the pub, talking for the sake of being part of a clan than to share worthwhile conversations.
With the advantage of being able to vote answers up and down (not a ground-breaking concept in itself), unhelpful answers should disappear down the page. Where this currently differs from just being a nerdy version of Yahoo Answers is people's enthusiasm to provide longer thought-out answers - and the phrase "I thought I'd write this here instead of blog it" is not rare. However, this cross of Twitter's "following" feature and asking and answering questions, what can be seen as essentially more targeted blogging, this is likely as far as the concept of 'Twitter killer' can spread.
Crucially, Quora also allows you to follow certain users (and flooded inboxes this week have reminded everyone of this sterling feature) which lets you choose to read questions and answers from industry leaders and people who basically know their stuff - Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley and Twitter's Evan Williams have already poked their heads in to voice their thoughts. Another upside is that following people essentially creates a timeline of activity for the lazy-user to follow. I've been doing this, and seeing what other people want to talk about is pretty interesting.
In the best case, it's transparent informed thinking to the (targeted) masses, a chance to show off your thinking. As NMA's Justin Pearse says, "Social media gurus are over. It's all about quora gurus now." Comments such as 'I've been reading but haven't posted anything yet' reflect this and the constant awareness that all will be able to see what you've written.
This is, dependent on what you write, both good and bad. It may make someone think more of you - or less. It is an exchange of information and place of debate - the modern day extra-large coffee house? - but it's one that keeps your history for all (both potential employers and peers) to see.
Whilst Quora offers an opt-in/opt-out option to be findable in Google, locating users isn't that hard. It may affect the way we approach future employees - positioning ourselves as big thinkers, hunting out future employers on the site. It's no surprise. This happens on Twitter but the main difference is that Quora will - or should - be more measured.
So, whilst it's unlikely to kill off Twitter as they're incredibly different, it might be wise to brace yourself for tech friends gushing, not about Foursquare or the hip new augmented reality, but about the new concept of asking people questions. Habermas would be dead chuffed.