Well, LinkedIn certainly found a unique way to fix the Expert problem.
Instead of dumping the designation, LinkedIn is dumping Answers.
To top that off, LinkedIn announced last month it’s partnering with Quora.
So many questions, so few answers.
Out of Answers
On January 31, 2013, LinkedIn will shut down the Answers feature.
The platform was a forum where you could post a question and receive answers (or opinions) on a variety of subjects.
Except for the silly Expert designation assigned to answers rated the best, I liked the forum. I used it in a number of ways.
- To answer questions in my specialty
- To ask purchasing questions on techie stuff
- To get ideas for blog posts
I often found Answers more expedient than the 4 bajillion Groups with members more bent on selling than helping.
Quora Leap
I checked out Quora when I first heard about it.
The title of my post, Jumping on the Quora Bandwagon? Think Twice, probably gives you a pretty good idea what I thought about it.
I have not been back since, but I did leave my profile up. And I’ve noticed an increased number of notifications that various people are following me now on Quora.
Keeping my mouth shut works wonders.
LinkedIn, in its ongoing partner shuffle, added Quora to the In crowd.
- You can connect LinkedIn from your Quora settings page
- You can share your Quora Q&As to your LinkedIn profile
Before we all jump on that Quora bandwagon, remember partnerships come and go. Just look at all the changes on LinkedIn.
I will admit, the increase in followers had me considering revisiting Quora to see if much has changed.
I didn’t find it as welcoming or as easy to use as LinkedIn’s Answers, but that might have changed.
What I appreciate most about a Q&A forum is the following.
- You are welcomed and never made to feel stupid
- The underlying motive is helping each other
- The platform is easy to use
How about you?
What do you look for in a Q&A forum?
Have you used Quora? What do you think?
Please share your thoughts in Comments.
P.S. Sorry I have been M.I.A. A stomach bug decided to take home in my body.
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Cathy, I joined Quora when it first launched, but it didn’t feel like a good investment on my time.
I also haven’t used LinkedIn’s Q and A, but I can say that overall I haven’t been happy with the many changes LinkedIn has made in recent months. It’s become more difficult to use for the things I do, and I also wonder of the Endorsement feature (which I don’t really like) is diminishing the importance of Recommendations (which I do like).
That’s what I thought as well about Quora, John. I really thought it would be for my health care niche, but I found it took too much effort.
I think all these changes point to why it so important to maintain your own site with social media pointing back to it. It is really frustrating to invest so much time (like I did with many of the applications on LinkedIn) only to have them disappear.
Thanks for weighing in, John.
Never used the Answers section, so I guess I won’t miss it. Quora is entirely new to me. When I want answers, I turn to other sources. It would be nice if one resource had it all, but it’s not necessary from LinkedIn, in my view. I see that as a great professional networking site, but the Answers section never hit my radar for some reason.
One less thing to worry about for you, Lori. Isn’t that nice? 🙂