Knowledge in Web 2.0

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Knowledge in Web 2.0

• By Brian Sanqui
• March 7, 2007

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Searching for Information

• Certain sites allow registered users to post
  questions which can be answered by others using
  the service.
• Unlike search engines, using a question and
  answer service provides a human touch to the
  matter of looking for data on the internet.

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Positive Aspects

• Having questions answered by other people results
  in answers which are more relevant to the
  question at hand.
• Searches are not necessarily limited to a string
  of keywords more specific questions result in
  more specific answers.

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Negative Aspects

• Waiting for answers to arrive may take longer
  than conducting a web search for the information.
• When multiple answers are received, these answers
  must be sorted by the user for relevance or
  accuracy.

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Companies

• Yahoo! Answers
• Google Answers
• Yedda.com

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About Yahoo! Answers

• One of the earlier companies, and also one of the
  larger companies.
• After attaining a Yahoo! ID, users can post their
  questions or answers.
• Available in multiple languages

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What Sets Yahoo! Answers Apart?

• This service is able to draw upon Yahoo! Internet
  services, allowing users to search for relevant
  information on the Yahoo! Search engine.
• Because anyone with a Yahoo! ID can post and
  answer questions, Yahoo! Answers has a
  comparatively large user base.
• Yahoo! Answers has employed a number of tactics
  to keep users motivated to answering questions.

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About Google Answers

• Google Answers is a fee-based service users
  would pay to have their questions answered by a
  select team of researchers.
• Once a question is answered, others can see the
  answer for free in the Google Answers Archive.

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What Sets Google Answers Apart?

• Questions were answered by contracted
  researchers, ensuring that the given answer was
  an effective and complete response to the
  question.
• Different business model which motivated answers
  for certain questions.

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About Yedda.com

• One of the more recent question and answer
  websites.
• When asking questions, users can provide tags
  which identify topics relevant to the question.
• This information is then used to match questions
  with people who are interested in the topic.
• Yedda also matches question tags with tags in
  user profiles.

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What Sets Yedda.com Apart?

• In addition to unlimited question length, users
  can post images and videos alongside their
  questions.
• Using tags to match askers with appropriate
  knowledge makes finding relevant answers easy.

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Challenges in the Future

• Sorting out answers by relevance or clarity
• Removing questions which are too similar in
  nature
• Keeping users motivated to answer questions as
  quickly as possible