Well-Thumbed

I’m not a Quora supporter – for many of the reasons Saneel Radia outlines in his post at BBH Labs – but I think Leslie Barry also makes a strong argument for Quora’s [potential] value in providing the most relevant answers to queries and that the logic raises some interesting questions.
Namely, I find it telling that these arguments against and for seem to stem from how the writers classify Quora within the web taxonomy. If we view Quora as a social media stream that provides relevant content throughout the day, then its susceptibility to spam and self-aggrandizement are hard to overlook.
If Quora is primarily a space for answering queries – like a search engine – then it does seem to excel in refining intent while allowing for serendipity – or it might if the user base expands enough to reach its potential. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that Quora really provides the quicker path from question to most valuable answer. Quality is inversely related to both scale and speed. If I want an immediate answer I’m not going to Quora because I don’t want to wait around for the right self-aggrandizer to answer my query. Serendipity might take too long.
The constant question posed by Web 2.0 enterprises is: who are our competitors? Is Google competing with Facebook or Microsoft? Is Apple competing with Android or HTC? There are no clear answers in this highly diversified cross-platform space. In order for a new venture like Quora to survive, however, it probably needs to prove its niche worth or take out competitors in search or social media.
I think Quora will ultimately prove its value after other people have already posed your question, received answers, the page has been indexed, and you find it upon a Google search. Until then (assuming that far-off future exists) Quora will be little more than a stream of spam and self-appointed guruisms.