Is Quora Losing Its Intellectual Edge Over Time?

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: Absolutely Not. Intelligence is a complex blend of knowledge, experience, values, skills, reasoning, and problem-solving. Hence, it is very subjective. When you have a perfect blend of audience sharing these qualities at a single platform without any material rewards, you know that you are at the right place.

Quora has always attracted a mix of intellectual and knowledgeable individuals. This diversity ensures that the platform remains a rich ground for intellectual exchange. While it might seem that Quora is broadening its audience to include more ordinary users, this is simply an evolution to cater to a larger community. Just as the platform has grown, so too has the diversity of its content.

Pro Tip: Every platform can be made to suit your requirements. If you like to follow specific topics, follow specific people. Be honest to your taste, and Quora will never disappoint you. Writers are honest, and readers are loyal. Everyone is contributing, and where there is so much good involved, how can that thing be any 'less intelligent'?

Quora's Evolution and Its Impact on Content Quality

Over time, Quora has evolved to attract a broader audience. Initially, it attracted a bunch of geeky brainiac sorts, and it has been working on broadening its user base to include the global population. As its user base becomes more diverse, you will see questions asked by ordinary folks who don't know much. This is to be expected as the platform aims to serve a wider range of users.

The platform has also started outsourcing questions to the Quora-bot, a chatbot designed to provide FOAD (Found On A Device) answers. Questions like “What are some uses of sodium chloride” and “What is the chemical structure of neon” are typical examples of the type of questions the bot might answer. While these questions may not always be the most intellectually stimulating, they do provide a wealth of information for ordinary users.

The content on Quora has also changed over the years, reflecting the evolving interests of its users. In 2018, the platform was experiencing a golden age with interesting philosophically-motivated questions. However, by 2019, the content quality had diminished, with more repetitive and less penetrating questions. Many users found it more difficult to find interesting material to respond to, and some questions were asking simple math questions or naive questions about topics that would be known if the person asking were truly interested.

Reflections From the Past

Earlier Answer from 2018: I have noticed several things pointing in that direction:

The questions have been less directed towards my real interests. About a year or two ago, I was in a golden age. Now practically everything I see is disappointing. Some of the questions are getting repetitive, more than before. For example, there are a lot of questions asking about subjective topics and a lot of questions about franchises like “Who does Batman fight with”. Some of the questions are much less penetrating than they were two years ago. There are more questions about simple math and ‘who’s the greatest at X,’ as if that’s the only thing that matters. The platform has also had more latency and tech issues than before. I have also noticed some of my significant answers being merged and having excellent unique answers deleted because moderation assumes vindictively that certain topics always mean the same thing.

Despite these challenges, Quora remains a valuable platform for content contribution. Many users remain motivated to contribute, and platforms like Quora are priceless mainly because of the content contributed by intellectual contributors like Nathan Coppedge over the years.

So, the next time you encounter questions that are less intellectually stimulating, remember that Quora is evolving to cater to a broader audience. The key is to find what aligns with your interests and stick to those topics. Happy reading!