How will Askville fail?
December 21, 2006 12:01 PM Subscribe
How will Askville fail?
Amazon just launched a Askville, a place to ask real questions from real people. Sample question: "Am I the only person who doesn't find Cameron Diaz particularly attractive?"
Amazon just launched a Askville, a place to ask real questions from real people. Sample question: "Am I the only person who doesn't find Cameron Diaz particularly attractive?"
This post was deleted for the following reason: this is not really a question, more of an axegrind. Since we are trying NOT to make AskMetafilter fail, would you mind asking again when you have a problem to be solved? Thank you.
Askville: What website can I go to ask questions that isn't flooded with douchebags?. That was probably a little bit mean, but whatever. I'm glad Askville exists. Keeps out the riff-raff from askMeFi.
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:04 PM on December 21, 2006
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:04 PM on December 21, 2006
Well, it could fail by being chatfilter, like your question. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Define "fail". 5 people have answers the Cameron Diaz question, so my guess is it's succeeding. YahooAnswers is flourishing as well. Amazon's thinking is that if it gets people coming back to Amazon four or five times a day, instead of maybe the one or two times a week they go to the retail site otherwise, it's a success.
posted by Pastabagel at 12:06 PM on December 21, 2006
Define "fail". 5 people have answers the Cameron Diaz question, so my guess is it's succeeding. YahooAnswers is flourishing as well. Amazon's thinking is that if it gets people coming back to Amazon four or five times a day, instead of maybe the one or two times a week they go to the retail site otherwise, it's a success.
posted by Pastabagel at 12:06 PM on December 21, 2006
It won't fail. It will just sputter along in mediocrity, with boring answers from dim bulbs.
posted by smackfu at 12:07 PM on December 21, 2006
posted by smackfu at 12:07 PM on December 21, 2006
And too many leading questions.
posted by box at 12:08 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 12:08 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
Upon further exploration of the site, I am convinced that Amazon is run by geniuses. Look at this thread. That's quite a lot of very pertinent ad placement. Drones like to click on ads, because you have to remember stuff to be able to use the address bar.
Also, the avatars are the stuff lowest common denominator web content is made of. All it takes is an avatar of a pretty girl and the drones will flood the thread, vyingas they do for a chance to fertilize the queen.
Metafilter - Best $5 I ever spent.
posted by Pastabagel at 12:15 PM on December 21, 2006
Also, the avatars are the stuff lowest common denominator web content is made of. All it takes is an avatar of a pretty girl and the drones will flood the thread, vyingas they do for a chance to fertilize the queen.
Metafilter - Best $5 I ever spent.
posted by Pastabagel at 12:15 PM on December 21, 2006
What's wrong with "Am I the only person who doesn't find Cameron Diaz particularly attractive?" as a question for Askville?
It wouldn't be an appropriate question for AskMe, to be sure, because AskMe isn't intended to be a site for answering that sort of question. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because AskMe and Askville have some superficial similarites, they have the same underlying purpose. Just because a question is unsuitable for AskMe does not mean it is, or even should be, banned from all question sites.
If you want to know what's going to happen to Askville, you might compare it to other ask-a-question sites, which include AskMe, Yahoo Answers, Google Answers, and the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Of those four, I would suggest that Askville is most like Yahoo Answers. And whether Yahoo Answers has failed or not depends on your definition of fail, but at least it's still there.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2006
It wouldn't be an appropriate question for AskMe, to be sure, because AskMe isn't intended to be a site for answering that sort of question. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because AskMe and Askville have some superficial similarites, they have the same underlying purpose. Just because a question is unsuitable for AskMe does not mean it is, or even should be, banned from all question sites.
If you want to know what's going to happen to Askville, you might compare it to other ask-a-question sites, which include AskMe, Yahoo Answers, Google Answers, and the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Of those four, I would suggest that Askville is most like Yahoo Answers. And whether Yahoo Answers has failed or not depends on your definition of fail, but at least it's still there.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Anonymous at 12:03 PM on December 21, 2006