When I first started blogging on MEGOAgain.com in 2007 it was because I was excited about the new world of new media, and wanted to share what I was learning.  I wrote about using RSS Readers and Social Bookmarking and of course Twitter.  For the last few years I have tried many of the new social tools that have popped up but none have kept me up to 1:30 in the morning playing like Twitter did in 2007. None, until I tried Quora.

What is Quora?

Quora is a website where you can ask a question on any topic and then the community will answer them. There is a potential to receive multiple responses to your question. The community can help you sort the good from the bad by voting answers up and down.  You can follow topics of interest to you, or search for existing questions before asking your own.

Why is Quora interesting?

Like any social network there are always naysayers who wonder what’s the point. For Twitter they asked who is going to want to hear what you had for breakfast? And, for Quora they question how it is different from other Q & A sites that exist.  It will be interesting to see where Quora goes if it goes mainstream but for the time being I think it will keep people coming back for a few reasons:

• With the ability to vote answers up and down, the good stuff floats to the top
• Quora allows users to create a summary of the responses (take a look at the response to Who are the best female speakers on the topic of Social Media?)
• With the addition of the “voting” on answers there is a bit of gaming excitment. Did your answer get voted up? Down? I love going into a question I responded to and see it at the top! Yes, public recognition matters – we are human.
• Ability to be thanked and thank others for answers. It is nice to know that someone read your post and it was helpful to them. #warmandfuzzy
• The quality of responses is currently amazing. With experts, influencers, and other movers and shakers participating you can find questions answered by “experts” on a variety of subjects. A question about Forbes received a response by the Executive Editor of Forbes  and a question about casting is answered by Ashton Kutcher. Yes,  Ashton Kutcher is on Quora.
• I can follow topics of interest and my friends which guarantess that each time I sign in there is new stuff that is relevant to me in my news feed.
• Easy to share content of interest on other social networks that I already particpate in.

So here is where I get really excited….

What is the potential for a customer service team in social media?

The obvious potential is for employees at brands to respond to questions on Quora.  If a company has active participants in social media channels they could respond to questions where the community has been unable to help (unanswered topics) or respond where misinformation has occurred.  In addition I see a few other opportunities for monitoring and gathering insight:

Monitoring: I would suggest companies should at the very least be paying attention to what people are discussing about their brands on Quora. It goes without saying that a company should have an ear to the ground on the entire web. Monitoring should be step 1 on Quora. Also noteworthy, thanks to @jowyang it seems Quora creates Twitter accounts for some brands (see comments on his recent blog post Quora for Business currently not allowed but you should still monitor).  These Quora created Twitter accounts can make it easy for a cutomer support team to monitor questions related to their brand. A few examples: BlackBerry; Zappos, Intel.

Gather Insight: By listening to the conversations a business can gather insight and feedback on their products/services. What are some of the Frequently asked Questions? Why?

An important note for businesses considering responding on Quora – Quora doesn’t allow accounts for organizations only humans. So, your staff will need to set up individual accounts and within their profile/title show association to the company. With any social network – remember to play by the rules, understand best practices and etiquette before jumping in. This post on Quora – a Marketer’s Manifesto does a great job of outlining guidelines for businesses participating in Quora.

What do you think of Quora? What is the potential for social customer service?