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Rick Warren Joins Quora; Should You?

Best-selling author and conservative evangelical minister Rick Warren told his followers on Twitter recently that he would join the online Q&A service Quora, stating: "I'm now using Quora to answer your questions that deserve longer answers than a DM."

From a social networking standpoint, it is a progressive move considering that Quora.com, despite its increasing publicity of late, remains outside most mainstream radar signals.

Subsequent to that tweet, "What is Quora?" became abreakout topic on the Internet, though other media coverage concerning the 2009 startup may have played a role for the novel interest.

Mashable recently published an article offering ; like spiritual and financial advice, it is a topic germane to millions of the unemployed who would otherwise ignore unfamiliar online communities.

So while Quora has maintained segregated interested within or tangential to Silicon Valley, practical uses for the service continue to be explored.

What is Quora?

As to , the company bills itself as as "continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it." Questions and answers both are subject to peer and reviewer monitoring (via votes, editing and comments).

Yet, the characterization is as incomplete as referring to Twitter as a 140-character micro blogging platform offering near realtime communication.

Ashton Kutcher's version of Twitter, for instance, is far removed from that of average Joe or Jane. Then there are the varied levels of social media utility seen amid small business, politicians, media and marketers.

Likewise, individual millage varies with Quora as it continues to evolve and be redefined.

Thus far, Quora contributors have largely consisted of Silicon Valley movers and shakers, their watchdogs and fans.

Though information consumerists - hailing from diverse backgrounds, both professionally and demographically speaking - are also discovering Quora's merits and flaws.

Two things frustrate people most about Quora, per the frequency of complaints:

First, most topics are not fleshed out and questions often go unanswered. This is problematic withQ&A sites in general and tends to improve over time.

Secondly, there is some validity to critiques that claim, in essence: it is not 'what' but 'who' you know that matters most on Quora.

This sentiment stems in part from contributors who invest substantial time crafting answers only to find these submissions remain in a "pending review" limbo orare obscured (by down rating or otherwise) by individuals who hold more social media clout.

That said, it is not an uncommon natural selection process in community-oriented sites. Overall, Quora answers are informed and thoughtful.

Advice for improving the Quora experience is available both via the site and select publications such as ReadWriteWeb, Mashable and from tech blogger Scobleizer, to name a few sources.

The bottom-line here is that Quora is yet well-suited for those expecting instant gratification, be it free information or free publicity. This is topic dependent, however. Social media, technology and small business advice receives considerable more attention than hobbies, entertainment and local content does, for example.

For the likes of Rick Warren, who boasts a healthy following and appreciable clout, answering questions via the Quora platform appears to make good sense.

Besides the advantages resulting from connecting directly with fans and potential clients, unbeknownst to most people is the fact that Quora answers are indexed by Google.

This is one of many motivations for people to donate their valuable time. It is also an attraction for those looking to game the system. Both spam and overt self-promotion --that lacks community value -- tends to have a short half-life on the site.

But even for (potential) Quora contributors like Warren, there remains the hurdle of convincing an audience to add yet another portal to their social media plate.