On this article, we check out the perfect question-and-answer (Q&A) web sites on the Web.
There are millions of Q&A web sites in the present day however the 15 lined on this article have distinguished themselves from their friends and made an indelible mark inside their audience.
What’s a Q&A Web site?
Q&A web sites enable odd Web customers to ask questions and obtain solutions from anybody prepared or paid to assist.
Relying on every Q&A website’s mannequin, the questions could also be requested publicly or anonymously. Solutions are offered by different odd customers of the positioning or by pre-approved subject-matter consultants.
For the aim of this record of finest Q&A web sites, we’ve got included solely people who meet the next standards:
- Questions and solutions are publicly viewable (and never hidden behind a registration and/or pay wall). This guidelines out web sites like HealthTap the place the Q&As should not accessible publicly.
- Questions are raised by an odd consumer (that is usually a registered member of the web site although some Q&A websites enable unregistered guests to ask questions as properly).
What are the perfect Q&A Web sites in 2024?
1. Answers.com
Class: Common
Launched in 2005, Solutions.com has a big database of Q&As that includes tens of thousands and thousands of questions. Beforehand generally known as WikiAnswers, customers pose questions and a number of different members of the neighborhood reply it.
The neighborhood votes every response up or right down to establish the perfect one by consensus.
Questions are positioned in one among 19 main classes equivalent to auto, enterprise, electronics, historical past, science and sports activities.
Whereas the Q&As are accessible to anybody that visits Solutions.com, solely signed up members can submit a query or reply.
A leaderboard reveals the highest 100 members in a given week and of all time based totally on the variety of and high quality of solutions they shared.
2. ASKfm
Class: Common
Based in 2010, ASKfm is a social networking platform constructed round a Q&A format. With tons of of thousands and thousands of registered customers, it’s typically considered the biggest purely Q&A social networking website.
Solely registered customers can put up questions however they’ll select to do this overtly or anonymously. Each questions and solutions are nonetheless seen to the general public.
Q&As fall in one among six sections – free time, love and relationships, suggestions, private questions, trending and LOL.
Following allegations of cyberbullying on the platform, ASKfm launched new guidelines, pointers and security insurance policies that goal to make it tougher for unhealthy actors to make use of it with unwell intent.
3. Ask MetaFilter
Class: Common
Launched in 2003, Ask MetaFilter (or AskMe) is a Reddit-like Q&A subsite of the neighborhood weblog MetaFilter (also referred to as MeFi).
Ask MetaFilter addresses a broad vary of member subjects together with well being, work, relationships, pets, music, meals and journey. Customers are allowed to ask no multiple query per week and may accomplish that anonymously.
Whereas Ask MetaFilter has nowhere close to the attain and quantity of Reddit, it has a robust, close-knit neighborhood. Regardless of the comparatively small variety of members, almost each query posed will get at the least a few responses.
4. Blurtit
Class: Common
Based in 2006, Blurtit is a principally community-governed Q&A platform. It seems to be much less like a standard Q&A website and extra like a message board or a social networking discussion board.
Consistent with its message board-style format, the solutions to a query might begin a dialog the place the unique asker typically supplies or requests additional clarification within the feedback.
Each registered and non-registered customers can put up questions on the positioning. This can be a departure from the rule on most main Q&A websites the place non-registered customers are restricted to read-only entry. Nonetheless, solely registered members can reply a query.
Blurtit questions fall in one among greater than 20 classes with the most well-liked being science, well being, know-how, training and relationships.
5. Brainly
Class: Instructional
Began in 2009, Brainly is a big knowledge-sharing and social-learning instructional platform that brings collectively college students and consultants to resolve troublesome homework questions. College students should create an account on the positioning earlier than they’ll pose a query.
Academics, star college students and material consultants break down solutions into detailed step-by-step explanations.
A each day leaderboard reveals the best ranked consultants by contribution. Brainly has a browser extension permitting faster seek for solutions.
It is usually accessible as an app on Google Play and Apple App Retailer. Utilizing the app, college students scan questions utilizing a cellphone digital camera.
Beginning 2023, the corporate rolled out quite a few AI-powered options together with a tutor and personalization.
6. Fixya
Class: Troubleshooting
Launched in 2005, Fixya is a community-driven Q&An internet site the place registered customers put up questions on easy methods to repair various shopper merchandise throughout dozens of classes.
Different members of the discussion board subsequently present solutions based mostly on their skilled data and experiences.
A number of the extra widespread query classes embrace family and kitchen home equipment, sports activities and outdoor, and instruments and {hardware}.
The web site has a plain Google-like homepage to attract the customer’s consideration to the query field at its heart. A leaderboard shows essentially the most energetic consultants in the course of the earlier week.
Producers and different company manufacturers whose merchandise are (or might be) mentioned on Fixya can create a company account to interact present customers and potential consumers.
7. JustAnswer
Class: Common
JustAnswer was based in 2003 as a Q&A service that connects customers with consultants. Questions cowl a variety of subjects equivalent to know-how, tax. well being, authorized, electronics, cars and accounting.
You have to be a subscriber to ask a query. Nonetheless, a big pool of Q&As on the positioning are accessible to the general public.
Not like the community-run mannequin of many Q&A web sites the place votes decide essentially the most appropriate response, the questions on JustAnswer are answered by pre-vetted consultants solely.
In flip, the consultants are compensated every time they reply a query.
8. MadSci Network
Class: Instructional
Based in 1995, MadSci Community (also referred to as MadSciNet) is an academic web site that’s finest recognized for its Ask-a-Scientist discussion board.
Customers (usually Ok-12 academics or college students) should present their grade degree in addition to the query’s topic space in science earlier than they’ll submit a query.
Questions are first reviewed by a volunteer moderator to substantiate they adjust to discussion board guidelines earlier than they’re accepted for answering.
The query is answered by a panel comprising tons of of volunteer scientists. Solutions are reviewed by moderators earlier than they’re printed and made publicly accessible.
MadSci Community has a easy, quick, mild and basic design, maybe in step with its roots in academia in addition to its historical past going again to the earliest days of the Web.
9. Quora
Class: Common
Launched in 2009, Quora is the platform many individuals would first consider after they think about a Q&An internet site. Arguably the most well-liked Q&A website on the planet in the present day, it was based by two former staff of Fb.
Customers submit questions on any subject. The questions are then edited, organized and answered by the remainder of the positioning’s consumer neighborhood.
One of many greatest drivers of Quora’s development and visibility has been the combination of its Q&As into Google search outcomes.
In the present day, ask any query on Google search and there’s a good probability a Quora reply will likely be among the many prime outcomes.
10. Reddit
Class: Common
Began in 2005, Reddit is a social information aggregator, content material score and dialogue discussion board. Customers create and share various content material.
It has user-created subreddits which are smaller communities targeted on particular pursuits. Reddit’s Q&As recurrently go viral.
By advantage of customer visitors, Reddit is a more popular web site general in comparison with Quora. Nonetheless, in contrast to Quora, Reddit is a multi-faceted platform the place Q&A is one side – albeit a vastly widespread one.
It additionally has a extra irreverent tone and delves into subjects that could be thought-about a little bit unconventional or considerably controversial.
11. Socratic
Class: Instructional
Launched in 2013, Socratic began off as an ordinary Q&An internet site for various educational questions as posed by (or as related for) highschool and school college students. Topics lined embrace math, science and literature.
It was acquired by Google in March 2018 and made some adjustments. Most vital is that the positioning was closed to consumer Q&A contributions from August 2018.
Whereas customers might not ask, reply or edit questions, previous contributions have been retained and stay accessible to this point.
In the present day, Socratic has principally eased off from being a web-based platform to an app-based one. It’s accessible on Google Play and Apple’s App Retailer.
College students can take a photograph of a written or printed downside and the app makes use of OCR to acknowledge the characters and supply related solutions. This characteristic was added to Google Lens.
12. Stack Overflow
Class: Software program Growth
Based in 2008, Stack Overflow is the primary Q&An internet site for builders. It’s an open discussion board the place customers can get direct solutions on troublesome coding questions and share suggestions with friends.
Questions, solutions and Stack Overflow’s customers are subjected to a popularity award system that makes the web site self-moderating.
The platform is utilized by over 50 million builders all over the world. Its business attain is so intensive that it has turn into a well-liked searching floor for recruiters on the lookout for programmers. Stack Overflow was launched as a subsidiary of Stack Change, a community of Q&A web sites.
13. Superuser
Class: Laptop {Hardware} and Software program
Superuser was launched in 2009 as one of many Q&A websites which can be a part of the Stack Change community. It fields questions and solutions from energy customers i.e. refined customers of computer systems and packages that make the most of extra superior options than the common consumer.
The platform aspires to create an intensive library of user-generated questions and solutions on laptop software program and {hardware}.
Utilizing a consumer voting system, the reply that will get essentially the most votes rises to the highest. The asker can mark any of the solutions as accepted even whether it is totally different from the one which acquired the best variety of votes.
14. Stack Exchange Subsites
Class: Common
Stack Change is the pinnacle of a community of community-run Q&A web sites and subsites. Its finest recognized web sites are Stack Overflow, Superuser, Server Fault and Ask Ubuntu.
Nonetheless, it additionally has greater than 170 subsites overlaying subjects throughout a large spectrum inside and out of doors data know-how.
Its hottest subsites embrace Mathematics, Arqade (for gaming), Ask Different (for Apple energy customers) and English Language & Usage. All Stack Change sub-sites comply with the identical format as Stack Overflow and are self-moderating.
15. Wonderopolis
Class: Instructional
Created in 2010, Wonderopolis is an academic Q&An internet site based and sponsored by the Nationwide Middle for Households Studying (NCFL), a nonprofit. It supplies studying assets for teenagers and can be utilized within the classroom and at dwelling.
Customers (not essentially members) submit questions. These chosen by the editorial workforce are researched, investigated, answered and printed in an in depth article format that features pictures and/or video.
Wikipedia-like references are offered for every article so readers can additional discover the subject in the event that they need to.
Conclusion
The idea of Q&A web sites goes way back to the early days of the Web with Solutions.com and Ask Jeeves (now Ask.com) as key trailblazers.
The Web itself grew as a handy device for exchanging data. Engines like google have their roots in offering the perfect internet pages in response to consumer queries.
In reality, Q&A websites have been the predecessors to social media as we all know it in the present day.
Not like search engines like google although, Q&A websites goal to supply direct, concise solutions with a level of specificity that’s laborious to attain with search engine outcomes.
Q&A web sites stay related with many now exploring AI to additional improve the standard of their data.
