Information Junkies

Posted on April 27, 2007 by C Johnson
Culture, Industry

It seems that today everyone is obsessed with something: obsessed with celebrity, obsessed with information, obsessed with… obsession. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes—most settling for even just fifteen seconds. (Sanjaya, anyone?) We seem to be plagued with an overpowering need to know. Everything. Now.

Enter WikiAnswers. YahooAnswers. Answerbag.

These you’ve-got-questions-we-think-we’ve-got-answers websites (formerly dubbed “Q&A Knowledge Databases”) are testimonials to our society’s all-consuming ‘need to know’ drive. Who are the masterminds behind the instant wisdom gratification that we seem to love so much? It’s probably the guy across from you on the train munching on a ham sandwich. Or it’s the woman behind you in the supermarket checkout queue humming along to the background music. Self-appointed experts who, for the most part, have no formal degree in their expertise… they just happen to know what the hell they’re talking about. (Or at least we hope they do!)

Even the most ordinary of citizens can become a celebrity in the Q&A universe. Guising themselves under cryptic (or not so cryptic) pseudonyms like “Professor X” or “JackRussellFan” they compete with fellow know-it-alls to ascend the ranks to become a venerated authority in their particular field. Results are determined by user ratings and some of these gurus reach near celebrity status amongst the loyal Yahooers or AnswerBaggers or the like.

Think Jeopardy meets EverQuest.

The fact that these answers are coming from unverified sources doesn’t appear to be at all detrimental to the popularity of such sites. Au contraire: Yahoo Answers welcomed 20 million unique visitors last month. Definitely a sign that people are obviously happy with the results they’re getting.

The LA Times has a fascinating article on the subject here.

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