Most social media sites are (IMHO) a big timesuck. How many hours can you spend checking your Facebook page, or Instagram? I know people who literally check their Facebook page hundreds of times a day. What a waste of valuable time!
Are you a subscriber to Quora? I just discovered it a few months ago. It’s an online community that describes itself as “the best answer to any question.”
According to their website: ”Quora’s mission is to share and grow the world’s knowledge. A vast amount of the knowledge that would be valuable to many people is currently only available to a few — either locked in people’s heads, or only accessible to select groups. We want to connect the people who have knowledge to the people who need it, to bring together people with different perspectives so they can understand each other better, and to empower everyone to share their knowledge for the benefit of the rest of the world.”
If you’re a member and are on their feed, you will be able to view some of the most interesting, bizarre, strange and informative answers to serious—and and quirky—questions.
This morning’s feed had answers to questions like this:
What do you think of Donald Trump’s attack on Captain Khan’s mother?
Should parents establish “code words” with their children?
What is something you heard which saved your life?
What is it that Olympic swimmers do that ordinary swimmers don’t?
Are single-party states (like China) better equipped to deal with long-term challenges than Western democracies?
Why do people eat pigs?
There was one this morning on which city could go away and people wouldn’t care. The first answer (there can be as many as there are Quora members) was New Orleans, because (the answerer believes that) it’s inevitable that it’s going to be inundated by water. The person who answered the question contended that the city was built below sea level, the people were creepy and that it’s only a matter of time before New Orleans is a vast wasteland. So we should just let it go.
Jeez.
I’m happy to report that many other Quora members argued with this cretin (ah, the beauty of the internet) and took up for our fair city as being the most resilient, rich in culture, and wonderful in the world.
I have several local friends who participate, one of which is the owner of Buffa’s, who also just happens to be an expert on Apple computers.
I’ve always considered Facebook to be a major waste of time and energy, but I have to admit that I’m hooked on Quora. For someone with a curious mind, who gets off on trivia and and learning how the rest of the world perceives itself (and the US), Quora is the bomb. Check it out: a time-suck it definitely is, but at least you’ll learn something worthwhile and enjoy the POVs every time you read it.
By the way, I checked to see if there were some posts on “New Orleans Music.” Couldn’t find any…time to post, eh?
