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Layoffs hit Quora

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Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#251

Post by Balgair »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #158
irjustin wrote: post #47

I've said it in a few other posts but post WeWork, a lot of the big D, E, F companies are expected to hit profitability/break-even soon. Some other threads are talking about Google stealing a lot of the content. That's definitely true for weather, flights, but things like long form content is still long form. I would argue these layoffs aren't a function of the GMachine at work, but more generally all the big tech fi…

This feels insightful. I work for a big tech company (not faang) and we're doing a bunch of insane cost cutting bullshit and we've had a hiring freeze for maybe 10 months now. It's interesting to see the inside view but see that none of it hits the financial press, or even the analyst stuff like seeking alpha.

Keep notes? I'm sure I'm not the only one on here that would love to compare/contrast what you are going through with what the rest of us have as well.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#252

Post by Balgair »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #243
txcwpalpha wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have recently interviewed at one of the largest, oldest educational institutions in the US, and also interviewed at one of the largest tech companies in the world. Both of them used the phrase “want to work at a startup?” in the job descriptions and both hiring manager said something along the lines of “we have a great startup culture”. At this point the word is meaningless to me. If anything I have noticed that “w…

I do consulting and have worked with clients ranging from 3 person seed stage startups to Intel and Nike, so pretty much the whole spectrum. Really the only difference to me is that startup executives treat your time like it doesn't matter, 100% of the time. At bigger companies, we will schedule a meeting and talk about something. Many of my small inexperienced clients just send Slack messages one after the other at…

Today I learned: My father is a start-up exec.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#253

Post by JMTQp8lwXL »

geofft wrote: post #115
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The paradox is, if these companies fold, Google has to get the data from somewhere.

What's the paradox there? Google has its own review system for restaurants / hotels / etc., so they can definitely survive TripAdvisor and Yelp disappearing. They'll just collect the data themselves. For Quora and StackOverflow, they can (and do) index personal blogs etc., too. Google is a search engine; they don't need a single fixed third party to be the first search result to all questions in a category.

Just having a review site is missing the big picture. People want authenticity and trusted reviews. Google doesn't know if you really bought the Amazon item, booked the hotel through TripAdvisor, etc. Google can collect data, but is it any good if they do it themselves?

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#254

Post by manigandham »

nindalf wrote: post #182
Antrikshy wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like r/AskReddit with a slightly different audience.

/r/AskReddit but with no moderation. Anyone can ask any question no matter how dumb.

The moderation is done through downvoting the question or leaving it unanswered. There are actual moderators but Quora is much more passively moderated.

There's plenty of good content, it's just overloaded by crap questions since Quora pays people to ask (but not answer).

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#255

Post by commandlinefan »

irjustin wrote: post #47

I've said it in a few other posts but post WeWork, a lot of the big D, E, F companies are expected to hit profitability/break-even soon. Some other threads are talking about Google stealing a lot of the content. That's definitely true for weather, flights, but things like long form content is still long form. I would argue these layoffs aren't a function of the GMachine at work, but more generally all the big tech fi…

> big D, E, F companies

D,E,F companies?

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#256

Post by manigandham »

wrinkl3 wrote: post #224
omega3 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What has always amazed me about Quora is that for every dumb one line question in the vein of "How do we know that the moon is not made of cheese?" there would be 500 word very well researched reply from an ex NASA chief of lunar mission. It always was baffling for me that such low effort questions would get such amazing answers.

Some people just enjoy listening to themselves talk.

It's more that some people genuinely love sharing their knowledge and investing their time to help others. These people generate the most value for Quora but unfortunately don't get anything out of it.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#257

Post by manigandham »

flomo wrote: post #164
yamrzou wrote: post #55

I used to enjoy Quora, but it lost its charm and I quit once my feed became mostly filled with questions such as: - As a software engineer, what makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it? - What did your mother say that made your jaw drop? - What can I learn in one minute that will be useful for the rest of my life? Those open questions just feel clickbait-y, with no real value added. I occasionally see questio…

At one point years ago I signed-up for Quora, and the question feed was filled with stuff like: * Did Picard violate the Prime Directive in TNG S6E13? * If five ninjas attacked you, how you would you physically defeat them? * Here's the intellectual take on Spiderman fighting Batman, do you agree? * Men who have dated supermodels, what was it like? I thought it was supposed to be a somewhat serious site but it obviou…

Like any UGC site, your experience is entirely shaped by who you follow. You can read follow any number of scientific people there if you want hard technical answers.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#259

Post by bawolff »

Mirioron wrote: post #166
bawolff wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure how that would help. I imagine currently its all rights reserved, and google is claiming that using their information is fair use.

How come they're not being sued over this?

Ianal, but an additional issue, is from my (limited) understanding, copyright applies to presentation not facts or the idea of something. If you take some info and reword it so the original presentation is gone and only the factual idea is the same, i think you are in the clear.

Again, ianal and dont really know what im talking about

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#260

Post by jjeaff »

Mirioron wrote: post #166
bawolff wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure how that would help. I imagine currently its all rights reserved, and google is claiming that using their information is fair use.

How come they're not being sued over this?

They were sued by Rap Genius for a similar practice and I believe Rap Genius won.
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