@inproceedings{c75dd9df3c0b420da2bbeac64a0fec73,
title = "Predictors of answer quality in online Q&A sites",
abstract = "Question and answer (Q&A) sites such as Yahoo! Answers are places where users ask questions and others answer them. In this paper, we investigate predictors of answer quality through a comparative, controlled field study of responses provided across several online Q&A sites. Along with several quantitative results concerning the effects of factors such as question topic and rhetorical strategy, we present two high-level messages. First, you get what you pay for in Q&A sites. Answer quality was typically higher in Google Answers (a fee-based site) than in the free sites we studied, and paying more money for an answer led to better outcomes. Second, we find that a Q&A site's community of users contributes to its success. Yahoo! Answers, a Q&A site where anybody can answer questions, outperformed sites that depend on specific individuals to answer questions, such as library reference services.",
keywords = "Digital reference, Expert services, Information exchanges, Information quality, Knowledge networks, Online community, Q&A",
author = "Harper, {F. Maxwell} and Daphne Raban and Sheizaf Rafaeli and Konstan, {Joseph A.}",
year = "2008",
doi = "10.1145/1357054.1357191",
language = "English (US)",
isbn = "9781605580111",
series = "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings",
pages = "865--874",
booktitle = "26th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Conference Proceedings, CHI 2008",
note = "26th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2008 ; Conference date: 05-04-2008 Through 10-04-2008",
}