Yahoo! Answers: A case study

Organizing users through the development of Internet services

Abstract

In the example of a user-supplied knowledge base (Yahoo! Answers, Japan), the “organization of users” phenomenon can be observed, whereby users collaborate with a service provider and participate in development and operation. Thus, it has become possible to expedite the rate of service improvement through the precise understanding of user feedback and by facilitating an acceleration of the development cycle. This type of management has rapidly placed Yahoo! Answers, Japan, a latecomer to the industry, in the top spot in its industry.