Question and answer platform Quora has modified its messaging policy to make it safer for all users. The company announced today that starting today, by default, everyone will only receive messages from those that they follow. However, if you want to make yourself more accessible on the platform, you can tweak your privacy settings.
The company says that there will be a small number of users exempt from this rule, including Top Writers and Verified accounts. These individuals will be free to message anyone. Diana Gerr, a product designer at Quora, wrote that the rationale behind this was because “these people have been vetted by Quora and are held to high standards, so we trust them to send respectful and relevant messages.”
As a place for discussion of various topics, including some that could be controversial like politics and religion, Quora seems to be trying to balance being a place for serious and free discussion, while also protecting its users. Just like with Reddit, the company needs to continue to make it a place for open expression and while Quora hasn’t really had any public issues like some other sites, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be proactive.
Gerr explains that the messaging setting change will “push people to be more public and less private with certain communication.” This likely could be interpreted as: “If you have anything to say to me, you can tell me in public.” The goal, obviously, is to expose bad behavior which will motivate the community to police itself and get rid of it.
Quora’s chief executive Adam D’Angelo once told me that what the company cares about is knowledge: “There’s a lot of things in people’s head, and not on the web.” But in order for users to share that information on the site, they’re going to need to feel safe doing so on Quora or else they’re going to leave. D’Angelo shared that there’s two key principles for contributing on the service: be nice and respectful, and to make the page more helpful. Without these ideals, Quora won’t have a mission and it’s definitely in the company’s best interest to find ways to ensure that it protects it.
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Quora will now only send you direct messages you receive from people you follow
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