Verizon in Baby Bell Mode
April 22, 2021
When most users have already moved on, why bother to fix what’s broken? We suspect that is what Verizon is thinking as we read the piece, “Of Course Yahoo Answers Is Shutting Down—Just Look at Its Vile ‘Trending’ Section’” at TNW. We learn that Yahoo Answers will completely shut down by May 4, and users have until April 20 to post any questions or answers. Users’ data will be downloadable until June 30. Reporter Ivan Mehta writes:
“It’s not hard to guess why the site is shutting down. Over the years, it has lost relevance and people have moved to other question-answer platforms such as Quora [and Reddit]. As The Verge and USA Today noted, Yahoo Answers has become a home for far-right conspiracies. In a note sent to its users, Yahoo admitted that the site has ‘become less popular over the years as the needs of our members have changed.’ Take a look at the current trending section and question suggestions. It’s filled with hateful garbage trying to rile up people. And the answers to those questions read like they’ve been generated by a trolling bot farm.”
See the write-up for its sample of said hateful garbage. Better moderation may have saved the site, but that ship has sailed. Mehta muses that the current kerfuffle around Section 230 may have helped convince Verizon to shutter the site. Best to avoid being entangled in that turmoil, especially if one’s site is awash in problematic content.
Cynthia Murrell, April 22, 2021
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
