What would be the impact of "yahoo answers" on eliminating the knowledge gap?

Question

By knowledge gap I mean what is exisiting between developed and developing countries, and between professionals and non-professional people? I am very optimistic in this respect but it is hard to imagine how great the impact would be.
Any thought?

Answer 1

1. you need a computer
2. you need to know how to use a computer
3. you need electricity
4. you need to be literate
5. opportunity costs of using the computer need to be smaller than the costs of working all day to survive

Answer 2

The internet in the past has been known to have all the answers, whether or not true answers was up to the individual to make the choice. Developing countries have few people on the internet and they have to walk long distances to reach the internet, and once on they don't know who to talk with, about what, and they certainly don't know how to use a search engine, how to make contact with the outside world (because too many people use email block and they can't send letters for lack of cash). The only hope there is that NGO's can make the contacts via the search engine with people who have money to bring up the level of the group in poverty, and they have a long way to go because feeding and housing is only an initial step. What's good at the moment is the different countries sending jobs to poorer countries so they can raise their standard of living.
I don't know how many people in poverty are able to read, let alone understand the answers on Yahoo Answers. Seems to me they have more tradition problems regarding being afraid to accept shots (medicine) and seed for farming, and that's just the basics so there's a long way to go.

Answer 3

Perhaps if there was a better-structured answering environment that filters out unnecessary answers it could. For instance, people who have received top ratings on their answers should be placed more towards the top of the lists. There are too many pessimists filling these boards with useless jibberish, which, ultimiately, adds more chaos to this system. The concept is great, but needs to be more regulated. I think Wikipedia's system of being able to expand articles and, for instance, site irregularites or lack of citing resources is great. With Yahoo!'s system it seems as though anybody can just answer a question and it gets automatically posted without any form of filtering. The great benefit of Yahoo!'s system is that it's well categorized.

Answer 4

I do not think there will be much impact here. Many answers chosen as best by the questioners just confirm their preconceptions. You find that a lot in the social science and philosophy sections. Not to mention the myriad ill posed questions. I am realistic in this respect; I come here because this site is designed for know-it-alls like me. I love to answer questions and could care less whether any one's knowledge gap is lessened or not.

Answer 5

Well it allows you to find out how academically arrogant people with 2 GCSE's can be, and gives vast and valued insight and experience of how to recieve a telling offs by twerps, and know nothing self important b*tches....

Answer 6

No negative impacts just good things most of the times.

Answer 7

huh,do u have to think of Q like this?