Quora's goal is to reward high-quality answers with (1) great answer ranking and (2) great distribution.
Good answers on Quora generally are not:
- Not responding to the question. Answering a question with a joke, a follow-up question, or a comment is not helpful. An answer that simply debates the premise of the question is not helpful, even if it's entertaining or factually correct. If you don't like a question or don't know how to answer it well, just don't answer it.
- Very short. We don't have rules against short answers, but even for yes/no questions, providing examples and further explanation is always helpful. The purpose of a Quora question is not to poll you; rather, it’s to provide information and insights that help lots of people.
- Unsupported personal opinions and assertions that provide minimal explanation. If you have no expertise on a topic and provide an answer with no insight or useful rationale → that's not a good answer. Stating your opinion or personal preference without explaining why others should share this point of view is generally not helpful to readers.
- Difficult to read and understand. Bad grammar, spacing, punctuation, spelling.
- In violation of Quora policies. Good answers don't plagiarize; don't attack other people or content; don't use images inappropriately; aren't spam.