Why this matters
As mentioned in Increasing your Space's distribution, creating content that prospective followers are interested in is the best way to grow your Space's following on Quora. By following your Space, your followers have indicated their interest in not only your Space's content, but also its quality and norms, so they're counting on you to uphold them. It's ok to have a point of view; that's why people follow your Space instead of a topic, but if you go too far afield, you'll likely see their engagement decline.
Defining Norms
Many people on Quora are familiar with our Platform Policies. In Spaces, you have some flexibility to set your own standards. As these may be different from what people are used to outside of Spaces, you and your collaborators will need to communicate to followers what the norms are for your Space. Here are some guiding questions that may be helpful:
- What subject is this Space mostly about and how far outside that subject is still within the Space's scope?
- What types of content about that subject don't make sense for your Space?
- What level of expertise or writing quality do you want in your Space?
- What types of content are unacceptable in your Space?
- For example, would adult, promotional, or potentially offensive content be acceptable in your Space?
- What types of interactions are unacceptable in your Space?
- For example, would you prefer people send you a private message or comment on a post to give you feedback about the content in your Space? How can you ensure collaborators and followers feel safe in your Space?
It's important that you and your collaborators keep your vision for your Space in mind, so that you can meet your followers' expectations. Keep in mind that certain activity is not allowed anywhere on Quora. See our Spaces Policies for more on what's not allowed in Spaces.
Pro tip: Consider posting your standards in your Space's description so existing and prospective followers know the norms and expectations you'd like to maintain. For more information on how to edit your description and other components of your Space see Customizing your Space.
Preventing content that doesn't fit your standards
Choosing Collaborators
The collaborators you invite to your Space are instrumental to its growth, voice, and credibility. There's no right number of collaborators for a Space and you should choose your collaborators based on how well you expect them to follow the standards you'd like to uphold.
If you don't personally know the people you're inviting, it's recommended that you review their Quora profile before adding them as a contributor. The edit log is a useful way to get a sense of how they use Quora. If they don't have other content on Quora, you probably want to ask them to submit content to your Space a few times before adding them. Spammers have been known to make a few normal posts before switching to spam mode, so keep an eye on new contributors.
Contributor Requests
Accepting contributor requests from people whose writing you're not familiar with is not recommended. As with invitations, it's recommended that you familiarize yourself with a contributor's content before adding them to your Space. If you believe someone requesting to be a contributor is a spammer, blocking them from your Space will help protect other Spaces.
Choosing Submissions
The most recent few submissions you accept in your Space are what prospective members see first, so make a good impression by choosing submissions that align with the focus of your Space. Many of the best Spaces reject most of the submissions they receive, so it is usually a better idea to reject a submission if you're not sure about it. If you'd like to encourage the submitter, you can send them a pass reason or message them informing them how to submit content that does fit your Space. By default, the Submissions tab will separate out suspected spam from other submissions. If spam is submitted to your Space, blocking the submitter will help protect other Spaces.
Responding to content that doesn't fit your standards
Quality reporting
You can review content which has been reported in your Space in the Quality section of the admin dashboard. Attending to these reports can help your Space's distribution and build trust with your followers.
Blocking
Blocking someone will remove them from the Space. They will be unable to comment or add content, though they can still follow and view the Space. Blocking is recommended when they violate your Space's norms in a repeated or severe way, and because this can be undone, you can use this to give people a time-out without permanently excluding them.