The answer is yes, absolutely; question and answer sites are theoretically quite similar to social media sites in certain ways, specifically in that they tend to rank very highly on search engines (though it depends which specific site you’re talking about in a given instance). Therefore they really can be used to improve one’s Online Reputation. Quora.com is an example of one such site where users can create a profile, log on, and answer questions that (at least on that particular site) tend to be quite intellectual. Other sites however differ in the manner in which questions are asked, what types of questions are asked, how the answers are presented, and even if different users can communicate with each other via the questions themselves. Therefore, if someone doesn’t like Quora, they should not assume that it is the only question and answer site available to them.
However, question and answer sites can (for ORM purposes) have the same problem social media platforms sometimes do when it comes to Reputation Management. The user (or business) in question has to know how to set up the site(s) so they are most effective and influence google results in the way that the user wants. If anyone needs help with this (as we’ve said before) we recommend HopLite as, in our opinion, they are uniquely qualified to answer these sorts of questions, most of the time, even more effectively than we can, and we know a lot about ORM.
So don’t count out question and answer sites as an effective method when it comes to dealing with search engine results. If bad search engine results pages have you down, then don’t be afraid to ask about how to deal with them, and after any questions — feel free to answer away…