WikiAnswers and Yahoo! Answers are both very popular sites that people go to for answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. Both sites are working in a positive way as collaborative social networking sites to serve their users. Both sites are dynamic platforms for their user communities who ask questions and provide each other solutions.

Basic Differences

Although both sites are dynamic user generated content sites and their basic purpose is the same, they differ quite a bit from each other.

1. In Yahoo! Answers, different users can reply with answer to a question, then the asker can select the best answer for that question. In WikiAnswers there is a wiki format which allows users to provide a single answer for each question, and that single answer can be edited and improved by any user. 
2. Users can personalize your profile in WikiAnswers. It gives you more flexibility, such as creating a personal message board, a watch list, a personal community and a personal io page. In Yahoo! Answers, users do not have access to personal networks or other personalizations.

Statistical Comparison

Yahoo! Answers and WikiAnswers share a majority of the social media market. According to statistics, Yahoo! Answers is winning the race by a clear margin. Both sites are using the UGC (user generated content) technique, which means that all of the questions and answers are provided by users.

The following statistical analysis was given by Manoj Jasra:

“The market share of U.S. visits to a custom category of Question and Answer websites has increased 118 percent for the week ending Mar. 15, 2008, compared to the same week in 2007, Hitwise reported today. Over the past two years, U.S. visits to this category have increased 889 percent comparing Feb. 2008 versus Feb. 2006. The most visited website within the Questions and Answers category last week was Yahoo! Answers (answers.yahoo.com), which received 74.05 percent of the market share of U.S. visits. Wiki.Answers.com was the second most visited website receiving 18.35 percent of visits, followed by Answerbag.com, which received 4.42 percent of visits. WikiAnswers, launched in June 2007 has seen its U.S. visits increase 125 percent comparing the week ending Jun. 9, 2007 versus Mar. 15, 2008.”

There is no doubt that WikiAnswers is growing faster than Yahoo! Answers, but so far the stats show that Yahoo! is ahead.

References

1. http://www.answers.com/topic/wikianswers
2. http://searchengineland.com/061213-085832.php
3. http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2008/03/20/yahoo-answers-leads-the-way-in-qa-site-visits

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