Gutefrage.net

gutefrage.net (commonly known and stylized in its logo as gutefrage; from German ''gute Frage'', which means "good question") is a German question and answer website without topic specialization.

The website is financed by advertisement, but it is possible to pay to use the site without advertisements. The user-generated content is freely available to platform users and cannot necessarily be changed or deleted by content creators at will. Content is only allowed in German, with the exception of quotes, meanings, or specific translations.

History

In 2006, gutefrage.net went online as the first self-initiated startup by Holtzbrinck eLAB, a subsidiary of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. The website has developed into the most-used product of the Gutefrage Group and, regarding its content growth and page views, has become one of the largest forums in the German-speaking world. According to its own reports, the company crossed their profit threshold in 2009.

Towards the end of 2012, a mobile version of the website went online; applications for Android and iOS followed in December 2013.

On December 7, 2016, the logo for ''gutefrage.net'' was renewed in honor of the site's tenth birthday. The new logo shows two speech bubbles; the smaller bubble on the left is intended to represent a question, whereas the larger bubble on the right is intended to represent an answer. In conjunction with this change, the added ".net" was removed from the logo.

In June 2020, ''gutefrage.net'' entered into a collaboration with Amazon, whereby the virtual assistant Alexa is able to access selected posts from the platform and play back answers to user questions.

In 2020, the majority share of ''gutefrage.net'' was purchased by United Vertical Media GmbH, an affiliate of Müller Medien. As of February 2021, the website contains over 24 million questions with more than 94 million answers.

Concept

The internet forum allows users to ask and answer questions of other users.

The site is composed primarily of user-generated content. User posts are rewarded with an internal gamification system which is based on ratings given by other users. Users with a significant level of engagement within a given topic are, after individual verification by ''gutefrage.net'' employees, distinguished as "experts."

Aside from asking and answering questions, users can communicate with each other via private messages. Askers have the option to select the most helpful answers to each of their questions; the selected answer is then visibly accentuated.

Sister sites

''gutefrage.net'' operates a number of other topic-based platforms, which follow, aside from their corresponding specializations, the same concept as ''gutefrage.net'':

* ''motorradfrage.net'' for questions about motorcycles and mopeds;
* ''sportlerfrage.net'' for questions about athletics, sports, and training;
* ''finanzfrage.net'' for questions about money, taxes, finances, and insurance;
* ''reisefrage.net'' for questions about vacations and travel;
* ''gesundheitsfrage.net'' for questions about medicine, diseases, and health;
* ''computerfrage.net'' for questions about computers and technology;
* ''autofrage.net'' for questions about purchasing, selling, maintaining, owning, and operating cars; and
* ''katzenfrage.net'' for questions about feeding and caring for cats

Moderation

With a few exceptions, ''gutefrage.net'' does not moderate content. The evaluation of user-reported posts is carried out primarily by voluntary moderators who have been selected by website employees. Moderators are able to delete, hide, or edit reported posts and block users.

Initiatives

Special topics

In the special-topics initiative (ger. ''Themenspecial''), external organizations answer questions on current topics.

Change of perspective

In the change-of-perspective initiative (ger. ''Blickwechsel''), questions can be asked directly to selected members of the forum community. Each initiative concerns a specific topic, and the community member in question speaks as an affected party of that topic. Direct communication serves to provide insight into the lives of others and to promote understanding for other worldviews.

User meetups

User meetups take place annually in various cities, and are organized either by the website operators or by users themselves. Among other cities, meetups have taken place in Berlin (2016), Munich (2017), Leipzig (2018), and Cologne (2019). The first digital user meetup took place in 2020.

Facts and data

As of 2021, the platform reported around 1.85 million active users, 27 million questions, and over 100 million answers. The website's monthly net reach accounted for 30 million unique users. A given question can expect to receive an average of four answers, with 72% of questions being answered within the first five minutes. Users post a monthly average of 255,000 questions on ''gutefrage.net''.

References

External links

*

{{Holtzbrinck

Internet properties established in 2006
Question-and-answer websites
German websites