Knowledge Search
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Knowledge Search (Korean:지식검색) service is an information-sharing tool launched in 2002 for Naver users. The tool allows users to ask just about any question, such as how to cook "ramen" or how to subscribe to international magazines via the Internet, and get answers from other users. In this way, Knowledge Search was an early example of harnessing user-generated content to expand the amount of information available in the web, particularly in the Korean language. Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Product Strategy at Yahoo!, has cited[1]the South Korean experience with knowledge search as the inspiration for Yahoo! Answers, which was launched three years after Naver introduced the original service. As of January 2008 the Knowledge Search database included more than 80 million pages of user-generated information.
Knowledge Search has four sub-categories:
- Knowledge Q&A allows for general questions about anything
- Local Q&A allows people to ask for local information such as good restaurants, cheap stores, and real estate.
- Agony Q&A is for people seeking advice on relationships, love, career, and sex (with anonymous posting enabled.) While Knowledge Q&A and Local Q&A provide factual answers, Agony Q&A usually returns more opinionated responses.
- Open Dictionary is a database of informative articles generated by users. Users can create an article alone, or enable other users to collaborate to create a thread of articles on the same subject. In addition, the user may add his or her own answers from Knowledge Q&A to Open Dictionary.
[edit] Point, level, and ranking system
Knowledge Search is a question and answer system that allows users to post questions and receive answers from other users. In order to encourage users to contribute, Knowledge Search rewards participants through a point system. Users are rewarded points or have points subtracted for each action they take on the site. Users with higher number of points will have their answers rated higher in results ranking. Following is a chart of actions a user may take in order to earn points:
| Type | Points possible | Specifications |
|---|---|---|
| Signing in | +3 | Once a day |
| Asking a question | +1 | Earned for each question submitted |
| Answering a question | +2 | Earned for each question answered |
| Being chosen as the best answer | +10 | Earned when one's answer is chosen as the best answer by the asker or by voters. An asker may also provide up to 10 additional points to the answerer as appreciation points. |
| Voting | +1 | Earned by voting for one of the answers provided for the question. A user may earn up to 20 points daily through voting. |
| Evaluating an answer | +1 | Earned for evaluating an answer as 'good' or 'bad.' A user may earn up to 20 points daily through evaluating. |
| Submitting an agony question | +1 | Earned for each agony question submitted |
| Providing advice for an agony question | +1 | Earned for answering an agony question |
| Being chosen as the best advice | +10 | Earned when chosen as the most helpful advice by the asker |
| Honor points | +1000 | Earned when chosen as an honored source of knowledge |
| Creating an entry | +1 minimum; +50 maximum | Earned for creating an entry in Open Dictionary. |
Knowledge Search has its own unique level system according to the points that a user has earned:
| Level | Range of points |
|---|---|
| Peasant | 0-99 |
| Commoner | 100-500 |
| Citizen | 501-3000 |
| Middle class | 3001-7000 |
| Expert | 7001-15000 |
| Hero | 15001-35000 |
| Professional | 35001-65000 |
| Superhuman | 65001-100000 |
| Plant god | 100001-130000 |
| Wind god | 130001-170000 |
| Ocean god | 170001-230000 |
| Moon god | 230001-300000 |
| Star god | 300001-400000 |
| Sun god | 400001- |
