“What is the name of the song that makes ui uor ui wor rachiu.” It’s one of the hundreds of questions on Yahoo Answers that have gone viral over the years, between irony and jokes online. But also the example of one of the reasons why the online service will disappear after 16 years. Between irony and melancholy, the news of the closure of Yahoo Answers scheduled for next May 4, has unleashed the world of Twitter.
Within a month, a piece of internet history will disappear. A service to which, in the last 16 years, thousands of users have entrusted at least one question to solve their problems and those of the online world. At least in the early days, Yahoo Answers represented the only way to help internet users. He offered the world wide web opinions and advice from anyone who considered themselves competent in the proposed subject. Today, however, Yahoo Answer is no longer needed. It is now far from being a useful tool: those who surf the Internet are now looking for answers elsewhere.
Created in 2005, Yahoo Answers has a vast archive. But none of this will remain. Users who wish will be allowed to download their material by June 30, 2021. The decision not to leave anything on the web has created some discontent among users. At the same time, the deadline for still being able to ask some questions and offer advice is April 20. “Is it possible to have sex in the ninth month of pregnancy?” is, perhaps, the best-known absurd question posted by most users. But some remember the many school problems solved thanks to those questions and answers; “Epic summaries, Latin versions, physics exercises: another piece of our youth flies away.” Despite the decline of recent times, users’ melancholy is excellent: “Closing it means slamming the door in the face of several generations”.
The company did not explain why the desire to cancel the popular service, which is also on the rise with Covid-19, and the questions related to the pandemic. Probably, precisely the difficulty of moderating the content of any kind, including the most delicate ones relating to viruses, vaccines, and conspiracy theories, prompted the team to give way to more popular platforms, such as social networks, more trained to manage comments and debates, in textual form and not only.
“Goodbye, Companion of a thousand adventures»writes a user on Twitter. Wondering how many questions will forever remain unanswered, but often so funny that they have sparked the irony of the web.
