But let's be serious about the purpose of HN. It's to give PG and YC a direct advertising channel to people who care about the startup world. Maintaining a high level of discussion is just a tool to further that end, especially because as an advertising vehicle, a site's reputation is hugely important. Also, HN by itself is not a money-making product. Quora is.
The problem with Quora is that, more than any other social network in existence, their product is their customers. Quora doesn't have a product without high quality discussion on their site. The problem is that the steps required in maintaining that high level of discussion(active moderation, good community policing, etc.) often directly opposes actively getting more users because of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. While I'm sure that Quora can grow their userbase more, I'm pretty sure that they're seeing a dropoff in total hits. At a certain point, they need to start improving their conversion rate in order to make more money.
HN by itself is not a money-making product. Quora is.
Quora is not a money-making product, it wants to be one. In their present incarnations, if they just inserted ads (just for argument sake), it is not clear that Quora would make more money than HN.
You can be a profitable company by just focusing on user engagement, and not on user growth. Quora's problem is that they raised too much money and now have to give their investors a return on their investment.
I probably should have been a bit more clear about what I meant. I meant that HN's purpose isn't to directly generate revenue for YC. Quora, on the other hand, is supposed to be a product that makes money.
The problem with Quora is that, more than any other social network in existence, their product is their customers. Quora doesn't have a product without high quality discussion on their site. The problem is that the steps required in maintaining that high level of discussion(active moderation, good community policing, etc.) often directly opposes actively getting more users because of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. While I'm sure that Quora can grow their userbase more, I'm pretty sure that they're seeing a dropoff in total hits. At a certain point, they need to start improving their conversion rate in order to make more money.