yahoo Answers, The internet’s favourite wormhole of bizarre questions – and even more bizarre answers – will be permanently closed in May.
Yahoo, which is owned by Verizon, announced that they would be officially closing Yahoo Answers on May 4th.
Yahoo Answers was a stalwart of the early noughties internet: a forum where users could ask questions and submit answers. Good answers would be upvoted, and bad answers downvoted.
Originally launched in 2005, Yahoo Answers allowed people to reach out to others with their questions, rather than relying on a search engine algorithm. This format can now be seen in platforms like Quora and, to an extent Reddit, but Yahoo Answers remained beloved in the minds of many through its combination of actually helpful advice and delightfully strange ponderings.
Who could ever forget the Yahoo Answers user who once iconically asked, “What did my dad just say to me? I was listening to my ipod and couldn’t hear him.”
Yahoo announced that first, the forum would enter a ‘read only mode’, and then after May 4th those trying to access the site will be redirected to the Yahoo homepage.
The deletion of Yahoo Answers will see the internet’s strangest masterpieces relegated to the ether. After the announcement was made, many took to social media to mourn the loss of the archive.
Yahoo Answers is closing. It's an end of an era here. But let's never forget the gems it gave us. pic.twitter.com/MCyMeblsAb
— Bern: Lovecraftian Demon Vtuber Cat (@MunBreaker) April 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/KoiliTheArtist/status/1379408690592296962?s=20
In memoriam of the eventual shutdown of Yahoo answers, I present to you the one Yahoo question that I quote at least twice a week. pic.twitter.com/JITHD9M3Jo
— watching it burn (@tobynook) April 5, 2021
the greatest philosophers of our time were found on Yahoo Answers pic.twitter.com/S3SIpdcODj
— Poon Donkus (@poondonkus) April 6, 2021
i will miss yahoo answers dearly pic.twitter.com/TSOYPYOhUh
— Ammnontet! (@ammnontet) April 5, 2021
According to The Verge, Yahoo Answers users were sent a note explaining the decision to shut down the site.
“While Yahoo Answers was once a key part of Yahoo’s products and services, it has become less popular over the years as the needs of our members have changed. To that end, we have decided to shift our resources away from Yahoo Answers to focus on products that better serve our members and deliver on Yahoo’s promise of providing premium trusted content.”
Users can request a download of all their questions and answers before May 4th, should they like to preserve a tiny slice of the internet’s history.
featured Image: iStock/Orbon Alija
