Yam video-based Q&A app puts story-telling front and center

The resurgence of Q&A is upon us.

Entering the ring with Justin Kan’s newly announced Whale, Yam is looking to offer a video-based question and answer platform that puts focus on story-telling.

The idea for Yam came when founder Michael Cho was using Reddit for an AMA about a near-fatal plane crash he was in.

“Some questions are better answered with video,” said Cho. “Especially when it comes to story telling.”

From there, Cho and his team started building out Yam.

On Yam, the person asking the question sets the price. This is a big differentiator from Whale, where the person answering the question sets the price. Folks who are scrolling through their feed will be able to see half of the video answers posted by others, and can pay a flat 5 cents to unlock the rest of the video.

Another big difference between Yam and Whale is that Yam lets users ask questions privately. This is meant to lower the chance of bad behavior on the platform, but also to allow influencers and experts to ask themselves questions. Cho says that many influencers are asked the same questions repeatedly, and the ability to ask yourself a question will let users build up a library of answers to their FAQs.

Yam has managed to wrangle in some big-name influencers like Cesar Milan (the dog whisperer) and Tay Zonday, but the app has also drawn in users like Mr Abdulkhafi Alhamdo, an English teacher residing in Aleppo, Syria, who often tells stories of living with a newborn daughter in one of the most conflicted regions of the world.

If you want to check out Yam for yourself, head over here and download the app.