As far as I've seen, the vast majority of Yahoo Answers questions aren't really of the "I need help" variety. They're more conversation-starters-in-question-form. It's a forum.
I think it depends on the category, but yes, I can see that.
In the more technical areas there are the predictable "Here's a homework question that I'm sort of trying to disguise" and, what the article said, "How do I build a forum." What Yahoo Answers REALLY needs is an FAQ in each category. But, I suppose, then it would be IRC.
