I think Mahalo has build up a stong community of question answerers. Everyone wants to get BA on the questions they answer, so thats what they go for. Also, on mahalo you get a tip when you get BA, encouraging us to provide great answers.
Other sites, such as yahoo answers, may have more people, but they usually arn't as smart, or they would be using Mahalo. There are fewer questions on Mahalo then other sites, and it is easier to find questions in your area of expertice. Also, I think people love the idea, including myself, that we can make the pages on the URL1 makes us feel part of the whole experiece.
Eventhough it took me 3 days to get to your question, other sites may take a week, or it would get buried under new questions.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.