
Facebook Questions Goes Where Quora Can't - rwwmike
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_questions_goes_where_quora_cant.php?sms_ss=hackernews&at_xt=4d8baf952db67db5%2C0
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greglockwood
Unfortunately, I really think this is going to be a bust, just like the first
time they tried to introduce Questions, for a few reasons.

First, some people have a very impersonal friend network, meaning that they
probably don't care about the "favorite movie" (this was an example in the
article, I'll use it here) of a lot of the people on their friends list. For
example, people they met once, or people that they went to high school with 5
or 6 years ago, etc.

Secondly, Facebook is trying to have their cake and eat it too. Their entire
basis for this new direction is that Quora and others are too impersonal, but
then they add that you can query the network of your friends' friends.
Friends' friends is a pretty wide net, and the original argument for Facebook
Questions becomes invalid if you expand the question to that many people. Yes,
I know that it's optional, but to me it shows that Facebook is trying for the
shotgun method, trying to cover as much ground as possible instead of focusing
on a feature that people actually want.

Finally, if I want to know what my friends' favorite movies are (again, using
the cited example), there's already a place on Facebook for that: their info
page. I don't know if people still fill that out, but I know they used to
before Facebook mandated that everything on the info page be tied to Pages
(which was another goof on FB's part, IMO).

They may prove me wrong, but this just seems like something Facebook won't
quit pursuing because it's trying to be the Internet. Personally, I'm more
interested, and optimistic in seeing how and if Deals is going to dethrone
Groupon and its ilk.

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T-R
I'd take it a step further, as well - as wide as the friend's friends net may
be, I'm still probably not learning anything new. If my group of friends is
defined mostly by some common interest, and theirs is too, I'm probably not
going to get a good answer to anything outside of that field of interest.

To take the example on the page of restaurants - I'm probably not going to
learn about any new restaurants if my friends and I mostly go to the same
restaurants, and they go to the same ones with their friends, too.

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rwwmike
I just moved to San Francisco not too long ago. Maybe I don't want to know
about the best Mexican food in SF from someone from SF, maybe I want the
opinion of my Texan pals, who share a similar taste in Mexican food....cuz
damnit, I want that certain type of salsa (or something).

Of course, on the Internet, we are always in danger of ending up in an echo
chamber.

And besides, there's still Yelp. And Foodspotting. And every other one of
those apps out there to get outside my friends' opinions. I just think this
makes it easier than ever to get friends' feedback.

Only thing I wonder is, will FB prioritize these entries? Because seeking
friends' opinions on FB always seems to get answers from people you weren't
looking for answers from.

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greglockwood
>I just moved to San Francisco not too long ago. Maybe I don't want to know
about the best Mexican food in SF from someone from SF, maybe I want the
opinion of my Texan pals, who share a similar taste in Mexican food....cuz
damnit, I want that certain type of salsa (or something).

I agree with the sentiment (DFW'er here!), but how are Texans supposed to know
about restaurants in the Bay Area?

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rwwmike
I have plenty of Texan friends on Facebook that have either lived here or
visited. The point is still the same, really - this seems to make it easy to
poll your _friends_ for information. Quora is more about getting a community-
approved answer.

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necrecious
The question is, do you trust all your Facebook friends' tastes?

Perhaps I just want to ask a few people that I trust in <food/fashion/movies>.

Of course, the questions will be a great way for companies to get information
about you.

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flipside
No matter how I look at this, it doesn't strike me as anything new or special.

Sure, it's sort of a useful feature, but it's also a clear admission that
Facebook couldn't figure out how to leverage their user base to get good
answers. Polling your friends? _Yawn_

Crowdsourcing is still a very young technology and it isn't well understood
how to make the most of it. Personally, I'm really glad that Facebook didn't
see the same opportunity for Questions that I do, now if only they stay
clueless for another year...

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greglockwood
>Personally, I'm really glad that Facebook didn't see the same opportunity for
Questions that I do, now if only they stay clueless for another year...

We might have different ideas, but I thought the same thing. But if we have
the same idea, I'm only giving you til September :)

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flipside
September, huh? Well, if we get into YC, we'll definitely have something up by
then. Good to know we have some real competition.

Hmm, now you got me wondering if there's another way to go about this because
our strategy is pretty unique...

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rwwmike
Maybe you can connect with friends on Quora and maybe you can ask specific
people questions, but Facebook Questions is gonna far outpace Quora for asking
your friends simple questions.

