I’m insanely excited about this. Facebook just launched (at least for me) a new section called “Questions.” You can see it in the right sidebar of your home page once you agree that you want to activate it (you should be prompted sometime soon when you get on Facebook if you haven’t been already).
As you might know, I love asking questions. That’s pretty much my favorite thing to do in conversations… and it’s widened even more on Facebook where I can ask over 400 friends at once.
Well, that’s just exploded even more… but in a different direction. Now, through the Facebook “Questions” section, I can ask the entire Facebook community, not just my friends.
Right now, this has some downsides. Not every one checks that Questions section, so it’s not like I’m actually asking everyone. But this is a huge step for Facebook because…
It means individual people are much more likely to connect with others they’ve NEVER met before.
That possibility was available before. You could always friend someone you’ve never met. But the majority of Facebook users didn’t do that.
Facebook pages and groups allowed a little more interaction, but still, you had to join up with others on specific pages… it still felt a bit chat room-ish.
I think the Questions section has the ability to take off, though, in encouraging normal people to start making friends with people they’ve never met… even if they don’t start out with that intention.
This is how it might play out. I ask a question through the Questions section instead of just as a status to my friends. Some random guy on the other side of the world with a similar interest perhaps sees my question and answers my question. Most people are going to end there. But what if someone leaves an amazing answer and I follow up with a second question? Pretty soon a conversation starts… then, why not just add that person as a friend?
And that, guys, is how Facebook Questions has the potential to change the game. I’m totally looking forward to seeing how it develops. For now, I’m out of here… go check it out for yourself…
P. S. I wrote this whole post immediately after seeing the feature for the first time myself. I’m didn’t edit it or anything after my first draft ’cause I don’t have time. My apologies… see you in the Questions…
P. P. S. Here’s a better article that explains more about the Questions feature.
P. P. P. S. Evidently, only about 1% of Facebook users had the feature when I wrote this. But was I one of them… sweet.
