Ask me anything; go ahead…I want you to. No, I DARE you to, you know you want to, and if it helps; know that if you don’t ask me something, I’ll shrivel up and go hide in some loser corner someplace and it’ll be your fault. Welcome to Formspring.me, the next big thing in social media that you’ll just have to be a part of. With $2.5M in new capital and an upcoming move to Silicon Valley, you can partake of all the juicy Q&A goodness without fear that the platform will soon disappear.
What is it?
It’s really as simple as it sounds. Formspring.me is a platform that facilitates the asking and answering of questions…with the option for the asker to remain anonymous, which to me seems to be the one factor that’s pushing all of the interest. The site is a social network in that you can find and follow other users. Formspring.me already allows users to connect and post automatically to their Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, and Tumblr accounts, and I suspect that this list will only grow. If you’re on Facebook, you’ve likely already seen the “Ask me anything” status update on your friend’s walls and wondered what it meant.
“…imagine being asked the questions you’ve always wanted to be asked, but couldn’t otherwise talk about. The opportunity to say unbecoming #%8* is simply endless. And if we’ve learned anything from Twitter, it’s that this opportunity will not go quietly into the night. No sir.” – Foster Kamer on VALLEYWAG
For my business though?
From a business perspective, I don’t feel pressed to throw a Formspring.me widget up on my website just yet, though I do see the potential value in the opportunity to engage with your community in yet another new and interesting way. The site does lend itself to a move towards transparency and honesty which is advantageous to businesses on the social web. I’m anxious to see the many ways in which businesses will try to incorporate and make use of Formspring.me. I’m sure that we’ll see some examples of how NOT to use it as well.
“So, when you combine the power of a Q&A site with the magic of an anonymous commenting system and the addictive qualities of navel-gazing with the expectation of being noticed, you basically have on your hands the social web app of the year just waiting to happen.” – Jolie O’Dell on ReadWriteWeb
So here it is, you knew it was coming: “Ask me anything.”
What are your thoughts? Will you be running over to set up your profile on Formspring.me five minutes ago, or do you think the whole concept is bound to go the way of the DoDo bird?
Disclosure: I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.
While I think it's kind of cute and all…it doesn't seem very useful to me. I mean, I would rather have people ask me questions in the form of a comment than on some "other" website. it's a bit too much for me. That's all!
Really Heather? In my mind, I had you as a person that might benefit from something like this. On your blog, I imagine that anonymity would be appealing to some that might want to ask questions about special needs kids and not feel comfortable being identified…for whatever reason. I could be way off, and I’m certainly not trying to sell you on the idea, I’m just interested in whether or not people see this as a viable tool…or simply as another toy.
I’m like you in that I’d rather be asked a question here. Still, at the same time, I will admit that I’ve NOT asked a question or left a comment someplace in the past simply because I didn’t want to be identified…for whatever reason.
Medical forums, authoritative blogs on addiction, authorities on other sensitive issues, and blogs about abuse…the list is practically endless as to places where I could see this as a sidebar widget being useful and productive. In other places I see it as at least an engaging ice breaker.
I use Tumblr as the host for my blog, and I'm happy with every feature that it has. I agree with Heather on this issue; I think having another website is a little "too much" just for a client to ask a question. I would rather it be in the form of a comment, like she stated (on my Tumblr, you can post comments either anonymously or with an account, just like Formspring).
Don't get me wrong; I think Formspring is a pretty nifty site. But with anonymity comes some pretty dire consequences. I've seen some questions that I would rather NOT be asked. I see Formspring as another toy. It might make a little "bump" in the widget industry, but I definitely don't see it lasting very long as a tool. Just a toy.
Plus, I can't possibly be bothered to have yet another tab open – especially for social media! I'm already swimming in my tabs as is!