Facebook is gathering applications for content writers for its latest innovation called Facebook Questions, soon to be launched as a private beta. Apparently styled after Yahoo Answers and Aardvark - acquired by Google in February - the feature will answer such questions as 'What are the main differences between Google Chrome and Internet Explorer?' ' What are women looking for in a relationship?' and ' What methods has BP tried to clean up the oil spill?'
When it launches it will put Facebook in direct competition with other sites as well as Yahoo and Aardvark, writes CNN - namely Mahalo, a Q&A app created by former Facebooker Jason Calacanis, and Quora, a similar effort by former employees.
Industries - the online travel space for example - could also feel the pinch if Facebook Questions really takes off, Tnooz writes. Consider if it posed the following questions: 'What is the best hotel for a romantic view of the Seine in Paris?' 'Can I travel from London to Bangkok with a stop in Mumbai?' 'Where is the cheapest car rental booth at Atlanta airport?'
"Facebook has the potential to make every user a travel expert, an agent with a fountain of knowledge about travel destinations and products," Tnooz says. A ratings system, again similar to Yahoo Answers, would push useless responses down the pecking order and ensuring the valuable content stays at the top, it adds. There will be a search tool as well, according to leaked screenshots of the application, allowing users to browse through the questions. From these gleanings, it is easy to extrapolate a potent travel Q&A community springing up.
Companies would be able to get involved with Questions, possibly creating an entire service around providing responses to travelers on Facebook, it said. Also, if a source of valuable information is a company and their kudos soars then, they will have the opportunity to push the user to another level of interaction, or even a product sale on their site. "This idea becomes even more compelling when booking and payment modules on Facebook become the norm rather than just the idea of a few."
