With the announcement this morning about Google’s taking on the world of sharing via Google Buzz, Answers.com has created a brand new Google Buzz Q&A category to answer the questions buzzing around inside your head.
Here are a few Q’s to get you started:
Well, social webbies, you’ve got the Facebook, you’ve got the Twitter, the Yahoo! and Google accounts to play around with. And now you’re about to spend more time online with those IDs. Answers.com announced its new social media angle today at CES in Las Vegas:
Answers.com Connects with Social Media
Users will now have the option to log in to Answers.com with their preferred Web identities. Experts will also be able to identify themselves with their real names, more conveniently building their online reputations.
“We see a big advantage in allowing our contributors to use their existing Web identities on our site,” said Bob Rosenschein, CEO. “This change is expected to simplify login, reduce time to contribution, and increase the quality of our answers, as more people visit our site and build their online reputations. We added support for Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo! accounts today and will be adding support for Google accounts in the near future.”
In short, you can create a new Answers.com account using your existing Facebook
, Twitter
or Yahoo!
account. What’s the advantage? As mentioned, it’s a great way to build on your already existent social web ID and if you connect through Facebook, it adds the real-life human element to your answers and bolsters your online reputation.
If you happen to be at CES, visit the Answers.com booth at ShowStoppers Media Event tonight.
WikiAnswers contributors tend to be enigmatic creatures – intelligent, passionate and driven on the surface, complex, multifaceted and extremely adroit behind the wiki exterior. The typical contributor is well-versed on one or more topics, has extreme writing skills and a handful of hobbies that are both mainstream and atypical. This week’s Featured Contributor is no exception. In fact, he can go from playing the viola in a soft, yet masterful manner to shooting up some bad guys in an intense online role-playing battle. Introducing Violaman0910…music to our wiki ears:
What is your WikiAnswers user name and the history behind it?
My user name Violaman0910 has been around since I was about 12. It was my first e-mail address, and it’s always kind of stuck with me. The user name Violaman refers to the fact that I’m a musician who plays the stringed instrument the viola. My birthday is September 10th, which is the reason for the 0910.
What is your first name?
David
What is your age?
I am 26 years old.
Would you care to tell us a bit about your family?
I live with my wife Lara. My mom dedicated her life to educating myself, my younger sister, Katie, and brother, Jonathan. My father and I have been very close my entire life. He’s been a great role model and hero of mine.
Do you have any pets?
When I married Lara I adopted her cat, Anestasia, a Siberian. (She’s a bundle of mischief!)
Where do you live, how long have you lived there and why do you like the area?
I live in Joliet, Illinois. We have been living in the area since we got married in January of 2009. The area is great because it’s close to both sets of parents, and we both love the city of Chicago, which is only a half-hour drive away. Chicago, as everyone knows, is a great town for food, entertainment, music and much more.
Where did you grow up and do you have any special memories of your childhood?
I grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. I have many fond memories of playing catch with my father, having cookouts and spending time with our big extended family (also in the area) on holidays and birthdays.
What educational information would you like to share?
I was homeschooled for the entirety of my 1-12 grades. I spent some time at Glenbard East High School in the Choir and chamber singers ensembles and orchestra. I went on to Wheaton College in Illinois, where I am currently only 6 credits shy of a Bachelors of Music Performance on Viola. I am currently withdrawn due to financial issues.
What are some of your past and/or present occupations?
I am currently a Security Officer, which pays the bills. I have been a private violin and viola teacher for the past 10 years, but currently have no students. My freshman year at Wheaton I was a paid intern as a Worship and Arts Assistant Director at Christ Community Church where I organized music for worship services, conducted the rehearsals of the praise team and led Sunday worship.
What is your key area of knowledge, interests or expertise?
I know a thing or two about science and astronomy, as well as philosophy and theology (and very random trivia). My education is in music, but I also love writing. I also have an intense curiosity of the world around me which leads me to love researching whatever piques my interest at the time.
Do you have any collections or hobbies?
My hobby would have to be video games. I have an unhealthy obsession with them. There’s something very satisfying about being able to virtually blow up your best friend with a bazooka and then have lunch with him afterward.
What do you like to do for recreation?
I love bike riding and swimming. My wife and I both love to curl up on the couch to a good movie or to sit at the table and play a good board game. That’s usually how we spend our evenings.
What are a few random facts about yourself?
I was held back from kindergarten because I was born in September. I play about 7 instruments, most of them have strings. I’ve been able to read music since I was 7. I have a red birthmark below my lower lip that people always ask me about. I’m right handed. I’m always doing something.
Do you have any special talents you’d like to share?
On top of being a musician, I also like to act and am in an Improv troupe.
What accomplishments are you proud of?
I’m proud of being a Wheaton College student, and of being in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra back in high school. (In the CYSO we were given the opportunity to perform at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, which was a real honor.)
What are your special goals or dreams?
My dream has always been to serve God through music. I am shooting for a position in music ministry at a few churches right now. My long-term goals are to raise a family and enjoy life.
How would you describe yourself or personality?
I would describe myself as passionate and opinionated about a great many things, but also kind, generous and understanding of others.
What brought you to WikiAnswers?
I discovered WikiAnswers through some online Google research I was doing, and asked a few questions. I believe I got blocked once for asking too many questions in the same vain, which forced me to create an account (which then educated me of my mistake). I have since learned a lot about how WikiAnswers works.
What keeps you coming back to WikiAnswers?
I love researching questions that pique my interest - which is what has kept me answering questions on WikiAnswers. If I don’t know the answer to a particularly intriguing question, I look it up and share my new-found knowledge. (I have learned to cite my sources, though!)
What is your favorite WikiAnswers activity?
As a Supervisor, I love catching vandals and cleaning up after them. I tend to float from topic to topic looking for abuses of the site and correcting them, answering the question with accurate information and deleting any foul language or bullying, then warning or blocking the vandal (where appropriate). I also enjoy splitting questions that don’t match up and merging questions that do - though I have found that merging tends to be more tedious work.
While I’d be a true fool to compete with Google or YouTube in the realm of playing April Fool’s Day jokes, I will point out some interesting trivia about the springtime tradition; believe at your own risk.
For today’s WikiAnswers Wednesday question, I’m going to go for painstakingly obvious. I think it goes well with my hazel eyes.
Hmm… While I work that one out, I’d like to bring up an article I just read on the Reuters site: Answers.com sees growth in wiki responses. It’s a quick exploration into where Answers.com, with WikiAnswers by its side, is going as discussed by some of its head honchos.
“Somewhere between Google Inc and the community-generated Wikipedia, reference website Answers.com aims to build a new growth model.
The site has found its millions of users are keen to get community-written bits of knowledge, known as wikis, alongside its trusted encyclopedia entries.” (source)
Gotta love that explanation. A lot of times, when I’m hanging out with people and they ask me what I do, and
I mention WikiAnswers, and their faces get all crinkly like one of those mush-face dogs (see right), I explain it like this:
Me: “You know Wikipedia?”
Crinkly face: “Yes…”
Me: “You know how it’s an encyclopedia that anyone can edit?”
Crinkly face: “Ok…”
Me: “So WikiAnswers is a Q&A community, meaning it’s a giant database of questions and answers, contributed by people from all over the world and all kinds of experience. Everyone contributes a bit, creating one complete answer for each question. You can ask or answer anything you like.”
Crinkly face: “OoOOOOoOooOOOo…”
Back to the article:
“Both sites pull up answers based on a question posed by a user, compared with searches for individual keywords used on sites like industry leader Google.”
“Chief Executive Bob Rosenschein said the company would foster more “cross-pollination” between Answers.com and WikiAnswers.com, including a shared search bar.” (source)
Bringing the reference answers side together with the community-generated answers side sounds like a wonderful idea. It’s going to create a powerful force you might want to call a social search engine.
Hmm, so what was that WikiAnswers Wednesday question again?
This is just way too cool. Check out this process, as described by The McMommy Chronicles blogger, as to how she discovered (and got addicted to) WikiAnswers:
“I found something today called WikiAnswers. I found it because someone came to my blog by googling “Kate Gosselin’s sister blog” And it got me wondering…kate gosselin has a sister and she blogs?? So when I googled it, it brought me to Wiki Answers. Holy Addictive-ness! You should see all the questions people ask about kate gosselin! If you don’t believe me, click here to see for yourself. You can even find out if Kate has ever been in jail. You CAN!” (source)
You just gotta love the inner workings of the wonderful interwebs. I wonder what McMommy is working on over at WikiAnswers right now… Let’s hope she’s having a wonderful WikiExperience!
