The moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here! Facebook has been updated! OK, I’m clearly kidding but I had to throw that joke out there sometime (I’ve been wanting to for months). As I’ve said before, Facebook, the social networking giant, continues to update their platform at a rate that never ceases to amaze me.
Not too long ago it was a major overhaul to Facebook’s Business Pages. Now, Mark and his friends have revamped and relaunched the much anticipated “Questions” tool.
According to a blog post from Facebook, the change comes from Facebook’s understanding that how we use and interact on the platform has changed. “Friends are often the best source of advice when you’re trying new things: Where should I go to dinner? How do I go buy a car? What new music should I check out? Friends know your tastes, and you have confidence in their opinions.”
Today, we are more likely to trust information given to us by trusted sources and those trusted sources are often the friends, family and coworkers we keep in our social networks. Our decisions are strongly influenced by referrals and recommendations from our network. With that behavior in mind, we’ve been seeing many different Question and Answer platforms start to pop up (Yahoo Answer, Quora, and now Questions on Facebook).
So why are these types of platforms so compelling? From a business standpoint, Q&A platforms allow brands and businesses to crowdsource and gain market knowledge in a much more intimate manner, especially when it comes to Facebook. Brands and businesses can determine what consumer interests are, what they like and don’t like, what they want to see next, whether they like/enjoy a newly launched product, etc. The sky is the limit.
For example, you could ask “likers” of your business page what topic they’d like to read next on your blog or you could ask for their thoughts regarding a hot topic related to your industry. By introducing Questions, Facebook has opened yet another door for businesses and brands to interact with their valued audience and show them that they are valuable by asking for their thoughts and opinion.
Not familiar with Questions? Here’s the down-low on how it works:
The new version of Questions is faster and simpler than the old school version. Users can set up a poll with fixed answers or leave the question open ended, depending on the kind of question it is.
Instead of keeping Questions as a separate page, the feature now works on profile pages (smart move), and within newsfeeds. Also, when a friend answers, the question is posted to his or her profile, and their friends can also answer the question, though Facebook filters results so friends’ answers (rather than friends of friends’) appear first.
What are your thoughts?
By Genevieve Jooste
