I would suggest don't ask them too many questions.

Perhaps let them choose four or five from a selection that you offer.

Perhaps you could organise them into categories, and they can pick one from each category. Things like this for example:

Category - About You

- What would you like to say to introduce yourself to the community?
- Tell us something about your background (age, career, location etc)

Category - You and Mahalo

- How did you discover Mahalo, and what kept you coming back?
- What are your favorite topics or features on Mahalo?
- Who are your favorite Mahaloans?
- What peeves do you have about Mahalo?
- How would you like to see Mahalo and the community develop?

Category - You and the Net

- What other sites to do you use regularly?
- Do you have your own website or blog? If yes, what's it about?
- What sources of online information do you find most useful?
- How long have you been online? Tell us a bit about your online history?
- What do you like to do *offline*?

Category - You and the World

- Are you interested in politics or current affairs? What are your views?
- Are you religious or spiritual? Tell us a bit about that.
- Do you try to make a difference in the world? Tell us something about that.
- Where have you travelled? What are the best or most interesting places you've been?
- Who are your heroes, or people who've influenced you the the most?

Category - Offbeat

- What's the most embarassing thing that's happened to you?
- Are you a pet person? What pets do you have?
- If you were an animal what animal would you be, and why?
- Favorite joke or one liner?
- A song that sums you up?

And don't ask the same questions every time either!

I think it's good to let them have a bit of choice as there might be things that are not applicable, or they don't want to get into.

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