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I think that there are 4 things going on.
First and foremost, Mahalo is a "Human Powered Search Engine". Mahalo Answers is a complimentary product that I suspect came about as a simple method to facilitate the need that many users have to obtain specific information on a SERP (search engine result page).
With this in mind:
1)
Asking questions with relevant keywords will attract traffic.
Mahalo Answers is regularly indexed by a good number of search engines and other bots. So when someone asks a question such as "Who plays X in Y movie?" it could be that the question was designed to attract traffic from people searching other Search Engines (like google).
I think that this is a really great strategy. Not only does this help Mahalo grow, but the answers to these questions are usually quick and accurate. This means that the person who was refereed from another site (like google) finds what they were looking for and more importantly, finds out that Mahalo Answers is wicked awesome.
2)
Some folks want to contribute their M$ back into the system. For whatever reason, some people choose not to withdraw their funds or contribute a percentage of their earnings back into the community.
Importantly, Mahalo employees can not withdraw their tips so 100% of the funds they receive eventually find their way back into the system.
@jasoncalacanis has mentioned that it would be "nice" if folks contributed 10-20% of their earnings back into the system to help out and has even declared 20% (i think) as the minimum level that a Black Belt must contribute to progress levels.
Personally, I don't consciously contribute to the system. However, when I ask a question, I tip each and every person who responds and I tip newer users frequently to help convince them that again, Mahalo Answers is wicked awesome.
3)
I think that some people simply want an accurate, fast answer.
Google is very good at categorizing and indexing online content. However, in order to find specific, clear and well supported content, you must wade through sometimes hundreds of pages to find answers.
Some people simply aren't good at searching. I've noticed that generally, folks over 40 don't "skim and hunt" the same way that people who have grown up with the Internet do.
Some people also want their findings validated. I've found that with a good number of easy questions, the asker knows the answer. More than the answer itself, the asker is either looking for their answer to be verified or they need additional sources to support their findings.
4)
Short e-mail, twitter, and facebook questions are unique in all of this. It's possible that these questions come from a person who does not have full, fast access to the Internet but they need a clear, fast answer.
I think that these quick questions are very important. I know from first hand experience that asking "how do I get here" or "where is the bywood market" type of questions and answers are invaluable.
0)
So, there are a number of reasons why we see apparently trivial questions. Personally, I don't treat any of them as trivial and when I have time to answer these sorts of questions, I try my best to provide a strong, clear answer.
I hope that this helps you figure this Mahalo Answers side effect out!
RB : http://www.twitter.com/AR_RobBrown
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something else is when you are asking by mobile phone -for-example- maybe you can not open pages or Google for what you need to know!
when Mahalo grow more you will find how it's powerful and helpful! specially if you got so many answers for your question!
What I think is that Mahalo Team is activating and promoting the website sometimes by posting some easy to answer Question! so this is the right way to grow the community and make it good place to earn money.. so I think this should lead all Mahalo new members to practice in the coming time, as latter we will not have a chance to earn like these days when the Mahalo grow more!
Source(s):
personal experience as Mahalo Member!
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Lets say I want to know "who won the XXX on YYY." I can't possibly know how long it will take me to find that information on Google, even though it is a simple enough question. I may have to wade through ads, sites that require sign-up, or old pages with similar but incorrect info, or it could be the first result. It may take 1 minute, 10 minutes, or an hour to find this information.
Here is a hypothetical situation using myself:
By asking a question on Mahalo, (currently) Mahalo funds the question. Mahalo pays someone else to research a question for me, and the opportunity cost for someone else may be lower than it is for me. I am willing to search for a minute or two, but if I have to look longer than that, I can't afford the time. Someone else may be willing to search for more than 1 minute for M$1, and therefore their opportunity cost is lower than mine. But what is more insane is Mahalo will pay on my behalf for these easy questions (personally, I try to offer tips from my own stash for any "interesting" question).
So currently, for better or for worse, Mahalo will pay someone else for any basic questions I may have, and this eliminates all real and opportunity costs on my side.
The incentive is there for people to ask anything they'd like, regardless of how easy it is to find the information, because it is free for them and beneficial to someone else.
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Answered Question
M$1
April 14, 2009 12:28 PM
What's the logic behind using Mahalo Answers to ask questions that can be answered by a simple search-engine blip?
i've been increasingly intrigued by the number of "10-seconds-or-less-on-Google" caliber questions popping up on here ... and i'm curious about the logic behind them.
specifically, things like, "Who plays X in Y movie?" or "What's the capital of Z?"
something about the amount of time it would take to plug that into a search engine VS. the amount of time it takes to post a question, wait for answers, check those answers, and interact with those answers, doesn't seem to add up.
so is it the points? stat-boosting? the fact that it's more fun to get live answers? community involvement?
what causes one to come to Mahalo Answers and ask questions that are easily accessible elsewhere?
specifically, things like, "Who plays X in Y movie?" or "What's the capital of Z?"
something about the amount of time it would take to plug that into a search engine VS. the amount of time it takes to post a question, wait for answers, check those answers, and interact with those answers, doesn't seem to add up.
so is it the points? stat-boosting? the fact that it's more fun to get live answers? community involvement?
what causes one to come to Mahalo Answers and ask questions that are easily accessible elsewhere?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| April 14, 2009 12:55 PM |
First and foremost, Mahalo is a "Human Powered Search Engine". Mahalo Answers is a complimentary product that I suspect came about as a simple method to facilitate the need that many users have to obtain specific information on a SERP (search engine result page).
With this in mind:
1)
Asking questions with relevant keywords will attract traffic.
Mahalo Answers is regularly indexed by a good number of search engines and other bots. So when someone asks a question such as "Who plays X in Y movie?" it could be that the question was designed to attract traffic from people searching other Search Engines (like google).
I think that this is a really great strategy. Not only does this help Mahalo grow, but the answers to these questions are usually quick and accurate. This means that the person who was refereed from another site (like google) finds what they were looking for and more importantly, finds out that Mahalo Answers is wicked awesome.
2)
Some folks want to contribute their M$ back into the system. For whatever reason, some people choose not to withdraw their funds or contribute a percentage of their earnings back into the community.
Importantly, Mahalo employees can not withdraw their tips so 100% of the funds they receive eventually find their way back into the system.
@jasoncalacanis has mentioned that it would be "nice" if folks contributed 10-20% of their earnings back into the system to help out and has even declared 20% (i think) as the minimum level that a Black Belt must contribute to progress levels.
Personally, I don't consciously contribute to the system. However, when I ask a question, I tip each and every person who responds and I tip newer users frequently to help convince them that again, Mahalo Answers is wicked awesome.
3)
I think that some people simply want an accurate, fast answer.
Google is very good at categorizing and indexing online content. However, in order to find specific, clear and well supported content, you must wade through sometimes hundreds of pages to find answers.
Some people simply aren't good at searching. I've noticed that generally, folks over 40 don't "skim and hunt" the same way that people who have grown up with the Internet do.
Some people also want their findings validated. I've found that with a good number of easy questions, the asker knows the answer. More than the answer itself, the asker is either looking for their answer to be verified or they need additional sources to support their findings.
4)
Short e-mail, twitter, and facebook questions are unique in all of this. It's possible that these questions come from a person who does not have full, fast access to the Internet but they need a clear, fast answer.
I think that these quick questions are very important. I know from first hand experience that asking "how do I get here" or "where is the bywood market" type of questions and answers are invaluable.
0)
So, there are a number of reasons why we see apparently trivial questions. Personally, I don't treat any of them as trivial and when I have time to answer these sorts of questions, I try my best to provide a strong, clear answer.
I hope that this helps you figure this Mahalo Answers side effect out!
RB : http://www.twitter.com/AR_RobBrown
| Asker's Rating: |
• great perspective on some things i otherwise wouldn't have explored, especially point-the-fourth.
thanks for the insight,
/phil
thanks for the insight,
/phil
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Helpful: cp24, jellylala, phillipluther, hishaman, drmatt, nativenerd, hushnow
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Other Answers (3)
April 14, 2009 12:53 PM
Considering differences between people's knowledge and need, Mahalo can help people who don't know how to search for topics, as there is lots of people out there REALLY don't know how to search! something else is when you are asking by mobile phone -for-example- maybe you can not open pages or Google for what you need to know!
when Mahalo grow more you will find how it's powerful and helpful! specially if you got so many answers for your question!
What I think is that Mahalo Team is activating and promoting the website sometimes by posting some easy to answer Question! so this is the right way to grow the community and make it good place to earn money.. so I think this should lead all Mahalo new members to practice in the coming time, as latter we will not have a chance to earn like these days when the Mahalo grow more!
Source(s):
personal experience as Mahalo Member!
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April 14, 2009 01:30 PM
I like to believe that people don't stat boost. I know it happens, but I don't like to believe it.
I honestly don't see the point of anyone stat boosting. A Brown or Black belt means nothing other than the person is an active member and their account has been reviewed for this sort of "gaming".
I think that folks do see a Purple, Brown or Black belt answer and *might* give their answer a little more consideration.... but this is usually because the answer is thoughtful, clearly stated and well supported. ANY user (white belt and up) can do this.
If folks do "game the system", they likely won't progress past a Purple Belt. Still, it takes all kinds to make up a community like Mahalo Answers and I for one like to believe in the good of people.
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I honestly don't see the point of anyone stat boosting. A Brown or Black belt means nothing other than the person is an active member and their account has been reviewed for this sort of "gaming".
I think that folks do see a Purple, Brown or Black belt answer and *might* give their answer a little more consideration.... but this is usually because the answer is thoughtful, clearly stated and well supported. ANY user (white belt and up) can do this.
If folks do "game the system", they likely won't progress past a Purple Belt. Still, it takes all kinds to make up a community like Mahalo Answers and I for one like to believe in the good of people.
April 14, 2009 02:17 PM
I don't understand - I thought there were no points for asking questions. What does this have to do with stat boosting?
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April 14, 2009 02:53 PM
You get points for picking an answer. You can tell that these people are doing it to boost stats because they never ANSWER any questions, but they still have oodles of points. So they're getting their points from picking the first answer that comes along (I've seen it, question was up for less than TEN MINUTES) for their own questions, voting, and viewing pages.
Report
April 14, 2009 04:48 PM
"I like to believe that people don't stat boost. I know it happens, but I don't like to believe it."
That made me smile.
Report
That made me smile.
April 14, 2009 02:27 PM
I think one possible rationale is, "OK, I can type this into Mahalo Answers and then Mahalo will pay someone else $M to look it up for me." Lets say I want to know "who won the XXX on YYY." I can't possibly know how long it will take me to find that information on Google, even though it is a simple enough question. I may have to wade through ads, sites that require sign-up, or old pages with similar but incorrect info, or it could be the first result. It may take 1 minute, 10 minutes, or an hour to find this information.
Here is a hypothetical situation using myself:
By asking a question on Mahalo, (currently) Mahalo funds the question. Mahalo pays someone else to research a question for me, and the opportunity cost for someone else may be lower than it is for me. I am willing to search for a minute or two, but if I have to look longer than that, I can't afford the time. Someone else may be willing to search for more than 1 minute for M$1, and therefore their opportunity cost is lower than mine. But what is more insane is Mahalo will pay on my behalf for these easy questions (personally, I try to offer tips from my own stash for any "interesting" question).
So currently, for better or for worse, Mahalo will pay someone else for any basic questions I may have, and this eliminates all real and opportunity costs on my side.
The incentive is there for people to ask anything they'd like, regardless of how easy it is to find the information, because it is free for them and beneficial to someone else.
Permalink | Report
Reply
April 14, 2009 04:09 PM
i guess i'm just not seeing the difficulty in finding answers to these questions.
sure, some of it's subjective as far as the difficulty is concerned - what's native for one dude might be Classical Latin to another.
but simple, yes/no facts? "who won the XXX on YYY?" ... i mean, you could type THAT type of stuff into any search engine and likely get your answer from the resulting summaries.
if i type in, "who won the stanley cup last year?" into any search engine, i'll get the answer a lot faster than by going through the Answers process.
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sure, some of it's subjective as far as the difficulty is concerned - what's native for one dude might be Classical Latin to another.
but simple, yes/no facts? "who won the XXX on YYY?" ... i mean, you could type THAT type of stuff into any search engine and likely get your answer from the resulting summaries.
if i type in, "who won the stanley cup last year?" into any search engine, i'll get the answer a lot faster than by going through the Answers process.
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Still annoying to have members ask a dozen mundane questions on the same topic, but I get the "internet keyword search" thing. Lord knows how many times I've tried to google an answer for someone's question and the first page on the results screen was the mahalo question. >_<
1) interesting. if that's the case, that sounds almost like Mahalo is playing the SEO game in the same way that they're trying to combat with their human-powered search.
2) i'm skeptical of this one, as most of the questions i'm referring to show up in the free/non-tipped questions.
3) interesting - but my personal jury is still out on that one.
4) ah! that's a forehead slapper i didn't consider - the social media contingent. i never check if these questions are feeds from twitter/facebook/whatever. great insight.
and let it also be noted that i'm not calling these questions trivial - just inexplicable. at least at first glance.
It looks like folks are doing a good job of voting up questions that are interesting.
Personally I would never ask who appeared in movie X as I know I can find that out instantly from IMDB or Wikipedia. But not everyone knows that.
But there are other simple factual questions where I'm pretty sure other people would know exactly the source to go to for a reliable answer, and I wouldn't, and so I'd have to hunt through a bunch of search results and figure out how much I trusted them.
Also, maybe it's just me, but it's kind of nice to help each other out rather than DIY all the time. :)
I don't know what proportion of Twitter users are really on devices without good net access, but I suspect that could be a major source of simple questions as well.
What surprises me about Twitter questions is actually how often they call for long and complicated answers!
There are also a few question spammers about, IMO. But maybe I'm being uncharitable. :)