Q&A Survey Viewpointr Highlights

What Do People Ask Their Social Networks, and Why?

A Survey Study of Status Message Q&A Behavior

Based on findings from Microsoft Research: Morris, M.R., Teevan, J., and Panovich, K.

What Do People Ask Their Social Networks, and Why? A Survey Study of Status Message Q&A Behavior.

Proceedings of CHI 2010, 1739-1748.

with Viewpointr Highlights

| Proceedings of CHI 2010, 1739-1748.

Asking Social Networks vs Individuals

“ ”Questions posed to the social network received more answers, but those targeted to individuals received in-depth answers.

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Target individuals

Ask your social network

Viewpointr allows youto leverageboth yoursocial network &target individuals.


A mixture of both intrinsic factors (e.g. perceived ownership of information, gratitude) and extrinsic factors (e.g. reputation systems, monetary payments) motivate Q&A site users to answer questions.

Factors that Motivate Users to Answer Questions

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The act of pressing the “help” button in itself is a form of committing to help the people you care about most.

Viewpointr is centered around giving and getting help.


Intrinsic motivations, such as visibility of expertise and the feeling of making a unique contribution, influence participation in such systems.

Expertise Contributes to Participation

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Viewpointr tracks influence in terms of the types of people you and your friends can put each other in touch with.

Viewpointr tracks your influence (coming soon).


The audience of potential answerers is much smaller on a social networking site than on a Q&A site, since it consists of only the direct contacts of the asker rather than an entire community or the internet at large.

Community of Potential Answerers

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Highlight 4Viewpointr provides you with a network of helpers.

Your helpers


Breakdown of question types for the 249 example questions survey respondents had asked their networks.

Breakdown of Question Types

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Highlight 551% of all questions require more of a discussion vs. just a one-time answer.

Recommendation29%

Opinion22%

Factual Knowledge17%

Rhetorical14%

Invitation9%

Favor4%

Social Connection3%

Offer1%


Breakdown of question topics for the 249 example questions survey respondents had asked their networks.

Breakdown of Question Topics

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Highlight 6For the top 4 topics, your first helpers on Viewpointr have got you covered :)

Technology29%

Entertainment17%

Home & Family12%

Professional11%

Places8%

Restaurants6%

Current Events5%

Shopping5%

Ethics & Philosophy2%

Misc.5%


Survey respondents’ motivations for asking their social network rather than conducting a Web search.

Motivations for Asking Social Networks

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Highlight 7The top 4 motiva-tions is why there is a need for Viewpointr!

Trust20%

Subjective18%

Belief search engine would not work12%

Specific audience12%

Connect socially10%

Answer speed5%

Context4%

Failed search4%

Easy4%

Answer quality, No harm, Fun, Non-urgent9%


Reported motivations for answering questions seen in network members’ status messages (out of 408 responses).

Motivations for Answering Questions

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Altruism is what Viewpointr is all about.

Altruism25%

Expertise22%

Properties of question10%

Nature of relationship9%

Connect socially9%

Free time8%

Social capital7%

Obligation4%

Humor3%

Ego2%


Search Algorithms vs Personalization

“ ”Personalized search algorithms cannot yet achieve the same degree of personalization as a close friend.

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Highlight 9With Viewpointr, your helpers determine the best friend to help.

vs

Based on algorithmBased on friendrecommendations


Conclusion

Based on this empirical research of general Q&A behavior...

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is the easiest way to give help and get help.

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Q&A Survey Viewpointr Highlights