24.com joins the Q&A game

Answerit is a new online public forum that allows users to ask questions among a range of more than 20 categories and get answers from real people. From sport to science, politics to pets and computers to cars, users can browse and contribute to this social media tool.

Comments Elan Lohmann, GM of social networking and media at 24.com, “One of the core principles of the World Wide Web is that we live in a shared world where shared knowledge is valuable. Answerit is an online tool for South Africans to interact and share knowledge that is particularly relevant to their local experience.”

Over the past two years, US visits to question and answer (Q&A) websites have increased 889%according to Hitwise, the world's leading online competitive intelligence service. The top two Q&A websites are Yahoo! Answers and Wiki.Answers.com, which between them receive more than 91% of the market share of U.S. visits.

“Online users are increasingly seeking advice from question and answer websites that leverage shared knowledge contributed across a community of experts and enthusiasts,” says Heather Dougherty, research director, Hitwise. “The popularity of user-generated media has helped to establish a category for social knowledge where consumers can obtain answers from a single aggregated source developed through others asking similar questions.”

How it works

Questions go through various stages on Answerit as they are asked, answered and resolved. To keep the new questions fresh and interesting, there is a limited time period for a question to stay open in the system. Once a question is resolved, it forms a permanent part of the Answerit knowledge base where it can be searched, added to people's favourites and shared with others via email.

By asking and answering questions, users can accumulate points and build a reputation as a guru in a certain topic or simply climb the leaders' ladder by providing the best answers to various questions. Users can browse the site without signing in, but to participate (ask, answer, vote) one must sign in as a member of 24.com. Points may be earned by:

• Joining Answerit (it's free).
  
• Logging in and answering questions.
  
• Selecting a Best Answer for your own questions.
  
• Voting for the Best Answer to other people's questions.
  
• Winning a Best Answer, getting a ‘Thumbs Up' and introducing a new member.

It costs points to:

• Ask a question.
  
• Delete your own question or answer.
  
• Have a question or answer deleted due to abuse.

MyAnswerit

My Answerit is a page dedicated to users' individual activities where they can set up email notifications for answers to certain question, view their own questions and answers or those of other users, and bookmark particular questions.

“Whether considered a trivial online pursuit or serious pursuit of online trivia, Answerit is a great way for the South Africa web community to leverage user-generated content in a way that is educational, participative and fun,” adds Lohmann.

To encourage users to participate, Answerit will be giving away R5000 to the Answerit user who achieves the most points by 31 May 2008. There will also be 10 ‘Magic 8-balls' given away to the runners-up.

For more information about how to be part of the Answerit community and start earning points, go to http://answerit.24.com.