Last summer, Facebook debuted Questions – its answer engine, where community members could pose inquiries and share insight. Now, the social site is revamping its Q&A forum to make it easier for users to make recommendations based on questions.
Facebook announced the update in a blog post, saying, „We noticed that people were frequently asking for opinions („what are your favorite restaurants in New York?“)[.]“ To help make answering these types of questions simpler, the company has launched a tool that lists branded answers and lets users „agree“ with them.
Once an answer is provided, it accompanies the question so that users can easily support it. For instance, Facebook provides the example of a question asking, „What are your favorite restaurants in San Francisco?“ Answers already generated include eateries in the Bay Area, and they are listed in a box for all to see.
Others can easily advocate a response by choosing to agree with one click. Then, the person who posed the question – as well as other users – can easily assess which is the most popular response.
This updated tool could turn into a good word-of-web referral system for brands that are recommended by users, as it makes it easy for Facebook fans to support favorite brands. Businesses that can acquire a large number of fans may find that they are more likely to be promoted as positive „answers“ to users' questions, and an ExactTarget study shows that fresh, original social content is a top way to engage Facebook users.
