Tag Archives: knowledge

The new frontier: social knowledge.

Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all: social media, social networks… but have we been paying attention to social knowledge?

Robert Formentin, VP of Advertising for WikiAnswers, presents a column on Online Media Daily about the “socialization of knowledge.” Have a read:

The Socialization Of Knowledge: An Opportunity For Brand Marketers

Formentin defines the big two: social media and social networking, and then moves on to define an area not often discussed, which is social knowledge (see? no link to Answers.com for that one).

As Formentin points out:

“Whereas Social Media is amorphous (the basic “unit” is simply whatever I choose to write) and Social Networking is egocentric (the “unit” is, well, me), Social Knowledge is informative (the “unit” is an article or an answer). It’s a framework where anyone – not exclusively experts- can educate other people by sharing what they know.” (source)

Ok, I can dig. And WikiAnswers fits right in there with its wiki Q&A model: education by and for the masses. Or, to paraphrase from Abe:

“…And those answers of the people, by the people, for the people.“

Knowledge Management at its best.

Who doesn’t love a little fan mail? Especially when it’s from a student named Grace who got help for her scientific paper defense:

“I know this is kind of shallow. But I just want to say ‘thanks.’ This is ingenious. I’m a student and Answers.com provided me the kind of explanations I needed to fully understand concepts that are really challenging. This is Knowledge Management at its best. Congratulations. I just thought some positive feedback might do you good once in a while.”

I love that term, “knowledge management.” Answers.com: your site for knowledge management.

Thanks, Grace!

Jack of all trades, master of some

fcmfallssmall.jpgThis week, we’re meeting Aggie80 from Michigan. When he’s not busy being a father to twins or managing a dojo or maintaining web sites about Genealogy or doing probate work or, you know, saving the world…Aggie80 donates his time and varied knowledge to the WikiAnswers community. What’s next, man!? A white paper on the environmental effects of ladybug migration!?

He knows something about pretty much everything and we’re darn glad he’s around!

How did you originally hear about WikiAnswers?

I don’t recall how I ran across FAQFarm (as the site used to be called), but was immediately pleased with the huge difference between it and the other Q&A communities out there. Within a day or two I had posted questions, created a category or two and volunteered to be a supervisor.

What motivates you to volunteer your time to the WikiAnswers community?

I learn from the questions and get to share my knowledge with others. The other supervisors are a sharp bunch and there are a lot of great participants out there.

What is your area of expertise?

Jack of all trades, master of some. If I could only figure out which ones! Given my military service, law degree, martial arts experience and general worldwide travels, I know a bit about a whole lot of different things.

What is the funniest question/funniest experience as a Supervisor on WikiAnswers?

I love the answers that let a person know that the question is not really a good question and rather dumb, but still provides a decent answer. I saw a recent question “Pics of ass?” that a sharp individual changed to “How do you photograph a donkey?” Very clever and maintains the integrity of WikiAnswers.

Share a random fact about yourself.

I’m a Shellback. For most people that would mean absolutely nothing, but those that do know it’s pretty cool. And I’m a Knight of the Golden Horseshoe. Again, most people won’t have a clue, but the Mountaineers out there know! And my family has been in the New World since 1652.