| It's probably true that we ask more than we tell. We question more than we answer. For generations, lifelong learners have used this used this not-so-unusual human trait to plug the holes of their knowledge banks. The new age social media has now given us a wide opening where the entire world is a learning portal. Twitter is a learning portal too. A lot can be asked in 140 characters or less, and as easily answers can be given. Replyz is a nice Twitter based service that turns Twitter into a Q&A platform. You can of course, do the same within your personal circle on Twitter, but Replyz opens up the entire Twittersphere to tap into. Let's see how we can benefit from asking questions, and answering them on Replyz. What's Replyz All About? Replyz helps you see all questions people are asking on Twitter (and the ones that are getting answered too). Replyz organizes the whole thing nicely in real time and pulls it in a neat conversational view. You do not even have to log-in to view questions that are being asked and answered on Twitter. If you participate then definitely log in with your Twitter credentials, because it has other benefits too which we will talk about. On Replyz, you can enter any Twitter user name to see questions on that person's favorite topics. Though, after trying it out with a few names I didn't find this part very effective. After signing up, you can set up email notifications if you want to stay in the loop. The Account Setting page also allows you to manage what you follow . Share Your Knowledge You can join a conversation and start sharing what you know by adding or answering to the questions being asked. The simplest way to join a conversation is to search for the topic of your interest from the search box and then click on the result of your interest. You can also check out related conversations around that and join in there. Conversations to join are usually the ones which have more replies. Remember, conversations (i.e. questions and answers) on the same subject make up topics . In a more general way, you can follow the topics. Topic updates get directly pulled into your dashboard. Replyz helps you become some sort of a 'guru' in your field if you end up answering some questions. If you end up answering lots of them, you can claim a spot on the Replyz Leaderboard. Grow Your Twitter Following Replyz gives you a focus group to grow your following. Joining rich conversations and giving relevant answers attracts followers by the dozens. As a Replyz topic is a 'common interest area', followers are expected to share the same interests as yours. Build a Mentor Network…Learn From Others The reverse holds true if you are searching for mentors in your area of interest. You can ask questions of them and follow them. A mentor relationship takes some work, so your questions should also be up to the mark. Also, Replyz has a feature called Flashcards . Replyz looks into your public Twitter stream and bring up questions based on your interests. Depending on your interest areas, this sometimes works, sometimes not. Wrapping It Up Replyz is not alone in the business of Q&A services . There are a host of others. Like twitQA , TwitHelp , TweetQA , and other non-Twitter ones like Quora and Yahoo Answers . Replyz has a good conversation management system going for it via the Dashboard. The Dashboard, like a control center helps you ask questions of a trusted group of friends…find new ones and befriend them. With Replyz, it's not necessary that you join Replyz; you can use it for as a Q&A search engine alone. Like all automatic aggregators, Replyz also has some flaws when it comes to the questions and answers, but it's something to be expected in a large social network like Twitter . Some more posts on Q&A web services: 6 Twitter Web Apps to Ask Questions From a Twitter Crowd 5 Different Q&A Websites You Can Put Your Questions To & Get Answers Tell us about your favorite Q&A site. Where does Replyz stack up against them? Does it offer the quality (of answers) you look for? |
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