Update: It appears that Facebook pulled the updates, for the time being. These were apparently “prototype” features. See our post with full details.
A while back we heard about a new Facebook feature called Questions but until today many weren’t able to access it. Finally, along with a number of other features it’s finally available live for the world to try.
This is how it works:
The new feature allows users to ask Facebook questions on specific topics. When you launch Questions it will automatically select 7 topics for you based on the information found in your profile. Some of the topics include music, food, health, travel and technology. If you can’t find a topic you’re looking for, simply type it in and search.
Users are also able to see what their friends are asking and answer their questions. Within the Questions app you can view an entire list of the questions your friends have asked but the search can only be done by topic. As an example, when you select the “friends questions” feature it asks you to select a topic to get you started. We still haven’t figured out if questions can be marked as “private”so for now we’ll assume they’re public.
Facebook users can subscribe to a topic by using the “follow” feature. It seems to save the topics to the app however we’re still unclear if “followed” topics will send notifications when a new question is asked. In addition to asking Facebook questions, users can create polls by providing 3 possible answers.
After asking Facebook “What is the meaning of life”, I was given a list of other users who have answered the question. The answers can be voted up or down and will display them in order of votes so users get the best possible answer at the top of the page.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.