Bricks & Clicks
The Rockford Register Star is more than a newspaper: the ink on print or the “bricks” in the News Tower. We’re a multimedia news and information company: the “clicks” on our Web site and the TV clips on WREX-13. This blog explains our fast-changing media environment and interacts with our readers to show how and why we do what we do.

Archive for July 29th, 2009

Just when you thought there wasn’t anything more to write about social media…

Add comment July 29th, 2009

aardvark.jpg

I recently heard of Aardvark, which is the Ask Jeeves or Ask Amy of social networking (well, Facebook for now). It basically expands your network by letting you ask questions to not just friends but also friends of friends– and receive quick, specific answers. Wham! Two responses in five minutes.

This is how the site says its free service works:

Aardvark first analyzes incoming questions to determine what they’re about – questions might be about topics like herbal medicine, Restaurants in Kansas City, Ninetendo Wii, etc.

Aardvark then searches through all of the people in your network who are available over IM or Email to find the right match for you for that topic. Aardvark considers…

  • related topics in peoples’ profiles
  • how you’re connected to people on Facebook
  • who you trust about related topics
  • your history of training Aardvark
  • people who share your favorites (for taste-related questions)
  • people in the right location (for location-related questions)
  • other mysterious factors…

I feel like I get enough support on my social networks (hey, Rockford Woman alone has its 300th user signed up). But it could be worth a shot.


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