Education Rambler

It’s never too late to learn something new, and I just learned to dance the ChaCha.  Well, not literally.  While at NECC, my colleague, Rick Weinberg, shared a site called ChaChawith us.  If you’re not familiar with ChaCha, you should be.

ChaCha has been around since 2006 (who knew!), and is basically an information site whose purpose is to find the answers to your questions.  Unlike traditional search engines, ChaCha allows users to get answers to their direct questions rather than forcing users to sift through a long list of search results.  If you want to know the price of tea in China (seriously), just ask ChaCha “What is the price of tea in China.”  Within a few mintues, ChaCha responds with an answer to your cell phone.  In fact, you can even text the question directly to ChaCha.

For a while at NECC, ChaCha became a bit of an addiction.  When asked whether Coke or Pepsi was better, ChaCha responded to me that Coke was better, but to my colleage that Pepsi was better.  When asked “Who killed the Wicked Witch of the East,” I got back the response “Who killed my sister?!  Was it you?!” along with the rest of the confrontation between the Wicked Witch of the West and little Dorothy. 

The brilliance of ChaCha is that it is run on people power.  ChaCha guides are live people searching the Internet for your answers.  Ask something legitimate, and ChaCha will usually come back with an accurate and legitimate response.  Ask something trivial or slightly funny, and ChaCha will come back with an answer.  Just careful what you ask for!  A colleague in a punchy mood asked, “Who’s your daddy?”  I’ll leave it at that.  There is such a human element and feel to ChaCha that I feel like I’m texting a friend nearly every time.

If you don’t believe how “human” it can feel, try asking:
1.  If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?
2.  Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
3.  How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Each response will be interesting, and probably witty.  (Just know that you’re being charged for each text message out and each text message in.  I have 500 texts per month, so I’ve got to be careful how curious I am).  ChaCha guides can see the thread of your questions as you’re asking them so if you continue to reply to your messages with new questions, the ChaCha experience becomes more like a conversation. 

The real power of ChaCha?  I can’t WAIT until the next time I’m playing Trivial Pursuit or am called as a lifeline on Who Wants to be a Millionaire!

Some of the people I work with would say I may have a slightly competitive nature.  Some of the people in my personal life would likely agree with them.  I concede that I have a bit of a competitive streak, but am confident that I’m not one of those competitive personalities who makes everything into a “I MUST WIN” event (and when I do, it’s more for the comedy of it).  I don’t get angry if I don’t win, I don’t sulk, and I’m genuinely happy for others when they win.  Perhaps silently I’m kicking myself for not pushing myself a bit harder, but on the outside I don’t think most people would know that.

So what does this phych profile have to do with technology?  Karma.

In the new social networking site, Plurk, users are given a Karma score.  The Karma score is somewhat of a barometer for participation on the network.  Users gain Karma points for each quality post they publish, credit for commenting on others’ plurks, recruiting fans and friends, and even for attaching an image to their profile.  Although the exact “dark magic” behind the karma score is invisible, it’s interesting to me that all of the items users are evaluated on are things that could easily be incorporated into a rubric for being a participant in a social network.

I have tried in the past to be a better participant in communities like Twitter, but I never felt I was getting out of it what I put into it.  Granted, I didn’t spend much time putting in, but I’ve found that my competitive spirit wants to see that Karma score rising.  To me, it’s validation that someone (albiet that someone is a computer program) is measuring my progress.  In a way, I’ve become the carrot-lured horse drawing the cart and I just keep moving forward.  I don’t feel like my Karma score needs to be any higher than anyone else’s, but when I see my Karma score decline a bit, it’s an indication that I’m not doing something right and I become more thoughtful about what I’m giving back to the community.

My participation in Plurk has not been entirely motivated by my Karma, though.  I’ve found the ease of keeping track of various conversations has been the best benefit.  I’m also extremely grateful that there is a quality Twitter alternative.  My colleagues Rick Weinberg and Mark Carls can tell you I had a not-so-nice nickname for Twitter, and now that we’ve all converted I’m quite pleased (as long as my Karma keeps rising!).

I guess it’s sort of inaccurate to say that I’m a Twitter quitter if I never actually liked Twitter to beigin with, but it’s a catchy title, and I’m sticking with it.  Plurk seems like an evolved, more refined version of Twitter, and it does things I always wanted Twitter to do.

My problem with Twitter isn’t the complaint I hear so often which is that it’s under repair so often (frankly, I think plurk is in for some maintenance as it begins to catch on more), but that I’m not constantly logged in to Twitter.  Not being logged in means that any questions or comments I make get lost in the shuffle of everyone else’s.  I never really know if someone has answered my question, and I have a lot of trouble following any kind of thread (this is probably an indication of a very linear side of my nature).

Mark Carls recently invited me to Plurk and I think I’m hooked.  Rather than microblogging like Twitter, it’s a bit more like micro discussion threads.  If I post a question or make a comment, I can see right away if anyone has actually commented back.  I’m not good a sifting, so it’s extremely useful for me to be able to glance at my posts and others’ posts, and then focus on micro discussions that are happening in the timeline.

In case you want to check it out, I’m tclarkeee in Plurk.  It’s really worth getting an account and playing with it.  If nothing else, it’s fun to watch your karma grow.

Side Note: Along with Plurk, I’ve been using ChaCha like a fiend.  I hope my 500 texts per month on my cell phone plan don’t add up as quickly as I fear they will!