Try Twitter Instead of Mahalo for People-Powered Search
August 15th, 2007 (2:00pm) Anne Zelenka 36 Comments
While Jason Calacanis’ alpha Mahalo service has garnered attention for its human-powered approach to search, you might want to try Twitter instead. Gather some of your favorite people together and then, when you need specialized information or advice, ask them. You’ll be amazed what great results you can get.
For example, one of my friends needed some advice yesterday. He wanted to know how to set freelance consulting rates. Did he Google? Or Ask Metafilter? No, he used Twitter to do a people-powered search. He searched through his social network for the answer to his question.
My friend received advice that was both trustworthy and targeted. The advice was trustworthy because it came from people he knew. It was targeted because those people know him too — so they could take his particular situation into account when they provided tips and resources.
If you search on Google for information about setting freelance rates, you’d get some blog articles and some calculators, but how do you know what to trust? And even with Google’s personalized search, you’re not going to get information that knows as much about your situation as your friends and colleagues.
Mahalo does much worse than Google. It doesn’t have any results yet for “freelance consulting rates.” Granted, it’s still alpha, but this demonstrates a general problem with the approach: it can’t tap into human intelligence immediately like Twitter can.
Twitter social search would also work for questions like, “what’s a good restaurant in Boston to take a potential client to?” or “why is there a funky indentation in my blog theme?” People can easily parse these questions and ignore them if they have no idea. Or they can respond if they happen to be paying attention and have the time and inclination. Bonus: as questions get answered, social connections are created and deepened.
You wouldn’t want to saturate your Twitter network with every little search you do; Google and other search engines work fine in most cases. (And note that Google, in fact, embeds human intelligence in its search algorithms by considering links created by people). But some questions really need to be answered by your own social network, with technology just a means of connection.
Do you use Twitter for social search? What kind of questions have you gotten answered that way?
36 Comments Post your own comment
C.C. Chapman says: August 15th, 2007 2:07pm
I use Twitter for this all the time. Most recently I used it to ask if anyone had seen a LendingTree type site for home owner insurance. When no one had they started making recommendations to me on what companies to use with and I ended up signing up with a company that I had NEVER heard of before I had several close friends on Twitter recommend them.
Anne Zelenka says: August 15th, 2007 2:24pm
C.C.: Yes, using Twitter this way is surprisingly powerful, I’ve found. You just have no idea what your friends know unless you ask… and Twitter is lightweight enough that you can ask without disrupting everyone. I would never email or IM some of the questions I ask.
Paulo says: August 15th, 2007 2:53pm
The key to querying Google about things like “freelance consulting rates” is to avoid the term itself and look specifically for phrases people used by people who write about such things. Back when I was freelancing, I got a feel for the market by using wildcards in phrases coupled with related industry keywords, for example: “i charge * per hour” “web design”. All this while using some judgment to filter the good info from the bad, of course. I still think it’s a good way to passively scope out info, but of course actively querying a trusted community is better.
Anne Zelenka says: August 15th, 2007 2:56pm
Good tip, Paulo, thanks. And I should have pointed out that asking a question on Twitter PLUS querying Google PLUS checking other information sources is a good way to come up with a really rich answer.
Jason says: August 15th, 2007 3:12pm
Great tip… I use Pownce and Twitter all the time to ask for tips and advice. I’d also recommend Facebook Groups and LinkedIn Answers for this kind of service.
Amie Gillingham says: August 15th, 2007 4:10pm
I’ve gotten tons of good answers to questions I’ve asked there. Everything from “Point me to your best online resources for creating a good ‘pitch’,” to “Are there any other presidential candidates on Twitter besides Edwards and Obama?” (answer from DougH: @fredthompson is here and pretty active. Doing it right IMO - staff tweets are marked as such - and he does his own occasionally”)
Twitter is like this amazing pool of knowledge, just waiting to be tapped.
Aaron B. Hockley says: August 15th, 2007 4:26pm
Agreed - my Twitter friend list already contains people who I trust and find interesting, so it makes sense to ask them certain questions. Yesterday I posed a query about a Facebook app and got fast, relevant answers.
Jason Calacanis mulls a Mahalo Ombudsman | A View from the Isle says: August 15th, 2007 9:37pm
[...] For a different opinion, Web Worker Daily suggests that Twitter is the ultimate human-powered search engine. Technorati Tags: Jason Calacanis, Mahalo, ombudsman, [...]
Tweet ’til you drop « AccMan says: August 15th, 2007 11:53pm
[...] Anne Zelenka has a great post on the value of Twitter as a business tool: …one of my friends needed some advice yesterday. He wanted to know how to set freelance consulting rates. Did he Google? Or Ask Metafilter? No, he used Twitter to do a people-powered search. He searched through his social network for the answer to his question. [...]
Johnny Drama says: August 16th, 2007 2:30am
I use this software called 8hands- It’s a profile aggregator.
anyway, besides its other great features, it has a super cool tag line-
Whenever you change it, your twitter updates accordingly.
links for 2007-08-16 at Michael Specht - discussions on HR and technology says: August 16th, 2007 5:17am
[...] Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive Try Twitter Instead of Mahalo for People-Powered Search « Using twitter as a search engine, not new people have been doing it for a while, but a good comparison to Mahalo (tags: search people twitter mahalo) [...]
Chris says: August 16th, 2007 8:45am
Tell me what I’m missing b/c this sounds like BS to me. Maybe I don’t “get” Twitter. Question: What advantage does Twitter offer to the user that wants to ask his or her friends a question? Couldn’t you could have accomplished the same end result by sending an instant message to mulitple friends? Trillian has a feature that allows you to define groups for your contacts; it also allows you to send one message to any given group you’ve defined. What is so powerful about Twitter’s technology in this simple scenario (posing a question to friends)? The power seems to reside within the network of friends and not in whatever condiut one chooses to send the question. Christ, is Twitter paying for fluff articles like this? GRRR ;-)
Anne Zelenka says: August 16th, 2007 9:06am
Chris: I wouldn’t email or IM a bunch of my friends with a question or a wondering. Twitter is much more lightweight, a totally different model than either of those. It lends itself to use as a social search engine while IM and email don’t.
It’s something you have to experience though… just thinking about it isn’t going to allow you to “get it.”
Chris says: August 16th, 2007 9:11am
Hi Anne, Thanks, I will try Twitter. I apologize for the ire in my question and nasty closing sentence.
chrisbrogan says: August 16th, 2007 9:47am
I *live* by Twitter as a recommendation tool. I use it like the Matrix. The OTHER Chris might have to use it a little longer, develop a better friend base, and hone his questions.
Just today, I was having a lingering trouble with my blog. My provider said, “call WordPress.” Well, um, WordPress doesn’t exactly take calls. So, I asked Twitter. I had FOUR people help me within minutes, plus about 40 other pieces of advice.
And that freelance rates question? I bet that led to some great conversations with intelligent and supportive people.
Twitter, versus Google, is a great way to get the human back into answers that might need more than a boolean answer.
And Jason Calacanis still has a great product, because one thing that’s true: Mahalo’s information stays up there. Twitter is a stream. If you miss it, or of someone’s not around who can answer, it’s work to paddle back up the stream.
Great post, Anne!
Fixing Wordpress with Twitter : [chrisbrogan.com] says: August 16th, 2007 9:53am
[...] then, I read this great article by Anne Zelenka from Web Worker Daily, telling about ways people use Twitter to friendsource [...]
Dan York says: August 16th, 2007 10:08am
Anne, Yes, I’ve been using Twitter like this all the time for questions both large and small. Back in May, I even used Twitter (and Facebook) to help me quickly find a pair of boots - and wrote it up here: http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/2007/05/of_cowboy_boots.html
Like you said, the key is that it is a trusted circle of people that you follow and come to know. Very cool stuff - and VERY useful!
Dan
Scripting News for 8/16/07 « Scripting News Annex says: August 16th, 2007 10:51am
[...] Anne Zelenka suggests using Twitter for “people-powered search.” [...]
Calhoun says: August 16th, 2007 1:06pm
Just ask Dave Winer he has all the answers and more.
Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin » Facebook Beats LinkedIn AND Twitter Trumps Mahalo! says: August 16th, 2007 1:16pm
[...] credits himself for starting the Facebook rules over LinkedIn for business networking discussion. Anne Zelenka, however, may very well have inaugural honors in declaring Twitter the king of “t… for “web workers,” over Mahalo in [...]
Michael R. Bernstein says: August 18th, 2007 12:20am
This is just the microblogging version of the LazyWeb.
The Evolution of Search « Web Worker Daily says: August 28th, 2007 11:00am
[...] sort of automated spidering best done by Google. We’ve already pointed out the benefits of tapping your own network for more personalized human-powered searches, but for most things, I think machines still rule the [...]
Joyangel123 says: September 6th, 2007 8:31pm
hmmmm, i find this quite fascinating and clever. Great job and good luck with it all
Adam says: September 11th, 2007 1:55am
I found your blog via Google while searching for and your post regarding Web Worker Daily looks very interesting for me
Peter Kliener says: September 15th, 2007 11:08am
Most stupid idea I have heard: to use the useless Tweeter for serching!
The poster must either have been paid by Tweeter or is one of Tweeter investors that is hyping this useless company.
I mean how much more stupid and desperate can you be to suggest such an idea!
So 1st I have to gather my friends around Tweeter and then they are to answer my questions!! WOW - simply beyond stupid.
Now, do you want a search engine that is actually powered by the People, then use Anoox. It is the original and the True “People Powered seach engine”.
Jeffrey Sykes says: September 15th, 2007 11:13am
Agree with last poster totally.
But actually anoox is the best search engine not just because it is powered by the people, that is truely by YOU and me. Anoox is the better search engine for these reasons too:
1- Anoox shares its Ad revenues with people who make anoox their preferred search engine. Althouhg u dont have to opt for this to use Anoox.
2- Anoox is operated on a not-for-proft basis so cost of Advertising is much lower on anoox compared to Xahoo or Google
3- And get this: if Anoox makes any profits, they give away.
And YOU and me can suggest who they should give 50% of their profit away too, and the oother 50% they are giving to support Universal Health care for American people.
Anoox simple ROCKS :)
Judi Sohn says: September 15th, 2007 11:39am
Hi Jeffrey, Peter or whatever your name is. We really do appreciate your enthusiasm for your service, if not the flames.
Next time, try using different IPs if you want to make it look like your comment is coming from different people.
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Peter says: September 18th, 2007 3:25pm
Hi, I came across your blog posting after searching for and your post on Web Worker Daily makes an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. I will research more next Tuesday when I have the day off.
Productivity Zen - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Productivity - Powered by SocialRank says: October 1st, 2007 11:55pm
[...] Try Twitter Instead of Mahalo for People-Powered Search « Web Worker Daily [...]
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Kevin Davis says: October 27th, 2007 7:25pm
Twitter has been awesome, connecting me to new friend and increasing traffic to my blog through a wordpress plugin that syncs my blog up with my twitter posts. It is so much easier to come up with twitter posts each day rather than full blown blog posts. Through out the day, I post random ideas and thoughts, and then they get summarized on my blog along with my regular posts.
Kevin
free nude twinks says: December 19th, 2007 9:24am
I haven’t gotten much done recently, but oh well. Shrug. I haven’t been up to much. Pfft.
PC Bytes - Network Consulting says: April 11th, 2008 12:18pm
Hey this is a great article on web worker daily. I totally agree with you on the points in your article. Thanks for the writeup! ~Jason
Patrick Curl @ There's a Blog in My Soup says: April 16th, 2008 1:40pm
I find twitter is also just a great way of not only asking informational questions - but also polling people and seeing what the general population thinks on a particular subject.
This is a great way to write blog posts when you’re stumped for ideas.. It’s also just a fun thing to do - ask and answer questions.