You might have realised a new ‘cute’ button alongside status, photos etc. on your facebook wall or news feed. Like me, you might be left wondering what the heck it is. This latest facebook newbie is called – Facebook Questions, and what is does? Well, simple!! it allows users to get answers to their queries from the entire Facebook community. Probably it adds a little more spice in Facebook vs Twitter usability discussions.

This may prompt you to quickly fire a very legitimate question in your mind – Do we not have something similar already – Yahoo! Answers, Quora and Mahalo etc. Answer is yes, we already have BUT ‘Facebook Questions’ is little more than simply posing questions on internet communities. It gives users the opportunity to ask questions just by clicking the “Ask Question” button on the homepage. Questions is also available on friends’ profiles just as you would post on someone’s WALL. Does it make sense now?

In a nutshell, the usability of ‘Facebook Questions’ can be summarised as below:

Photo Questions:

This feature comes from Google search tool, if you have got on your iphone but here your friends have options to teach you than powerful google algorithm. For example, if you take a picture of a bird, but don’t know what species it is, you can post the picture on Facebook Questions and get your answer. Of course expect silly answers too.

Polling:

If you’re simply looking for the answer to Which city is better: Chicago or Dallas?, you can get your answer by creating a poll. Again, accept answer at your risk as friends are there to confuse you.

Tagging:

The company seems to be placing a lot of emphasis on tagging questions based on category or topic. The goal seems to be to make Q&A discovery an easier and faster process by making it simple to look up questions on cooking, photography, San Francisco or a variety of other topics.

Topic exploration:

Facebook described this as a roulette-type feature that allows users to browse Facebook’s eventual mountain of Q&A. Under the “Questions about” drop-down menu, there’s a feature called “Everything” that allows users to browse the company’s catalog of questions.

Following:

This feature is cool than it sounds. it gives you space to start your own little discussion board with your friends as members. You can follow specific questions for updates and new answers.

Updated homepage:

Facebook Questions does actually change the homepage, adding a new bar at the top of the page where you can choose to update your status, ask a question, add photos, or post a link.

So, lets explore ‘Facebook Questions’ and add more feathers if I missed any. Keep smiling!!!