Twitter’s Biz Stone launches Q&A app
Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, has launched a new app called Jelly which allows users to submit questions along with a picture which can be answered by Facebook friends and Twitter followers.
“Using Jelly is kinda like using a conventional search engine in that you ask it stuff and it returns answers. But, that’s where the similarities end,” said Stone in a blog post.
The app has three key features: it works with existing social networks; any question asked in Jelly can be forwarded outside the app; and images are put in the foreground to “add depth and context to a question”.
Stone explained: “Say you’re walking along and you spot something unusual. You want to know what it is so you launch Jelly, take a picture, circle it with your finger, and type, “What’s this?” That query is submitted to some people in your network who also have Jelly. Jelly notifies you when you have answers.
“No matter how sophisticated our algorithms become, they are still no match for the experience, inventiveness, and creativity of the human mind. Jelly is a new way to search and something more – it makes helping other people easy and fun.”
However, the questions asked are not shared with every one of the users’ social media connections. Instead an algorithm, which Stone told Mashable will improve over time, puts the question to the most relevant audience.
It is available now for free on iOS and Android.