Ask away

I had hope for the Internet.

Question-and-answer websites such as Ask.fm and Formspring have recently been increasing in popularity, even though they’ve been in existence for about three years. Ask.fm’s Twitter bio refers to itself as a “simple conversational Q&A service.” The premise is simple: Make a profile, find your friends then post questions to them anonymously — or, if you’re brave, with your name attached.

“Wow,” I thought to myself. “What a great concept!”

It would force people to be honest and let out real feelings, instead of being identified by a profile picture and a number of followers. Here, maybe we could see friends talking about meaningful things without the pressure of image that plagues other social media sites. Here, maybe we can start holding the most powerful people in the world responsible.

In hindsight, I can’t figure out why I was being so naive.

Two weeks ago, 14-year-old Hannah Smith of Leicestershire, England, committed suicide. Her father points to nasty posts on her Ask.fm page, and blames the website for her death. Ask.fm may have played a role in several other teen suicides.

It sickens me the way questions are misused on this and other websites. The purpose of a question is to answer it to the best of one’s ability. Instead, question-and-answer websites devalue the process, veiling the purpose as a fun way to interact but essentially killing the piece of inquisition that’s so vital to society.

A question is a beautiful thing. It’s what keeps discourse and conversation propelling forward.

The Internet was built on questions. Googling is just a fancy word for asking a question to a search engine. We literally asked questions years ago in the good days of Ask Jeeves (though he’s apparently still alive in the U.K.).

And humanity loves questions. Questions spur popularity and intelligence. They make us feel credible. Thinking about the state of things brings change and progress. And most importantly, if they’re good, thoughtful questions, they make us feel like someone out there cares enough to ask what we think.

So here’s my question: If a question is asked but no one answers it correctly, did it ever matter in the first place?

diversionsdbk@gmail.com