Lazy Web Services
I’m a avid user of the lazy web. When I can’t be bothered to do multiple Google searches or read through forums and blog posts to find an answer I use one of three services:
1. My blog. If I think the question I have is a common question that many people have, which is not well indexed to date, then this is a perfect candidate for a lazy web blog post. One of the big downsides of doing lazy web requests via my blog though, is that there’s usually a substantial time delay to get a good answer. By contrast, #2 and #3 below are both realtime solution that will almost always get you a good answer within 2-3 minutes.
2. Twitter. If I know that my social network of followers is likely to have an answer I need, or if I’m on-the-go and what location-specific knowledge, Twitter is a great channel for the lazy web. Lazy web twitter updates are so popular that there’s a site that aggregates lazy web requests sent out via Twitter.
3. Aardvark. I’ve only been using this last one a little bit, but it’s interesting. It’s an IM-based service that routes a lazy web question to a stranger with domain expertise in the topic of your question. So, if you ask, “where’s the best BBQ joint in NYC” that question will get routed to someone who is an expert in BBQ or NYC.
It’s interesting to think about Aardvark and Twitter in the context of each other. When asking a lazy web question, would you rather broadcast it to your network of followers and let serendipity take control of how the question is answers, or would you rather have your question routed directly to one predefined domain expert on your subject?
I think different types of questions work best on Aardvark vs Twitter, but I personally find asking questions to be a social experience (as many people often have the same question as me), so I use Twitter more frequently for my lazy web requests, so that, in theory, anyone can benefit from the results.
That said, I find Aardvark to be very friendly and personal. I like that they encourage people to say “thanks” to each other. They’re fostering a nice community.
Notes
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joeconyers reblogged this from thegongshow and added:
really cool! Glad
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aaronwhite reblogged this from thegongshow and added:
Andrew writes about his...“Lazy Web” (that is, instead
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joeconyers liked this
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thegongshow posted this
