Question of the Day and You!
Last week, I was briefly interviewed by Jason Kottke about Vox's QotD feature. You can read the interview over here. We've written about the Question of the Day on Team Vox before, but I figured that since we've let so many new people in lately, it was worth talking about again.
As I said in the interview over at kottke.org, the Question of the Day came about sort of accidentally. There was a need to have some sort of call to action on the main dashboard page and a feature that helped people get over the writer's block that is so common in blogging. So, the QotD was born.
We've seen that the most popular posts -- or rather, the posts that get the most responses -- have some sort of nostalgia factor to them. The "what was your favorite childhood candy" was the first indicator of that. Nostalgia and the ability to quickly associate an image with a post are clearly the winners for most answered questions.
However, one surprisingly popular answer was the one from this past Monday. The question about family roots and genealogy had far more responses than we imagined. In fact, not only was it answered by a great numer of Vox users, but the answers were incredibly thought-out with a couple paragraphs written on average. I know, for me, this was the question that I read every single answer. I love learning about family histories. Some really interesting ones were Anil's, Andy's, Lane's and Yoz's.
We're incredibly happy by the uptake of QotD. In the planning stages, we realized that with neglect, this feature could be our albatross. However, the excitement shown by our users has made us want to take QotD and make it even better. Look for more enhancements in upcoming releases.
But, for now, I'm totally interested in knowing what sort of questions you all like answering most. More nostalgia? More daily lives stuff? More serious questions? More media-related? Let me know. And if you have a question, post it here. If we use it, we'll give you credit in the QotD box.
-Mena
Comments
I definitely like having a good mix of different types of questions, but the ones with an element of nostalgia are probably my favorite because they tend to spark memories that I might not have thought about otherwise.
I like the nostalgia questions, but I also like pop-culture and media-related questions. They give the Vox community another way to connect by comparing answers.
Questions:
- Who is your celebrity crush?
- What's your favorite movie-time snack?
- What movie never fails to make you cry? ('Fess up, boys.)
I like a good mix, but my favorite are definitely media and entertainment related. I loved the geneology question, but didn't do it out of laziness (I was super busy that day).
Ideas for questions:
Who was your favorite grade school teacher? Why?
What teacher influenced you most in school? Why?
What's your favorite quick dinner recipe?
What has been your wildest adventure?
What concert did you wait the longest in line to get tickets for? How long did you wait for those tickets?
What's your favorite 'B' movie?
- do you sing in the shower? if so, what song do you find yourself singing most often?
- what was the best birthday you ever had? and/or what was the best birthday gift you've ever received? given?
- when did you (SPOILER ALERT) stop believing in Santa Claus?
combining nostalgia and pop-culture:
- what is the first movie you remember seeing?
- what is the first album you purchased?
I think a few predictive questions would be interesting. Then we can call come back in a few years and see how right or wrong we were.
I personally think that keeping a nice mix of the types of catagories you cover would be best. It keeps folks from getting bored. You might even want to ask moral questions. I think the key is to have the questions lead into a story and not just a simple answer. Of course, I am only speculating as I am still in starter mode and don't know of these wonderous features yet!! =)
I enjoy the question of the day since like many of us, I have a couple of other blogs. It's helping me to sort out what I would really like to do with this one, rather than just repeat content from my lj.
People like an excuse to talk about themseleves and their personal history.
I like questions that involve answering with a story rather than a list. Maybe a list is OK, but it needs the follow up 'why' part to make it truly interesting.
I think it would be cool to base some questions around the time of year, too. For example:
What was your favorite/most memorable summer vacation?
What are your favorite summer dishes? Drinks? Songs?
When it's closer to back-to-school time, another interesting question would be: If you could go back to school and study anything you wanted, what would you choose?
- Describe your first crush; what drew you to him or her?
- What did you learn as a child that you hope you can teach your kids (present, future, or the ones down the street)
- What did you play at recess?
- What was your first car? How did you get it? Why did you move on?
- What's your favorite public transportation story?
- For what TV show of your childhood do you *still* remember the theme song lyrics?
- What's the one thing you did with a parent when you were little that you really remember as special?
Not all of us are pop-culture enthusiasts. Try to keep the questions away from TV and movies, if you can.
How many miles did you *really* have to walk to school?
What's the very first memory you can recall?
What was your childhood like?
What are/were your parents like?
Talk about the pets you've owned. What did they look like (provide pictures if possible), what were their personalities, tell about a story about each of them.
What was the first site you ever visited on the web?
What is your favourite memory and why?
What is your least favourite memory and why?
Do you remember the first tooth you lost? Tell us about it. If you cannot remember the first tooth you lost, tell us about the most recent tooth/teeth you have lost (wisdom teeth included).
I'm partial to questions like "If you had [insert ridiculous dollar/euro/rubles/yen/whatever amount] what would you do with it?"
Something tells me the answers could be surprising, something other than "I'd buy a fleet of Boxters and..."
Talk about that dream you had that you always will remember...
What is your dream pet?
If you could go anywhere on vacation this summer, where would you go?
If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?
If you could get away with doing a crime, any crime of your choice, what crime would it be and why? And for all the people who wouldn't commit a crime because they've got morals, pretend you don't and then answer the question ;)
Dumb question(s) coming: How do I find out what the question of the day IS? (And who decides?) I wanna play!
go to the VOX homepage and it is on the right sidebar in blue.
Have you ever been to a theme bar? What was it like?
What is the craziest thing you've ever done?
Have you ever been on a horrible vacation? Describe it.
Have you ever encountered a ghost?
What is your worst work experience?
Are you an animal lover? Talk about your favorite pet!
How many of your internet friends have you met offline? Tell your most memorable story!
I'm pretty new to Vox and love the QotD feature (writers block, as you mentioned).
I think a good mix of various types of questions is good. Sometimes you don't want to think and just want to quickly answer a question. Other times you feel like talking about something you may not have even thought about for years and at the same time give your friends a little insight into your life and what has shaped your personality.
What is the wildest thing you've ever done to get attention from someone of the opposite sex?
Animate yourself -- If you were a cartoon character, who would you be and why?
Wonder twin powers, activate! -- What super powers would make your life complete (and how would you use them)?
What's in a name? -- Explain the origin/meaning of your Vox member name.
Would you... -- The answer is "You'd never catch me doing that in a million years." What is the question?
- If you could be any comicbook superhero for a day, who would you be and why?
- During your childhood, what was your favorite backyard activity?
- If you could make a soundtrack of your life, what songs would you put on it? Why did you choose those songs?
What is your browser's default Home Page set to?
What is your favorite kitchen device/implement? Why do you like it and what do you use it for?
-If you were a superhero, would you have a costume? What super powers would you have? What would you do with your powers?
"Show us the books (or whatever it is) on your bookshelfs"
Thanks!
Here is my suggestion for a QOTD
http://adamfield.vox.com/library/post/email-your-future-self.html
I married my next door neighbour!