Everyone is an Influencer With Facebook Questions

Facebook launched the beta version of Facebook Questions this week in what looks to be a mashup of Wikipedia, Google Buzz and LinkedIn Answers.  Since this is Facebook, the questions so far are more personal and whimsical than LinkedIn's professional question and answer forums. 

The question out of the gate is whether Facebook Questions can become the greatest crowdsourcing tool we have ever seen or if it will mostly spawn conversations that are more entertaining than informative.

The idea of being able to ask your Facebook network questions in a thread that is easier to follow than a question on your wall post seems like an obvious improvement.  In the short term we will mostly see questions about travel, pop culture, movies, books and music. 

As people get used to this new feature it could help people to get jobs, learn about professional resources, share home remedies for colds and flus, or get the advice they most want from all of the people that they trust the most.  Here's how Facebook describes Facebook Questions:

"Facebook Questions helps you tap into the collective knowledge of the more than 500 million people on Facebook. For example, if you're vacationing in Costa Rica and want to know the best places to surf, you can use Facebook Questions to get answers from nearby surfing enthusiasts. Because questions will also appear to your friends and their friends, you'll receive answers that are more personalized to you.

To ask a question to the community, just click the "Ask Question" button at the top of the homepage. You can also ask questions about your friends from their profiles, similarly to how you would post on their Walls."

Facebook Questions adds a new layer of depth to the fact that now everyone is an influencer. Now you can connect with more friends in meaningful ways faster, share and learn from each other, and increase awareness of what an expert you are in the areas you care the most about.