Let a Twitter expert answer your query

PeerPong (.com). It's not the kind of name one would normally associate with the doling out of expert advice

PeerPong (.com). It's not the kind of name one would normally associate with the doling out of expert advice. And yet, that is what it wants to be -- sort of like Yahoo! Answers, but for Twitter. According to these guys, everyone's an expert at 'something'. So, what they want to do is either let users showcase this expertise at whatever that something is, or connect them to those better qualified to play the role of expert.



The CEO, a man named Ro Choy, believes that of 100 million or so Twitter users, just about 3 million demonstrate 'real knowledge'. And these are the tweeple his company is interested in.

Users can connect PeerPong to Facebook or Twitter accounts. The site then figures out your interests, before evaluating questions it thinks you are best qualified to answer. If your answer is good enough, you score a recommendation. It also uses an algorithm called PeerRank, which analyses your tweets using Natural Language Processing -- combining computer science with linguistics to focus on interactions between human languages and computers -- to identify potential areas of expertise.

One assumes PeerPong hopes to monetise the minute their algorithm proves to be foolproof. They have a long way to go though. I, for one, have serious doubts about a certain Eric Chan being able to answer my questions on mobile telephony on the basis of 24 people recommending him. Or, worse, a guy using the Twitter handle 'drT_wholechiro' to answer queries related to health because 36 people think he should.

Those aren't the only worrying issues. While PeerPong currently uses its own Twitter accounts to message those it considers experts, it intends to eventually let people contact experts directly. Now, even if I were an expert on, say, the gestation period for elephants, would I want the role? Also, how are potential experts on literature or the performing arts to deal with questions like 'Where are mystery games to add to Facebook?' (sic) or 'What has Nicolas Cage bought?'

Eventually, the big question PeerPong will have to answer is this: Are 140 characters enough to make anyone an expert?

-- Lindsay Pereira is Editor, MiD DAY Online (twitter.com/lindsaypereira)

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