Is Formspring.me the hot new social media thing?

I’ve been having a look at Formspring.me which is getting talked about as the next big thing in social media. A thing at least.

I want to say first off, it is incredibly stupid. I said it. I mean why would someone invent this thing where anonymous people post you questions and you answer them? Get a life.

After a second or two of more considered thought I am overcome with the same desire that sweeps me when sitting near a real fire (what you mean you don’t want to stick you hand in? Huh).

Here’s how it works: yes, anonymous people do ask you questions and you answer them. You don’t have to answer them all (it’s like a pick ‘n’mix). You can choose which ones you want to answer be they the questions that appeal to your specialist areas, flatter you or make you laugh.

You can then share your answers (on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebok) or keep them private, but there’s not much point in that as this is all about sharing. It’s really very simple and that is a plus point in its favour (I guess the allure and the elevator pitch).

There are lots of media types on it like former Gawker editor Elizabeth Spiers who has already been answering away like a trooper dealing with questions ranging from the media friendly “What’s the deal with Kurt Anderson?” (to which she gives a Wiki like answer with nice person touch) to “Can you give a sample entry from your dream journal?” (Sure: 1:02 AM: Zzzzzzzzzzzz).

So far Spiers has answered 29 questions, which is quite a lot, and they’re really quite interesting to read, but you get left with the feeling that it’s a two way ego trip:

1. For the person asking – albeit anonymously, they can say that got blah to reply
2. For the person answering – it is the ego trip of having someone ask you a question (yah for me!) and another chance to build your personal online brand (the why you bother, surely?).

Back to the incredibly stupid, I’m not sure why I need this/have time for it. Would I lose out if I were not there to share my opinions and demonstrate how deep my knowledge of popular culture/politics/history goes (not to mention US states beginning with the letter M)?

I don’t think I would lose anything, but I can see Formspring.me taking off in some form. What it isn’t is another Twitter. It doesn’t have that utility of being truly real time and of being able to share links and information, but it might go somewhere. It only needs a Stephen Fry or an Ashton Kutcher to adopt it before a bunch of magazine journalists are turning out Formspring articles filled with stuff that celebrities said.

On a useful customer service front it clearly has the potential to be incorporated into other services that could make it a nice addition to existing social media activity in a glorified FAQ kind of way.

See for yourself and check this endearing video.

[Twitter]