About two weeks ago Formspring became popular. The whole idea is to put yourself out there and let people ask you questions. These can be either silly or serious, but in the end each question is personal, some more so than others, and a group of anonymous people have access to read the answers.
I see the appeal. To be able to ask someone a question anonymously is far safer than going up to them, face-to-face, and hoping for an answer while you wait patiently before them as they scramble to reply.
Its harder for sure, but I believe in any form of written media you lose something. There is a degree of emotion that goes into answering some of the questions I’ve read and it’s not always transferred through a computer screen. I’m not going to deny that I have learned new things about people I consider friends; I just remember sitting around over food or drink and throwing questions like these back and forth. Sure, if you asked something too personal the other person would squirm, and perhaps not respond, but you couldn’t mistake the body language.
It always made me smile when a friend would reply to a question that delved into a fond memory or a favorite something. I’d frown and sympathize with them if they talked about a bittersweet memory. I could commiserate over an answer they had been shy or embarrassed about and laugh with them as they’d answer some outlandish inquiry.
Anonymous questioning gives me the satisfaction of knowing the answer… and on the other hand, it makes me wonder how truthful is it. When the person has time to reply are you really getting a true response? You allow that person the time to mull over the question and answer as truthfully as they see fit. Asking a person face-to-face doesn’t grant the time to think about how they want to answer while possibly not divulging the whole answer. If it’s something they don’t want to answer they get embarrassed, they hedge and become uncomfortable. Of course, they don’t have to reply, and you can retract your question, but giving the person a lengthy response time gives them the opportunity to creatively answer, or sugar coat their reply, without being totally honest.
Perhaps this is me just being less than trusting of people or old fashioned. I have not joined formspring nor have I asked anyone a question on there. If someone wants to ask me something I wish they’d do it to my face… I’m sure the reply I give would be a lot more rewarding being able to see my body language, the flush of my skin or emotion in my voice. But, I’m sure formspring will be around for a while and I’ll still anonymously be reading peoples answers enjoying getting to know them that much more.
