Why? - Collaborative Web Search: Who, What, Where, When, and Why - page 62

found that some questions' topics were reported as being better suited for discussion among known,
trusted people. Groups of people were considered well-suited for answering subjective questions
where opinions or recommendations are needed (e.g., Jim's recommendation for a mold inspector is
more valuable than a random person's recommendation), questions where a specific group of people
know valuable information (e.g., Jim's firsthand experience with mold inspection meant he could
suggest good things to watch out for), and for questions where significant existing context could be
valuable (e.g., George can better help Martha find a good inspector than others because he knows her
sensitivity to price, the importance to her of working with a trustworthy contractor, where her house
is located, etc.). Trust in collaborators was the most common motivation Morris et al.'s respondents
gave for asking a question to their social network instead of using a search engine, accounting for
24.8% of responses.

Table 6.1: 242 survey respondents ( Morris et al. , 2010c ) described their motivations for posing
questions to their online social networks. These motivations can increase our understanding of why
users might choose to engage in social and collaborative search activities.
Motivation Percent Example Survey Responses

Trust 24.8% - Because I trust my friends more than I trust strangers.

- People that I know are reputable.

Subjective
questions

21.5% - A search engine can provide data but not an opinion.

- It has no definite answer, it's more about collecting views rather than
finding specific info.

Belief search engine
would not work

15.2% - Because search engine technology doesn't work that well yet.

- I'm pretty sure a search engine couldn't answer a question of that nature.
- Because search engines don't have breaking news.
- Search engines aren't updated often enough.

Specific audience 14.9% - Friends with kids, first hand real experience.

- Better visibility among expert users of SQL Server.

Connect socially 12.4% - I wanted my friends to be aware that I was asking the question.

- I wanted to ask the question but also express my frustration to my social
network.

Answer speed 6.6% - Quick response time, no formalities.

- Needed information ASAP.

Context 5.4% - Friends know my tastes.

- Search engine is not personalizable.

Failed search 5.4% - I tried searching and didn't get good results.

- A quick search on the search engine didn't give me any useful results.

Easy 5.4% - It's easier. Results are targeted…don't need to sift out the 'junk.'

- There are too many choices on the Web, I wanted something more filtered.
- Didn't want to look through multiple search results for answers.

Answer quality 4.1% - Human-vetted responses.

- Better quality results some of the time.

No harm 3.3% - No cost.

Fun 2.1% - More fun.

Non-urgent 1.7% - I didn't need an answer straight away.