Questler

Are you sick of socializing with your superficial friends on Facebook? Are you tired of people obsessing over the pop star gossip? Are you going crazy with all the endless/useless Funwall and Joke of the Day requests you’re getting.

:-)

Well, someone has heard you!

Questler, a Jordan based web startup is the place for a nerds/geeks/academics/gurus or, in short, a place where minds can connect to learn.

The idea of Questler, which underwent a number of updates since its launch around a year ago is based on the company’s two point manifesto:

We believe learning best occurs when individuals interact with each other in free spaces to share knowledge and collaboratively create ideas.

We see everyone as a learner; thus all those who seek knowledge are individually and collectively the drivers of the learning wheel through their quests to learn.

I think the big picture here is that web technologies will totally change how people learn. Today, we probably are still in the era of the ‘horseless carriage’. Just wait until the we are in the era of the ‘car’.

Just-in-time, collective and casual learning is being made possible by the web. When I observe how my 10 year old son explores his interests on the web, I see the ‘car’ era dawning.

I think that Questler will still have to go through some further evolution to work better. Social media and social networks need to find their sweet spot of usage and achieve a certain critical mass.

A site like 43things.com come to mind here. It’s a place where people create lists of goals and share them. While 43things has not achieved the status of Facebook, it nonetheless attracts millions of page views monthly and is a fun place to visit.

The social sharing of knowledge and the concept of users helping users predates web 2.0 of course. The other day I was talking to friend about how the help and information people offer on good technical discussion forums is simply amazing. Sadly, Arab users on Arab discussion forums are more likely to engage in online flame wars.

I think that Questler must gain a foothold in western learning communities. This will give it momentum beyond what is possible in Arab markets. It would be fantastic if a Jordan-based web startup would end up being a hit among western or global nerds, errr, learners. :-)

BTW: you can meet the Questler team today at the 3rd International Conference on Interactive Mobile and Computer Aided Learning (IMCL 2008) which is being held on April 16th, 17th and 18th in Amman, Jordan.


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3 responses to “Questler: the facebook for nerds?”

  1. Ammar Talk Avatar
    Ammar Talk

    Nice website ..

  2. ياسمين حميد Avatar
    ياسمين حميد

    Jordan has very sophisticated and highly trained web developers – but why always copy others? even if in a slightly different version? why not something new alltogether?

  3. Ghassan Yonis Avatar
    Ghassan Yonis

    I’ve been using Questler for a while now.. and I think the problem that it’s basically open for every one who have any thing to say.. eventually it well end up like Yahoo! Answers, the system is good, but any one can post and answer.. I basically prefer to hear from experts (e.g. Expert Village, How stuff works, ..) when I want some questions answered.. my 2 cents.. wish you all the best though with Questler and hopes it improves with time..