What we heard from you

“Why did Aardvark send me this question?”

“Does Aardvark think I know about waterskiing?  I know about boating and sailing, but not waterskiing…”

“I want to see why Aardvark chooses certain people to answer different questions.”

What we did

You can now type ‘why’ after Aardvark sends you a question, and you’ll get a quick summary of Aardvark’s reasons for selecting you.

The actual algorithm that Aardvark uses to analyze incoming questions and figure out the best recipient is pretty complex (it’s taken us a few years to develop!).  First, Aardvark analyzes incoming questions to determine what they’re about – questions might be about topics like *vegetarian recipes*, *dry cleaners in Wichita*, *iPod accessories*, etc.  Then, Aardvark searches through all of the people in your network who are available over IM or email to find the right match for you for that topic. Aardvark considers…

• related topics in peoples’ profiles
• how you’re connected to people
• who you trust about related topics
• your history of training Aardvark
• people who share your favorites (for taste-related questions)
• people in the right location (for location-related questions)
• other mysterious factors…

If you type ‘why’, Aardvark will give you a quick summary of a few of the factors relevant in that case.  Here’s an example…

aardvark:  You there? I have a question about **tennis** that I think you might be able to answer.
(Type ’sure’, ‘pass’, or ‘busy’.)

me:  sure

aardvark:  (From Michael B./29/M/NewYork,US)
Does anyone know which health clubs in Manhattan have tennis courts?  Or are all the good options in the other boroughs?
(Type ‘pass’ to skip, or ‘more’ for extra options.)

me:  why

aardvark:  I thought of you for Michael’s question because…
- Michael is a friend of your friend Sally Johnson.
- You know a lot about **racquet sports** and **fitness**
- You and he have similar interests in **sports**
(Type ‘more’, or change settings at http://vark.com/a/XXXXX)

Let us know what you think!