ChaCha: More a fact finder than a Magic 8-ball

When I learned that a company called ChaCha had partnered with the Sundance Film Festival to answer festivalgoer questions via text messaging, I was a little skeptical. I wondered, what makes ChaCha the expert on all things Sundance, and who's going to text in questions when there are festival volunteers, smartphones, laptops, and wireless everywhere?

That was before, however, I found myself stuck in a traffic jam on a crowded shuttle bus, sans laptop and in dire need of a piece of scheduling information. What time was the U2 3D screening and where? That would tell me whether I had time to get off the bus and make it to a private John Legend concert to which my friend got me invited. ChaCha ching...I texted in my question to ChaCha and minutes later got my answer.

For background, ChaCha launched publically in September 2006 as a social search site that trains "guides" to answer questions from visitors about anything. In January, it launched a free text-messaging service that lets you text any question to "242242" (or "chacha") and the answer is quickly texted back to you for free.

The idea of promoting the service as a venue-specific information source, like for Sundance, just seemed to make sense given the huge gathering of people with shared interests, said ChaCha co-founder Brad Bostic. "You've got 60,000 people who are extremely passionate about celebrities, film," and the like all wanting to be in the know, he said.

ChaCha co-founder Brad Bostic

(Credit: Brad Bostic's Mobile Search and Technology Blog)

So ChaCha, which makes its money through Web-based ads and other means, hired festival scouts who sent information about Sundance celebrities, films and parties to some of its core 8,000 guides operating all around the country.

That's apparently how, when I followed up my prior inquiry with, "will bono b there?" the guide responded: "I'm not finding that he will, but check it out. Robert De Niro and Bruce Willis are at Eccles." (Bono was, in fact, there, as was the whole band.)

Bostic said ChaCha also has plans to assist information-seekers at South by Southwest in March as well as other future venues.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who, upon testing out the service, tried out some harder and more random questions on the guides. ChaCha had no clue, for example, about the John Legend performance. But I got an interesting and informative answer to my question about whether camels have eyelids. They do. "Camels are equipped too deal with harsh desert conditions such as flying sand," the texted answer read.

I'd stay away from asking ChaCha Magic 8-ball type questions, like "When will I find true love?" Answer: "I don't know when that'll happen to you--guides are not required to have psychic abilities! We're here to answer ?s 24/7 tho!"

ChaCha's free service isn't perfect, but it sure makes that $2.98 Verizon charged me last month for "411 Connect" seem ridiculous.

[jessc486]

chacha

I think it is a good idea. Some people can not afford the smart phones so having the ability to get information through text messaging is very convenient.

[brad.bostic]

ChaCha mobile answers and smartphones

Depending on which study you trust, smart phone penetration in the US is somewhere around 5% of handset users. This is one reason that simply asking a question and getting the answer back on your mobile phone in a timely manner is powerful. With that said, ChaCha is extremely helpful to smart phone users. It is the difference between "do it yourself" and "ask the question and get THE ANSWER along with a LINK TO THE SOURCE WEBSITE". I get much more out of my smart phone now that I have ChaCha mobile answers.

[Ellavemia]

One user said "who needs friends when you have ChaCha" which is what makes the service different. The human guides are fun to talk to. If one is incorrect, simply ask again and get a new guide with a whole different perspective. The factual responses are based on facts found online, but guides also provide answers to life's questions that aren't so easily answered with facts. Smart phones are smart but lack the human compassion involved with ChaCha.