Jason Calacanis

two new features... let me know what you think! - Jason Calacanis via Bookmarklet

is mahalo basically just a for profit wikipedia? Why would someone want to create a page there? What would be the motivation? - Thomas Hawk

What makes this different from WIkipedia? This seems to make it virtually identical - unless the main feature is that you guys have the paid employees to verify research, and of course, the great Mahalo guide articles. - Andru Edwards

Thomas: great question. a) we pay folks who are working for us if they want, b) there are folks with a vested interest in certain pages (i.e. you might care about Canon 5D page or the Thomas Hawk page), c) some folks like to contribute, d) Mahalo is creative commons, so some folks like to contribute to free content projects like Mahalo/wikipedia because it makes the world better, e) some folks hate to see error and get good feeling fixing them. - Jason Calacanis

Andru: excellent question. Mahalo is VERY similar to wikipedia except: a) we have human curated search results with the wikipedia style page, b) we don't do 6,000 word articles we do 200-600 word summaries with fast facts, etc. basically we do scanable wikipedia pages which are more efficient, c) we cover non-encyclopedic information, wikipedia does not (i.e. we both have Paris, but only mahalo has Paris Hotels), d) we fact check our information, wikipedia does not. - Jason Calacanis

Personally I think it might be better if only registered users could edit (with valid email addresses), to help prevent abuse, etc. - Vincent X

Vincent X: we've had it setup that way for months now. it creates a massive hurdle for people getting involved so we're trying a more open system now. - Jason Calacanis

Hey Jason, great answers. I someone didn't "get" the fact that you guys just have the quick summary as opposed to the huge pages that Wikipedia has sometimes. So even though both allow anyone to edit, and both can be research tools, there is a significant difference between the two. - Andru Edwards

Andru Edwards: exactly... our pages are a) better Google/Yahoo result combined with a b) a better wikipedia page. So, we're taking the two best experiences on the planet (google & wikipedia), and putting them on the same page while making each 2x better. I think it's a compelling page to start your research on. Highly recommend going to the homepage an opening up the first couple of pages, then click on a couple of links in the guide note for each page. you'll see its a really cool experience for research. - Jason Calacanis

If I wanted information from an encyclopedia I would actually get one out or find one. I don't see Mahalo as an encyclopedia. I see it as a search engine to find latest news stories, resources on new and social media and the "internet subculture". I am not a Wikipedia user because I never liked the fact the pages can be edited by anyone and, the incorrect edits aren't always caught in time. Mahalo seems to have a better system than Wikipedia when it comes to checking and ensuring user edits are correct. - Candace Holly

Jason - Are you worried that this might open up Mahalo to being 'gamed' of a sort? I always liked the fact that Mahalo is people-powered, and helps prevent SEO, or 'gaming' of the system. I'm assuming this is the type of thing that eventually the community continues to fix? They will weed out the bad stuff, and leave the good stuff to filter up? - Adam Hosp

I made a Thomas Hawk page but it feels confusing. http://www.mahalo.com/Thomas_h... I'm not sure I'm doing it right. I don't know how to get my last name capitalized or to add more biographical information, etc. - Thomas Hawk

Thomas Hawk: yes, it is a little confusing, just like making a wikipedia page is. we're trying to make it easier. You've done a great job so far... add some fast facts and a couple of more links and you've got a great start to a page! - Jason Calacanis

how do I capitalize my last name? - Thomas Hawk

Here's a great place to test the service. The FriendFeed page can use quite a bit of content additions, especially in the Tools area http://www.mahalo.com/FriendFe... - Mark Krynsky

Thomas: changing the name of a page is something only we can do... at least right now. we will fix it. Also, check out the additions i made to your page... i added a quote, your stated life goal, and put a citation on it with the <ref> tag - Jason Calacanis

Wait - so I can just go in and create an Andru Edwards page on Mahalo, and that is okay? Unlike how that is against Wikipedia rules? - Andru Edwards

Adam Hosp: i'm not worried at all because Mahalo has 60 full-time fact checkers.... anyone who tries to game the system will get caught really quickly. - Jason Calacanis

hmm... ok, added a few more links as well. Can I upload a photo of me for my Thomas Hawk page? - Thomas Hawk

This is the next step in what I've been saying since day 1 - that Mahalo would have to open up more and more to be able to compete - the question is whether people will actually want to do it. Thomas, once you create your page, it will push up very quickly to the top of google for your name - are you sure you are ok with that? - Allen Stern

Thomas Hawk: we haven't given users the ability to add photos yet... that's coming. - Jason Calacanis

Andru: just created it. http://www.mahalo.com/Andru_ed... so, yes, anyone can create any page (within reason). and yes, you can edit your own page (but we will check it for bias of course). - Jason Calacanis

Another question to toss out since you noted almost anyone can make their own pages within reason. Obviously this would push them up to practically the top of search engines. Do you think that could actually become a tool for smaller companies to use for SEO and promoting themselves on the web? - Candace Holly

I am not sure about adding a page but wish you'd clean up the front page a bit; Looks like old style. Consider feedly's look for a way to do the featured stories. - LPH™

Cool, I'm now Thomas Hawk with a capital "H", thanks Jason. If they can add my profile photo this is the one that I like to use: http://www.flickr.com/photos/t... - Thomas Hawk

LPH: new homepage coming... i agree 100%!!!! thanks for feedback. - Jason Calacanis

Sure, happy to have a page Allen, what's wrong with having it push to the top of Google? Why would someone not want that? - Thomas Hawk

Candace Holly: actually, our "stub" pages are NOFOLLOW/NOINDEX on Google/Yahoo until they are really built out (i.e. 200-400 original words). So, yes these *might* be good for whitehat SEO for companies, but not in the short term.. only if they become pages of value... which we decide. We thought about that... good you did too! :-) - Jason Calacanis

Do these payed people only check facts? Or do they actually help mahalo grow up (by adding new articles and more content on existing articles)? - Marcos Marado via fftogo

Thanks for the answer.Thinking on my own train of thought here... that could be a pretty good tool. If a small company/person has something relevant to offer and talk about they could easily have a page on Mahalo. This could also cause them to use Mahalo more often knowing it's a bit more "everyone friendly" in terms of user created content. - Candace Holly

Question for Jason - After this dialog, what's your impression of FriendFeed? - Charlie Anzman

Hi :-) Small question: Why are the login and sign up button hidden and require JavaScript to be visible? - Horst Gutmann

Thomas Hawk: I just added your picture it should show up in a few minutes... - C. K. Sample III

Thanks C.K. Looks good! - Thomas Hawk

Horst: looking into it. Candace: we would love to have more people and companies participate and build their pages out in Mahalo. So, yes, it is a great idea for folks to do this (provided they are not hated... then that stuff might get put on your page! :-) - Jason Calacanis

@Jason thank you :-) - Horst Gutmann

I've just gotta say, the fact that you can create and edit your own page (or the page of your own business) is fantastic. They have people in place to heck for bias, but other than that, you are free to put yourself and your brand(s) on Mahalo? Nice. I know people who tried to correct misinformation on Wikipedia pages about themselves, only to be banned for doing so. - Andru Edwards