askOn

AskOn is a web-based and mobile question-and-answer platform that connects people seeking information with experts and knowledgeable community members. Users post questions, provide answers, and vote on responses to surface high-quality information. The service emphasizes clarity and verifiability, supporting text, images, and links within posts.

Origin and scope: AskOn originated as a knowledge-exchange project developed by a small team of researchers and developers in the late 2010s. It expanded into a global community with participants across many disciplines, guided by community standards and moderation to maintain constructive discourse.

How it works: New questions are categorized by tags to aid discoverability. Answers can be added by anyone, then upvoted or accepted by the question author. A reputation system grants privileges to active, reliable contributors, such as increased posting limits and access to moderation tools. The platform uses a combination of automated checks and human moderation to address misinformation, harassment, and spam.

Features: The platform offers tag-based discovery, user profiles with activity histories, and fields for citing sources. Content can be filtered or organized by relevance, recency, or user reputation. Some implementations of AskOn provide private or semi-private Q&A channels for organizations, educational institutions, or specific projects, allowing controlled collaboration.

Impact and governance: As with many question-and-answer communities, AskOn engages ongoing discussions about accuracy, bias, and information quality. The platform typically publishes privacy policies and community guidelines to govern content and data usage, aiming to balance openness with responsible moderation and user protection.

See also: Stack Exchange, Quora, Reddit AMA communities.