TheyAnswer is a messaging platform for sharing questions, answers, reviews, and recommendations with people you know or want to know. Interested in a premium or business account?

Did you know that many of the answers, reviews and recommendations that you read on the Internet were posted by paid marketers? How do you know which ones you can trust? How do you know if bloggers are paid to advocate an opinion or if they are authentic? That's why most of us prefer to get answers, opinions, recommendations, and reviews from those we know and trust... our friends.

TheyAnswer is the easiest way to share questions and answers with your social network, or you can ask questions anonymously. Using an adaptive algorithm developed by a Yale and MIT graduate, TheyAnswer calculates the probability that your friends will be able to answer your question and sends your question to those friends with the highest probability. No more scrolling through address books, no more lengthy contact forms, and no more annoying BCC emails to everyone. Send a targeted question to multiple friends with one click, and receive questions and answers on one page for easy access and sharing.

Use TheyAnswer for:

• Product reviews and recommendations
• Restaurant reviews and venue recommendations
• Book, movie, and other entertainment reviews
• Gift and shopping ideas - "what is a good Christmas gift for my husband?"
• Recipes and cooking tips
• Career advice and job recommendations
• Recommending service providers - housecleaning, salons, electricians, etc.
• Announcing things for sale - like the treadmill sitting in your garage
• Instant messaging to friends and family
• Customer service and FAQs (add TheyAnswer to your website or blog)
• Connecting students with teachers or professors at schools and colleges
• A quick, fun alternative to traditional email

It's free, and it's simple: You ask. They answer.

If you're new to TheyAnswer, you can get started quickly and easily. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Sign up
Visit the sign up page to create an account. Fill out the required fields, including "Preferred categories", which lets you choose which types of questions you'd like to receive and answer.

2. Edit your profile
Once you have an account, you can customize your profile page by adding a photo, background color, and additional details you want visitors to see. Sign in and then click Edit profile. Fill out the fields to add a photo, background color, website/blog address, description, etc.

3. Add your friends
After completing your profile, add some friends whom you'd like to answer your questions. These are your answering friends, so choose people and companies that you trust to provide you with good answers, reviews, and recommendations.

To add existing friends and contacts from your email address book, just click the green button, and the site will lead you through the steps to import their email addresses from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or Outlook automatically. Or, click the blue button to invite your Facebook friends. Or, you can type the email addresses of your friends, but you must separate multiple email addresses with a comma (,).

Customize the message that you would like to send to your friends, or use the default message. An email will be sent to each of your friends inviting them to join you on TheyAnswer (if they don't have an account) or notifying them that you have added them as your friend on TheyAnswer (if they have an account already).

4. Ask and answer questions
Now that you're all set up, ask away. On the TheyAnswer home page, type a question in the box (e.g., What are you using TheyAnswer for?). Click the question mark button on the right to submit your question. When people answer your question, you will be notified via email, and you can view their answers all on one page on TheyAnswer.

To ask a direct question to one of your friends, go to your profile page which lists your friends on the right, and click the question mark button next to the name of the person that you want to direct your question to. Answering friends are those whom you've added as your friends, and you can ask them questions. Asking friends are those who have added you as their friend so that they can ask you questions.

You can ask questions anonymously (the recipients do not know the sender) when you're not signed in. When you're not signed in, you are anonymous. As an anonymous user, type your question in the box on the home page, and the question will be sent to up to 10 people who are most likely to answer. However, anonymous questions are sent only to users who have selected "Allow anonymous" in their profile settings.

To determine if a user is allowing anonymous questions, go to their profile page without signing in, and look for the "Ask anonymously" button below their photo. You can click the "Ask anonymously" button or just type your question in the box to send a direct question anonymously to the user.

You can answer questions from your network or anyone. The most recent questions from your network are listed at the bottom of the TheyAnswer home page when you are signed in.

5. Add a button or feed on your website or blog
To promote your TheyAnswer profile page, add a button to your website or blog. This allows people to access your profile easily and ask you questions on TheyAnswer. You can also add a feed that lists your most recent questions or answers directly on your website.