Formspring is a Verb

All my friends know that I like dishing out advice, particularly on matters like love and romance. My very first memory of playing "Dr. Lurve" was in the first grade – see, even then I couldn't resist the pull of an earnest plea for help. My classmate Jeffrey, who used to ride the tricycle home with me, asked me (very solemnly): "Is it possible for a rich girl to fall in love with someone who lives in a nipa hut?" But of course he was referring to himself and his not-so-platonic feelings for our fellow classmate, the prettiest (and wealthiest) girl in school. I may have been just six years old but there are just some things you instinctively know, y'know? So I answered: "If you two get married at least she'll never worry about earthquakes and hollow blocks falling on her head." He smiled and looked relieved, and I felt like I was on top of the world for helping a friend in need.

Two decades later, I'm still doing pretty much the same thing. Except this time I'm on-line and I have arguably the best (because it's free!) question-and-answer platform at my disposal: Formspring.me.

Formspring, a Q&A site launched in November 2009, originally started out as a side project of Formstack, an online form builder which provides an easy way to design web forms even without a background in HTML programming. Due to the unprecedented popularity of users creating their own "Ask Me Anything" forms, a separate domain was created to for what is now known as Formspring.me. This social distraction/networking tool connects to Twitter, Facebook and Blogger and allows its users to set up a profile page, from which anyone can ask them questions or post comments. And since questions can be sent either anonymously or through profile pages, the possibilities of these personalized online forms are endless! Of course anonymity is both a blessing and a curse. While the "ask questions anonymously" function allows people to feel less inhibited, there have been reports, however, that the site has opened the floodgates to cyber bullying and online flaming.

Nevertheless, whether you're a famous rockstar, Gawad Kalinga, an aspiring model, a controversial tour guide or a someone who just wants to live out her Emily Post fantasies, Formspring.me brings you closer to the people who just want to read more about what you have to say about anything under the sun. That, and free love advice.

scary

What if the Google organization suddenly turned rouge? What if they have really planned world domination through bits and bytes right from the start? What if our most trusted web sites start violating their privacy policies? What if Facebook was really a front to filter out candidates for a gene filtering program by a racist megalomaniac? With less than 24 hours before my SLR deadline, my energy artificially pumped up by espressos and the Rockman 9 Arrange Soundtrack, I asked these questions as I rewrite the section on establishing court-annexed ODR and the requisite trust it needs to be a successful endeavor. I realized that every time we give information about ourselves, notwithstanding any practical or technological safeguard, we can never be sure. Surely, dealing with others, offline or online, requries a certain degree of trust that the other party would do what he/she promised. But sometimes we really have no other choice. It's a tit-for-tat world.