ZotFish works using three simple steps:
- Users submit questions they want specific public figures to answer.
- Other users get to vote up the questions they want answered, and vote down questions they find inappropriate.
- Public figures select the questions they want to answer (using voting as a guideline) and submit text or video answers. Users can then vote up their favorite answers (helping them to the front page), or vote down answers (if they're evasive or otherwise poor).
Additionally, each user has their own page, where other users can see what they've been asking and voting on, and where they can leave messages.
Users must be registered on the site to ask questions and vote; registration is free and requires a valid e-mail address.
Once a question is submitted, other users can vote on it. ZotFish provides many mechanisms for viewing existing questions — sorting by name, by category, by votes, and much more. As a question gains votes on the page of the public figure, it rises in popularity into broader categories, and can eventually make its way to the front page where it continues to gather votes from more and more users.
Users are limited to one vote per question, and a list is available for each question, detailing exactly which users have voted the question up or down. Additionally, users can leave comments on each question, which can also be voted up or down by other users.
Once a question has been answered, voting begins again from zero and a fresh comments page is created, (voting and comments now apply to the answer — you can go back to the old question vote-count and comments page, but it can no longer be modified). Now users can vote the answer up if they find it interesting, and popular answers will bubble their way up to the front page, just like popular questions. Users can also vote down evasive or poor answers. Voting on answers is transparent, just like voting on questions.
Public figures can respond to questions with written replies, or with video replies uploaded on YouTube. Because video replies are hosted on YouTube, they can also be embedded on blogs and other websites as well. Public figures cannot normally make later modifications to answers they have given, but they can provided addendums (which are identified and marked with a separate date).
Every user on ZotFish is given their own page, where they can upload a photograph of themselves and provide more information. Every user's page contains links to the questions and answers they've voted up and down, as well as the questions they've asked. Furthermore, each user has their own comments section where they can receive messages (either publicly or privately), and each user can leave messages for other users on their own pages (again, with an option to make messages private).
Users can also subscribe to receive answers by e-mail from particular public figures, or to questions they've voted up. Customizable RSS/Atom feeds also make it easy to always stay on top of the question and answer activity you're interested in.
ZotFish is committed to full transparency in the questions, answers, and votes on the site, so that you can be confident that the site is a true reflection of the "public voice," and not edited or filtered. In addition, we ask users to use their real names in order to try to elevate the level of discourse on the site (however, people can hide their last name if they so choose). The site is designed to be self-moderating (through voting), but we will terminate accounts that are considered abusive or do not obey the terms of service. Finally, we value your privacy. We will never share your e-mail address or identity with any third party, and you choose exactly which e-mail you would like to receive — see our privacy policy for more information.
- Next: Question tips