When Twitter changed its tag from ‘What are you doing?' to ‘What's happening?', it opened up a world of possibilities within 140 characters. Now, the new kid on the block is Kweezzz, a quiz group that has gained popularity on the micro blogging site.
Started by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and a group of friends in August this year, the community was created with the idea of encouraging quizzers, especially first-timers, to host quizzes and get responses. Within a period of three months, the group has 2000 odd members, and also has a facebook page where quizzes are set during the course of the week, and put up for members.
“I remember my days in college when a group of us often sat around in the canteen wondering why quizzing tended to be so elitist, attracting mostly English-speaking geeky men. We were also slightly baffled by the way some quizzers tended to look down upon newcomers who tried to conduct a quiz — the common refrain being, ‘They don't know how to set good questions'. In its own small way, kweezzz has helped break the barrier,” writes Siddhartha, a New York-based journalist, on the group's blog.
Topics on Kweez are varied — right from Star Wars and Harry Potter to Kollywood and pets. It reminds one of the days of Tickle Tests, a test website that later shut down. “Kweezzz is a platform where you get to learn something new everyday. It's quite a treat to your brain, there are also times where you might want to curl up and sulk because you realise how many people are so much smarter than you! In all seriousness though, kweezzz is a wonderful hobby to engage in. A word of caution: This stuff is addictive,” says Swati Nair, a regular. “The kweezzz idea was more an accident rather than a calculated move. I created and oversee the account, but there are plenty of volunteers helping out,” says Sidhhartha. The group now has over 100 quizmasters on its rolls. But it's open for anyone to host a scheduled quiz.
Says Sudhamshu Hebbar, “Be it sports, movies, automobiles, books, food or hidden pearls, the quiz masters will floor you with their knowledge. If that doesn't amaze you, the speed at which people respond will. And these people aren't famous. They are just like you and I. And everyone's having fun.”
Perhaps its biggest advantage is that the quiz is mobile, owing to its presence on Twitter. As Varun Sridhar, another Kweezzzer, points out, “I've hosted one kweeezz so far — a non-Formula1 Automotive kweeezz, and participated in many. It's like re-living the bigger quizzes on some level. And, you can do it on the move, on your mobile phones. It never got easier.”
Follow kweezzz on Twitter at @kweezzz and visit them at http://www.kweezzz.com
