Is Jelly the next Google? New image-based Q&A app launched by Twitter co-founder

Too lazy to type a full question into the Google search bar? Not to worry folks, because Biz Stone, one of the original creators of microblogging site Twitter, may just have the answer with his new app.

Working fluidly with existing social media sites, the technology from Jelly allows users to pose short questions supported by images taken on their smartphone cameras and receive answers from their Facebook and Twitter friends through the app.

According to a new blog post from Stone, who has since left Twitter, it is hoped Jelly will create a culture of empathy, drawing more users from other social media sites towards it to help out their friends, fulfilling the “true promise of a connected society”, which he describes as “people helping each other.”

Working on the idea that people now rely on question and answers sites to offer them insights into their queries, but often incur problems finding answers when using a purely text-based question system, Jelly utilises visual imagery to ease the process.

Stone explains in the Jelly blog: “In a world where 140 characters is considered a maximum length, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Images are in the foreground of the Jelly experience because they add depth and context to any question.

“Say you’re walking along and you spot something unusual. You want to know what it is so you launch Jelly, take a picture, circle it with your finger, and type, “What’s this?” That query is submitted to some people in your network who also have Jelly.”

“Why Jelly?”, you may ask. Well, Stone goes on to say the name was inspired by jellfish, which have “a loose network of nerves that act as a ‘brain’ similar to the way we envision loosely distributed networks of people coordinating via Jelly to help each other.”

Will the app replace Google as our new go-to question and answer service? With only eight employees so far, it’s doubtful Jelly will challenge the big boys any time soon, but given time to develop, who knows what the future holds for the service. Watch this space!