Seven hundred million questions, 12 million accounts, and the 61st most visited site in the US (according to Quantcast), one site that is growing in popularity has provided a new way to communicate directly online. A more stealth trend among younger ‘netizens’ is an anonymous questioning platform provided by a service called Formspring.me.

Formspring features a simple to set up to create an account and link it to social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Anonymous users can ask questions of whoever has set up a Formspring page, and the question-ee can choose to respond and make public any submitted questions. While teenagers are using it to ask risqué questions of their peers, some brands have been able to capture the direct-response appeal of the platform to answer their customers’ questions.

Far from a customer-complaint forum, Formspring’s user culture of anonymous Q&A provides an opportunity to answer questions in a casual way. The users are mostly unidentified, and the answers tend to reflect a sense of humor or personalization behind the brand face. Fiat in Brazil set up a page for the launch of the Uno, and Red Bull US is using the service to answer questions that range from the mundane, “What was the happiest moment in your life?” to the more combative “Why are you **** riding the Celtics so hard?” with a flair and personality of its own (“Have you heard of a Red Bull athlete named Rajon http://redbullusa.com/rondo? Our turn: Are you a Lakers fan, or something? =) See also http://j.mp/LooseBall — next Q!”)

Authenticity is a keystone for brands engaging in social media.It takes a strong stomach to solicit anonymous questions, but for the brand that’s willing to take the risk, the payoff is increased credibility.

Article originally posted at Speaking of Social Media.