ask me anything

English

Etymology

This style of interview was popularized in the r/IAmA subreddit founded in 2009, where users post prompts for others to ask questions by stating who they are and adding the phrase “Ask me anything!”.

Noun

ask me anything (plural ask me anythings)

1. (Internet, often attributively) An online interactive interview in which people can ask the interviewee questions about any topic, typically through the website's comment system.

   Synonym: (initialism) AMA

   • 2015 March 11, Abby Ohlheiser, “What Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Web, has to say about Internet harassment”, in The Washington Post‎^[1]:

     Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, returned to Reddit this week for an Ask Me Anything that covered everything from net neutrality to memes to the online harassment of women.

   • 2015 July 8, Brian Lynch, Courtnie Swearingen, “Why We Shut Down Reddit’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ Forum”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     We volunteer our time to help manage the subsection called IAmA — a popular part of the site where thousands of interviews, known as “ask me anythings,” take place.