Twitter co-founder Biz Stone launched a new app that helps users ask questions with the help of pictures.

Called Jelly, it’s designed to “search the group mind of your social networks”. It’s pitched as much more than a search engine.

“Jelly changes how we find answers because it uses pictures and people in our social networks,” according to a company blog. “It turns out that getting answers from people is very different from retrieving information with algorithms.”

In an interview quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Stone claimed Jelly will stand out from the crowd because answers will be expected from questions asked. In contrast, argued Stone, other social media sites can’t guarantee that.

An example of how the app might work is given in the blog.

“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. Jelly notifies you when you have answers.”

Stone conceded that the company needs to “tune up a few things.”

“We don’t want it to feel like you have to clean out the inbox. That’s the last thing we want,” said Stone in the interview cited by WSJ.

More questions apparently appeared than expected because more people signed up for the app than first anticipated.

Stone did not know the final number of first-day signups to Jelly, which is available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Stone co-founded Jelly in 2013 with Ben Finkel. Finkel came to Twitter after his social Q&A service Fluther was acquired in 2010.

Jelly investors have strong links to Twitter. The WSJ reported that Spark Capital’s Bijan Sabet, an early Twitter investor, is on the board of directors, as is Twitter chairman Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and Jason Goldman, an early Twitter employee.

Other investors include singer Bono and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.

Spark Capital led the first big funding round, which closed in May. The amount raised was not disclosed.