Ask the Rabbi is a term used in Jewish newspapers and on Jewish websites for responsa, known as Shut (Hebrew: שו"ת, literally Q&A), the traditional term for correspondence with rabbis, usually on a Halachic basis.
Jewish religious literature contains thousands of books of responsa also known as Shut in Hebrew, which started during the time of the Geonim and are popular to this day.
[1] The internet hosts several websites that feature rabbis answering questions received by email, or SMS.
The majority of online questions come from the general public, Jewish and non-Jewish, and cover many topics.
The main criticism being the replacement of face-to-face communication by a virtual medium and the "instant" answers received to the questions.