Feature request to list new askme posts by poster proximity

November 14, 2006 11:06 AM

[AskMe Pony] Picture it: "There have been 16 new questions (3 near you) and 128 answers posted since your last visit."
posted by chota to Feature Requests at 11:06 AM (27 comments total)

Doesn't it just... pop?

I would like to be able to see questions posted by people near me, geographically, based on their user data. Much like the jobs page ("53 miles away from you").

This would come in handy in situations like this one, where dbmcd refers cgc373 to a local jeweller.
posted by chota at 11:10 AM on November 14, 2006

It could also help prevent the transfer of technology to the enemy.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:15 AM on November 14, 2006

If location is relevant people can put it in their question.
posted by InfidelZombie at 11:24 AM on November 14, 2006

Not every question needs to be georeferenced: for every instance it would be useful (local recommendations, for example), there would be another where the georeferenced question would simply show up as noise. So I can see the potential usefulness, but I think it might be outweighed by the drawbacks.
posted by mcwetboy at 11:27 AM on November 14, 2006

I would like to see that on every comment. Just in case what the user is saying makes me angry enough to pay them a visit.
posted by blue_beetle (10,000 miles away from you)
posted by blue_beetle at 11:42 AM on November 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

I'd like advice on Vancouver. Because of where I am, this would alert people in Ann Arbor. Is this helpful? No.

We could do it by an elaborate user-supplied lat/long coordinate system for every question, but why? I'm not likely to look up the coordinates for a place I'm going just to ask a question.
posted by klangklangston at 11:49 AM on November 14, 2006

Pops indeed!
posted by thirteenkiller at 11:58 AM on November 14, 2006

I'd like advice on Vancouver.

Buy rain gear.

Wear layers.

Ignore those friendly women waving at your car.

Ski and board in bounds.

Hike with a friend, carry a cell phone and aways tell someone where you're going.
posted by timeistight at 12:00 PM on November 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

This would only depress users like me (0 Users near you, in related news: your opinion is irrelevant and you smell funny.)
posted by arcticwoman at 12:10 PM on November 14, 2006

We could establish a multi-variable system where the asker specifies, ADSR-envelope style, the epicenter of the question, the radius of the area of maximum applicability, the radius of the broader at-least-minimally-applicable territory, and the falloff curve between the two. The color of the font in the (x near you) link would be shaded to represent the magnitude of the Applicability Envelope for your geographic location.

It'll be possitively crackerjack!
posted by cortex at 12:25 PM on November 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

I forsee... Rivers of blood. Years of darkness.
posted by boo_radley at 12:47 PM on November 14, 2006

I'd like to see posts grouped by users who think like me.
posted by Brave New Meatbomb at 12:57 PM on November 14, 2006

Please no. Sweet Jeezus no. See, I warned you: people are always wanting to clutter shit up.
posted by dame at 1:01 PM on November 14, 2006

I want to see only posts by users whose user numbers are near mine.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:57 PM on November 14, 2006

people are always wanting to clutter shit up.

No kidding. And I don't want MetaFilter to pop, there's enough pop in the world as it is. And Matt's got enough fixing to do already without distracting him with crap like this. Two opposable thumbs down.
posted by languagehat at 2:43 PM on November 14, 2006

I would like to be able to filter questions based on a poster's weight, pet preferences, and geographical distance from Katz's Deli.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:02 PM on November 14, 2006

Won't someone think of the nowhere man?
posted by Cranberry at 3:28 PM on November 14, 2006

Voted also as unnecessary clutter.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:48 PM on November 14, 2006

I think this is a good idea. When we refine it enough, we can make the the clarity of the comment relative to their distance from us. After we've finished implementing the physical representation logarithms, the audio conversions, and everything else, we'll be able to hear people say their comments at a volume proportional to the distance between us. We can call this "real life," or "the nonternet."
posted by koeselitz at 3:59 PM on November 14, 2006

I agree, I wouldn't like to see this clutter implemented in AskMe. What I would like to see though is every post in the blue have a country or area tag. I love to be able to see all the posts about say, Kazakhstan in one spot.
posted by tellurian at 4:00 PM on November 14, 2006

The question is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!
posted by Pollomacho at 6:47 PM on November 14, 2006 [3 favorites]

Actually, all questions originate from a ski resort in Taos, NM, as confirmed by thirteenkiller, and now we can all pack up and go home.
posted by cgc373 at 9:03 PM on November 14, 2006

If location is relevant people can put it in their question.

Man I wish they would, but so often they don't. I'm occasionally tempted to be a smart arse and post answers relevant to my location but thus far have resisted.

I don't think the geo tag thing will help though, often enough the location relevant to the question isn't the one being posted from. And not everyone has geo tags in their profile (I don't, they don't add any more useful information for anyone than the location tag does).

What I would like to see though is every post in the blue have a country or area tag.

I don't care so much about country/location tags on FPPs but I'd love to see it in Music. I've been wondering if any local ('as in from my country' rather than 'in my neighbourhood') people post there but haven't been able to really find out. The geo tags don't really do it because we're somewhat thinly spread, and there's generally nothing else showing where the music comes from.
posted by shelleycat at 10:57 PM on November 14, 2006

Hell, isn't this one of the things the existing tag system handles best? If you're some kind of expert on Vancouver, there's already a whole page of questions for you to look at.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:11 AM on November 15, 2006

I would like to see where anonymous lives. There's a lot of shit going on in his/her life, it could be fun to drive by.
posted by patricio at 5:31 AM on November 15, 2006

Good points raised by everyone, none strong enough (in my humble opinion) to say no.

"If location is relevant people can put it in their question."

As has been stated, they so often don't. Also, there is no

"Hell, isn't this one of the things the existing tag system handles best?"

Many times, tag systems and folksonomies can be good things. However, I have found that, with data that is precise (like geographic locations, time and date), having a strict "type" is a Good Thing.

"And Matt's got enough fixing to do already without distracting him with crap like this."

I should point out that this feature request was inspired by Matt's blog post about Outside.in and his post about how not-hard geocoding backends are to create.

"I would like to be able to filter questions based on a poster's weight, pet preferences, and geographical distance from Katz's Deli."

Me, too. As the users that contribute, aren't we entitled to get at the data however we want?
posted by chota at 8:04 AM on November 15, 2006

Me, too. As the users that contribute, aren't we entitled to get at the data however we want?

Uh, no. You are entitled to exactly squat. Especially when you want to make things cluttered and ugly. Then you deserve even less.
posted by dame at 8:32 AM on November 15, 2006