4 ms·

Sounds like a buddy list on a web forum/message board. A couple days ago someone wanted to add avatars. Next week maybe we should just replace this whole thing

Sounds like a buddy list on a web forum/message board. A couple days ago someone wanted to add avatars. Next week maybe we should just replace this whole thing with vBulletin.

rms 18y ago
There is a law about web sites that allow for social interaction, that over time all social sites approach the fullest functionality of social networking. Anyone have a citation for this law?
wumi 18y ago
i didn't really mention anything about messaging, as in buddy lists, but simply to facilitate action that already happens -- manually following a user of interest to see their latest threads and submissions.
- alaskamiller 18y ago
  You should set up a poll.
epi0Bauqu 18y ago
I did not want avatars per se, though they would have probably fulfilled my request. All I was asking for was some pictorial cue to better associate user names with their set of comments. It could be randomly generated. It is a memory thing. That being said, humans have evolved to remember faces at a very intricate and ingrained level, so perhaps faces would be best. In any case, I said "pictures next to user names," not avatars. What I was looking for seemed to get lost in peoples' emotional reactions to digg and other social networking sites, as they are here. Once you know you like submissions/comments of certain users, I think it would nice to be able to follow them more easily than going through each, one by one, manually. I think this could be done very differently than a buddy list, e.g. an RSS feed or the exact same interface filtered with those users or somehow promoting them.
- shaunxcode 18y ago
  someone should download the periodic backups and analyze all posters contributions (setting up synonyms, word-topic groupings etc.) and thus associate a user with an image based off a google image search + grease monkey script for hn. You would obviously want to avoid using the same image twice. You could keep a record of the past images associated with that user as a way to visualize their shift in interests etc. But that would fit your needs with out turning it into a way for people to "express themselves man".
- alaskamiller 18y ago
  Avatars are just pictures next to user names. Digg has them and it doesn't make the conversation all that better. I actually find clicking on user profiles to be a lot useful. It gives me context as to who you are, Mr. Gabriel Weinberg of Ask YC Archive, as well as memory retention.

Sounds like a buddy list on a web forum/message board. A couple days ago someone wanted to add avatars. Next week maybe we should just replace this whole thing with vBulletin.

rms 18y ago

There is a law about web sites that allow for social interaction, that over time all social sites approach the fullest functionality of social networking. Anyone have a citation for this law?

wumi 18y ago

i didn't really mention anything about messaging, as in buddy lists, but simply to facilitate action that already happens -- manually following a user of interest to see their latest threads and submissions.

alaskamiller 18y ago
You should set up a poll.

epi0Bauqu 18y ago

I did not want avatars per se, though they would have probably fulfilled my request. All I was asking for was some pictorial cue to better associate user names with their set of comments. It could be randomly generated. It is a memory thing. That being said, humans have evolved to remember faces at a very intricate and ingrained level, so perhaps faces would be best. In any case, I said "pictures next to user names," not avatars. What I was looking for seemed to get lost in peoples' emotional reactions to digg and other social networking sites, as they are here. Once you know you like submissions/comments of certain users, I think it would nice to be able to follow them more easily than going through each, one by one, manually. I think this could be done very differently than a buddy list, e.g. an RSS feed or the exact same interface filtered with those users or somehow promoting them.

shaunxcode 18y ago
someone should download the periodic backups and analyze all posters contributions (setting up synonyms, word-topic groupings etc.) and thus associate a user with an image based off a google image search + grease monkey script for hn. You would obviously want to avoid using the same image twice. You could keep a record of the past images associated with that user as a way to visualize their shift in interests etc. But that would fit your needs with out turning it into a way for people to "express themselves man".
alaskamiller 18y ago
Avatars are just pictures next to user names. Digg has them and it doesn't make the conversation all that better. I actually find clicking on user profiles to be a lot useful. It gives me context as to who you are, Mr. Gabriel Weinberg of Ask YC Archive, as well as memory retention.