Local Ask

September 27, 2011 8:55 PM

Pony Request. Would it be possible to have a 'local' tab similar to 'My Ask' that displayed questions from users nearby?

I think especially for non-US users, it can be hard to get country/region appropriate answers, but I often have something to say in a local-to-me gardening or auto question, but not so much in those for other countries. This could make it easier to identify those questions. Ideally, nearby could be specified as a radius.

posted by bystander to Feature Requests at 8:55 PM (29 comments total)

I think that this will be something we'll likely build in over time as the geolocation stuff gets rolled out to more parts of Ask than just travel questions. I think it's a good idea.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:04 PM on September 27, 2011

This is a great pony.
posted by grouse at 9:13 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is a local pony for local people.
posted by arcticseal at 10:24 PM on September 27, 2011 [7 favorites]

You can use MyAsk for this if people put the right tags in their questions.
posted by bleep at 10:39 PM on September 27, 2011

What about for those of us who live in the Marianas Trench?
posted by KokuRyu at 11:08 PM on September 27, 2011

KokuRyu: "What about for those of us who live in the Marianas Trench"

Those of us who tend to live in remote areas think you trenchers would also appreciate this pony once it startsup.
posted by barnacles at 11:31 PM on September 27, 2011

Excellent local pony. Or "wallaby", as we say around here.
posted by pompomtom at 11:34 PM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]

Home Pony!
posted by trip and a half at 11:48 PM on September 27, 2011

People use wallabies as ponies in Victoria? What's wrong with wombats? You think you're too good for the reliable old wombat pony?
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:51 PM on September 27, 2011

Look mate, I'm a busy man, I haven't got all day.

Besides, the buggers could obviously use the fitness training...
posted by pompomtom at 12:05 AM on September 28, 2011

i see what you did there
posted by UbuRoivas at 12:11 AM on September 28, 2011

barnacles: Those of us who tend to live in remote areas think you trenchers would also appreciate this pony once it startsup."

Eponysterical?
posted by arcticseal at 12:21 AM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Actually, I think we should put measures in place to make mefi as US-centric as possible, if only as an excuse to trot out this pony.
posted by phunniemee at 3:20 AM on September 28, 2011

Excellent local pony. Or "wallaby", as we say around here.

Pfft, it's "pademelon". You must be from adelaide or something. Probably don't even use a port to carry your togs.
posted by smoke at 3:26 AM on September 28, 2011

What about for those of us who live in the Marianas Trench?

You get a sea horse. No one loses here.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 3:48 AM on September 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

arcticseal: "barnacles: Those of us who tend to live in remote areas think you trenchers would also appreciate this pony once it startsup."

Eponysterical"

Hoisted! Hoisted upon my own petard! Petard'd, if you will.
posted by barnacles at 4:20 AM on September 28, 2011

I believe the correct term is that you are a 'person with petardedness'.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:14 AM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is a TERRIBLE idea - yuk! "MeFi Local - bringin' it all back home" - ? NO THANKS. I signed up to this webservice on the implicit understanding that there would be delivered to my very bedroom the best, the shiniest, the most delectable linkettes from the world-wide web world, and that my unwillingness to move out of my Mom's house after 37 years would NEVER cause me mockery or shame-facedness. And NOW you want to restrict my MeFi only to my neighbourhood links, questions and meta-discussions? NO WAY. This suburb is BORINGISTAN and if I had a girlfriend, I would TOTALLY move out. I'm just saving money this way and Mom does my washing. Who posted this anyway? GOD, I hate you so much.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:08 AM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

If a question showed up under my local tab, I would be 100% sure that it was asked by my wife.
posted by The Deej at 6:18 AM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

What about for those of us who live in the Marianas Trench?

If you cast your net wide enough I will be one of your local contacts.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:46 AM on September 28, 2011

We call them armadillos here....
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:08 AM on September 28, 2011

This'd be the prettiest pony ever, though I'd miss my long-running game of figuring out way late (through suspicion or them answering tourist AskMes) that a poster is Irish.
posted by carbide at 7:41 AM on September 28, 2011

I believe, just as it is important at times to "turn off" identification and post an AskMe anonymously, that it is similarly important to allow the poster to turn off location declaration on an AskMe.
posted by Prince_of_Cups at 8:20 AM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Giddy-up!
posted by deborah at 3:14 PM on September 28, 2011

Jesus, can you even imagine a trench full of marinara? Who's eating that much marinara?
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:26 PM on September 28, 2011

Hmm. Prince_of_Cups might be right in predicting a rise in anonymous askmes since sometimes it is easy to remain anonymous if location is obscured, less so if it is obvious.
posted by titanium_geek at 8:44 PM on September 28, 2011

We're not going to add your location to a question that isn't about a location, we're not facebook. It's just if you ask about, say, Birmingham Alabama we'd find a way to collocate that question with other questions about Birmingham Alabama. We will not, I promise, bring in profile-level information [like the location you've given us] to questions you ask, period.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:46 PM on September 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, and Melbourne, Florida can just go take a flying leap!
posted by pompomtom at 9:07 PM on September 28, 2011

pompom came from Melbourne not-FLA
Hitchiked his way down to Port Philip Bay
Plucked his eyebrows on the way
Shaved his legs until he was a she
And said "Hang on, I'm not a Sydneysider"
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:30 PM on September 28, 2011 [3 favorites]