As we all know Radar is growing and getting interesting. Not to miss out on the excitement (remember Ozombo is back!), what will be really cool is if someone* built a bot to notify via email when things are really happening (I know there are some notifications already). So the way this can work, is that a signed up user will get an email titled something like ‘Radar on fire’, ‘it’s happening on Radar’, ‘Radar on Rage!’ etc
So examples of how to gauge the ‘excitement’ level is simply by ‘user’ or ‘activity’
Users
Ozombo/mistamijani creates a post and comments 5 times in 1hr
Sophy/Sugabelly returns after a long absence
xolubi/akindolu comments 5 times in 1hr on 1 post
Activity
A post has being viewed more than 100 times in 1 hr
A post has being commented on 20 times in 1 hr
A reopened post has being commented on 5 times in 1hr
So what do you think…good or bad idea?
*In case you were wondering, I’m no developer and can’t do this myself. (Actually thinking of a post along this lines)
P.S This is my idea as a radar user and looking for ways to enhance the UX, it has not been cleared by the TC guys.
Personally, I’m weary about solely building on anyone’s platform as it generally doesn’t end well. So if it’s going to be built as an app, it probably will need TC’s blessings (which can be removed at any point), so should be built as a ‘fun’ project.
Apart from that caveat, I think it will be a great idea! It will be super sticky for users. It will also mean you never get to miss out when interesting stuff happens.
I am a guy that loves simplicity, don’t know about others but I am quite comfortable with the notifications as it is. Wouldn’t want annoying bots notifying me of every little thing that goes on here as i prefer to find out myself.
PS. and as Albert puts it “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”.
This can easily be done and quite a number of people use it already. You can even use a custom IFTT recipe that looks at certain CSS selectors or HTML tags
I personally think that TechCabal needs an open API (if it is not too stressful). Was wondering if we could do some creative things with it, like mashups and bring a Web 3.0 style to it.
I think this is a great idea, it basically means making a very good product better.
So why are User/activity triggered notifications interesting to me as a radar user?
I love great UX (definitely includes notifications). I want to be told what has happened while away especially the threads that have set the house on fire a la Uber killing our local startups
We all love simplicity too but simplicity with excitement? Some users will find it interesting
You can always turn notifications off in you profile settings. You can change the frequency of the notifications as well. Loads of applications currently have this as a feature.
API is an interesting angle. it would be nice to see what else can be done with/on Radar. But for this notification feature, the TC guys can easily do this. They have (own) the data! I am sure they don’t need a public API for third-party app integration to sort out notifications
Open API always guarantees interesting use cases…but a slippery slope for both sides. Sounds like what you have in mind might fall under ‘slippery’’, eg Web 3.0 means you’re essentially suggesting recreating the whole thing but from a user’s data needs?
No not recreating anything at all. Like Web 3.0 to me is about personalization and other things. Maybe in the future it wouldn’t be bad if TechCabal showed me an article (either from the past or recently) that it thinks I might be interested in based on articles Ive read or threads Ive commented on or created, just like how YouTube shows me videos based on those Ive seen or Im presently watching. Think of “Tinder for TechCabal” but instead of showing me people, it shows me TechCabal articles.
Yes I would like this please. I believe this is my FOMO coming out here.
And if you can notify us of when it’s built, that would be awesome.
Although, the con to this is that you may be creating power users as a byproduct. If the bot is only triggered when certain users comment then you are giving them more power than required. If the bot does it based on input regardless of user then that’s fine. Otherwise it’s a dangerous path.
Your idea is cool but the implementation you are suggesting is flawed. It will not hold in the long run. You basically outlined an algorithm for a feature to attract spammers.
Also, for something as trivial as letting someone know that “Radar is on fire”, using an email is too… “serious”.
For things like this you need a system that sends ephemeral messages like your everyday smartphone push notification system.
An example implementation would be the type Nairaland implemented for their homepage topic notification.
or with https://www.pushbullet.com/
Really good idea to go with push notification! I do think email will provide more details as to why exactly the post is on ‘fire’, but the simplicity and spontaneity of an OS notification is a good advantage.
I don’t get your point about attracting spammers. I don’t see any difference to how this somehow encourages them.
Not necessary if this is customizable by the user. Essentially might be interested in views/comments of another user who’s not necessary a power user.