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Show HN: My new project - ask.io

ask.io

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Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#91
post #19

I clicked on FAQ hoping to learn a bit about how featured favors are selected, what principles inform the selection process (Christian charity as the Mother Theresa quote suggests, or something else?), and what level of vetting goes into it (e.g., in the current case, did you make some calls to find out whether the person really is ill?). Needless to say, I came up short. I think I'm not the only one who'll want to k…

So you suspect favoritism?

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good feedback - thanks. I was hoping that by posting to HN I could fill out the FAQ with questions that people may have. I will update the FAQ this week. p.s. the current favor is for my wife

I also think it would be nice to have a search/browse page to see more than one favor. I looked for such a feature and of course didn't see it. That way if the current favor isn't my cup of tea, I might find something else that is.

I think this is omitted in spirit of the slow web.

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#94
No doubt that doing good to others brings happiness. So anything in this space that adds a smile to peoples' faces would probably work. Agree with others on publishing addresses. Starting out in a small niche is a must before allowing others to join in. Who would I do personal favours for? Family & friends, poor folks (specially in developing countries or poor hoods), sick people, homeless individuals, and misfortunate ones...

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#95
Lovely idea. There's too much snark in the world. Any project aimed at making the world a better place is awesome.

Here's some immediate feedback that might (or might not!) help:

* One per week seems too long and people wont ever come back. More than one at a time seems too much. How about making it like Groupon etc and have an 'ask of the day' and then 'side asks' for things you'll never front-page, but are interesting?

* I'd love to see the Groupon idea stretched. Add an "I did this" button (or an "I'm doing this" that posts a follow up email asking if you've done it 24 hours later)

* Needs a button to 'share this ask on Facebook/Twitter/...'. Same after someone has 'done this'.

* I'd post a card if it looked like people were posting cards.

* As naff as it sounds, "Needs more gamification"

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#97
post #20

> My wife is not well and was recently hospitalized, but her birthday is coming up. I think it would make her happy to receive a lot of birthday cards. Could you please send her a birthday card? Wait, so your wife is sick and you think a lot of cards from random strangers will cheer her up? In my experience, that's rarely how wives (or for that matter: husbands) work. I'm all for random acts of kindness... not too su…

I think you misunderstand. In theory it might sound like a bad idea, but people love to feel important and if you're sick, reading get well cards from strangers might be all you need to get better. Positivity never made anyone sick even sicker.

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#98

Lovely idea. There's too much snark in the world. Any project aimed at making the world a better place is awesome. Here's some immediate feedback that might (or might not!) help: * One per week seems too long and people wont ever come back. More than one at a time seems too much. How about making it like Groupon etc and have an 'ask of the day' and then 'side asks' for things you'll never front-page, but are interest…

Some of these suggestions appear not to coincide with the creator's 'slow web' philosophy, however.

http://theslowweb.com/

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#99

Lovely idea. There's too much snark in the world. Any project aimed at making the world a better place is awesome. Here's some immediate feedback that might (or might not!) help: * One per week seems too long and people wont ever come back. More than one at a time seems too much. How about making it like Groupon etc and have an 'ask of the day' and then 'side asks' for things you'll never front-page, but are interest…

Some of these suggestions appear not to coincide with the creator's 'slow web' philosophy, however. http://theslowweb.com/

They certainly don't. My suggestions were more in line with creating a successful site.

While I understand the philosophy of the 'slow web', I can't see it creating successful websites that depend (at some level) on return customers.

The other option for traction would be search engine traffic, and that isn't (likely) to happen with ask.io. (A third traffic option is direct referrals, but they'll be specific to a week: hey everyone, send my wife a card: ask.io! .. and thus wont create return traffic)

The slow web is better for disseminating unchanging information - like a dictionary or encyclopedia - that's needed on-demand.

I'd be interested in OP's thoughts on his Slow Web philosophy and creating traction with ask.io.

Re: Show HN: My new project - ask.io

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of these suggestions appear not to coincide with the creator's 'slow web' philosophy, however. http://theslowweb.com/

They certainly don't. My suggestions were more in line with creating a successful site. While I understand the philosophy of the 'slow web', I can't see it creating successful websites that depend (at some level) on return customers. The other option for traction would be search engine traffic, and that isn't (likely) to happen with ask.io. (A third traffic option is direct referrals, but they'll be specific to a wee…

Hi. Not OP, but I who wrote the initial content of The Slow Web here.

The Slow Web and traction are not opposed, in my opinion. You CAN have traction without choosing to annoy the crap outta your users. It comes from understanding what your users are (or the target market you want to chase).

If you want to make a Slow Web service, understand then that your users aren't/shouldn'tbe the kind that are interested in logging in everyday to check on updates. Your marketing to your users would need to be a longer term relationship thing. It would of course be easy to annoy the shit out of your customers, but it's in my opinion that all that does is longer term harm.

I stopped using Facebook, LinkedIn for that reason. Once the novelty wears off, you stop using anyway.

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