patrick.net

Polls are definitely a good idea.

OK, I'll do it as soon as someone, anyone, uses the Link Share feature described on the home page.

Very frustrating that out of thousands of people, not a single one will even try it. Why not?

Thanks YesYNot for being the very first person to try the Link Share feature!

OK, I will work on polling now.

Sorry for the lame use of it. Are you trying to collect links that your readers think are interesting or get new users? If I see an article by the nyt that I want to forward to a family member, I typically copy and paste a link rather than using the nyt email feature. It's 6 or half dozen which is faster.

A few reasons that people might be less likely to use it are (1) The email is from p, which might be confusing to the receiver (2) It has dood in the sig (3) Privacy issues.

YesYNot says

Are you trying to collect links that your readers think are interesting or get new users?

The email has an option to comment on the link. If the receiver clicks the "Comment on this" link in the email, they get taken to a Patrick.net forum comment box. That's my motive. Getting new forum users.

YesYNot says

If I see an article by the nyt that I want to forward to a family member, I typically copy and paste a link rather than using the nyt email feature. It's 6 or half dozen which is faster.

Actually, this should be faster than email, since you don't even have to copy the link. And it's faster than the NY Times too, since you don't have to log in.

YesYNot says

A few reasons that people might be less likely to use it are (1) The email is from p, which might be confusing to the receiver

No, actually the email will say it's from your own email address.

YesYNot says

(2) It has dood in the sig

No, that wasn't a sig, just an example of a comment you can enter. I removed the example because it was confusing.

YesYNot says

(3) Privacy issues

Which ones? You mean people will feel that I'm going to spam them, or sell their email or something? How can I assure people I will not?

Your feedback has been very helpful!

Patrick, IMO...

Re speed: I agree that this is fast. If you have already sent an email to someone, then the process is quicker than copying a link. On the other hand, the first time I send to someone, I have to open an email program to find someones email address, then copy and paste it into your form. That is a hassle, and why I tend to avoid these mail to boxes on sites.

Re privacy: I trust that you wouldn't, but do you have a privacy policy? I haven't looked for one ore cared. But, I wouldn't necessarily start giving you (or anyone else) the email addresses of all of my friends to save myself a minute. In an ultimate trust world, I'd give you access to my gmail contacts and many users would, but I don't like it when programs ask for that permission. In that case, it would improve the speed issue.

Re social: The comment on link, should probably say 'start new discussion thread on Patrick.net, a popular housing, investment, and political discussion forum'. I do think that is an odd way to introduce new users. I can't imagine getting this email, and starting a new thread on a forum that I had never seen. Most users probably read a bit, sign up, comment, and then start threads.

YesYNot says

On the other hand, the first time I send to someone, I have to open an email program to find someones email address, then copy and paste it into your form. That is a hassle, and why I tend to avoid these mail to boxes on sites.

That's very helpful to know too. Hmmm, hard to be faster than selecting from the emails in their email program. Not sure how I can compete with that, except that logged-in users will get a dropdown of emails that they have shared with in the past.

YesYNot says

Re privacy: I trust that you wouldn't, but do you have a privacy policy?

I don't share any private data without explicit permission from the user. Maybe I should put that in the footer of my site? Yes, I should. Done.

YesYNot says

In an ultimate trust world, I'd give you access to my gmail contacts and many users would, but I don't like it when programs ask for that permission.

I don't like that either. Hmmm, so privacy is the big impediment I guess.

YesYNot says

Re social: The comment on link, should probably say 'start new discussion thread on Patrick.net, a popular housing, investment, and political discussion forum'. I do think that is an odd way to introduce new users. I can't imagine getting this email, and starting a new thread on a forum that I had never seen.

Seems reasonable to me, but then I give away my email address all day long.

Again you've been truly helpful. The deafening silence was getting depressing.

Glad to help. I'm surprised that there aren't more comments or users.

Ever heard of social proof?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof

People tend to do what they think others do, especially if others are like them. We are more likely to buy a house, if we think others think it is a good idea. If we participate on this site & others on Pat.net think it is a good idea, we are more likely to think it is good as well.

By announcing that no one is using the feature, you may be making people less likely to try it. I do like how you try to crowd source ideas for the site.

Maybe now that I've got the explanation truly minimal some people will try it.

I explicitly designed social proof into it: If your friend gets an link that you sent via the Link Sharer, he is likely to try it out too. Kind of like the "Get your free Hotmail account" footer that they used to have.

But with no chickens there are no eggs.

The link sharer has now been crushed down further. I thought it was minimal before, but now it is even smaller and simpler:

* It just uses a "mailto:" link in the js bookmark, so it pops up your own email app with your own user list.

* This means Patrick.net never has access to any of your friends' email addresses. Privacy is certain.

* I don't even label the URLs with "Patrick.net" or add the "Via Link Sharer" link. The only thing in the email other than the shared link is an invitation to comment on Patrick.net, which you can easily delete from the mail you send (though of course I hope you won't.)

Please try it! It's on the home page.

Wow - that's a fantastic little utility. Nice work Patrick.

Patrick,

You have link sharer. Do you have a link poster? If you had another bookmark that made it a single click to start a new thread about an article on the net, people might get some use out of that.

YesYNot says

Patrick,

You have link sharer. Do you have a link poster? If you had another bookmark that made it a single click to start a new thread about an article on the net, people might get some use out of that.

Why, funny you should mention that... Yes, I have a similar bookmark to use to post links. Meaning to post the page you're on without copying or pasting.

It should be visible in every category, like in http://patrick.net/politics/ Look on the right near the top where it says "Or drag this Submit link to your browser's toolbar: Submit Use it to submit any page you're viewing."

It could use improvement, but is functional now. Suggestions appreciated.

Great. I had not noticed that.

I VOTE WE ARE PAST THE MARKET BOTTOM.

hahaha nice bots we got here huh.