Ask HN: '2 weeks ago' vs 'July 12, 2013 1:46pm'

5 pointssnowfox12y ago13 comments

When you see postings or comments with a timestamp, would you prefer to see xx seconds/minutes/days/weeks/etc ago or the exact time stamp? Why?

13 comments

MattBearman12y ago

I prefer an actual date, simply because when looking at a screenshot 'X days ago' becomes meaningless unless you know when the screenshot was taken.

snowfoxOP12y ago

That's a good point. 'X days ago' becomes meaningless once the page is stale.

keefe12y ago

I prefer to see absolute time - if I'm commenting somewhere online, I'm probably not in tip-top cognitive shape and I usually check only every so often.

minimaxir12y ago

It depends on context of information and amount of design space available. There's no one right answer.

tokenadult12y ago

Is it hard to implement showing both? I like seeing both.

snowfoxOP12y ago

Both are not hard to implement. But exact timestamp has a timezone problem, while 'xx ago' is universal.

dragonwriter12y ago

> Both are not hard to implement. But exact timestamp has a timezone problem

Specify a timezone in the timestamp. UTC is probably fine, especially if you are doing both, in which case, the main value of timestamps (AFAICT) is to compare the relative times of other posts that are hard to determine from the prose descriptions.

benologist12y ago

Make the timestamp relative to the viewer?

1 more reply

malandrew12y ago

Set it up so the date is clickable and clicking it toggles the mode. Also save the current mode to a preferences json object in localstorage for persistence.

chc12y ago

Obviously it isn't difficult to implement, but it does make the date take up a potentially unreasonable amount of design real estate.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

13 comments

MattBearman12y ago

I prefer an actual date, simply because when looking at a screenshot 'X days ago' becomes meaningless unless you know when the screenshot was taken.

snowfoxOP12y ago

That's a good point. 'X days ago' becomes meaningless once the page is stale.

keefe12y ago

I prefer to see absolute time - if I'm commenting somewhere online, I'm probably not in tip-top cognitive shape and I usually check only every so often.

minimaxir12y ago

It depends on context of information and amount of design space available. There's no one right answer.

tokenadult12y ago

Is it hard to implement showing both? I like seeing both.

snowfoxOP12y ago

Both are not hard to implement. But exact timestamp has a timezone problem, while 'xx ago' is universal.

dragonwriter12y ago

> Both are not hard to implement. But exact timestamp has a timezone problem

benologist12y ago

Make the timestamp relative to the viewer?

1 more reply

malandrew12y ago

Set it up so the date is clickable and clicking it toggles the mode. Also save the current mode to a preferences json object in localstorage for persistence.

chc12y ago

Obviously it isn't difficult to implement, but it does make the date take up a potentially unreasonable amount of design real estate.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse