Comments on: Hyper-Localising Twitter: Going Beyond Event Hashtags

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:50:57 +0000

@Daryl: Sorry, my bad. CDCs are based on GRCs and SMCs. So the boundaries is still ever fluid (especially when election is round the corner). A easier way now, IMO, is to base on the old district numbers. The first two numbers of a postal code is the district number. Through this, we may be able to divide the island up in all four directions. All we have to do is to generate a more accurate map and find out the roads to demarcate the boundaries.(gothere.sg may be of help since their postal codes geo-tagging is more accurate than Google)

By: Daryl Tay

Daryl Tay — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:16:11 +0000

@Robert: Yes, thought Kingston is a little more straightforward than Singapore… I think it’s because their population isn’t quite as dense so they don’t have to break up the physical landmarks quite as much. I guess CDCs can work, but I don’t know how widespread the knowledge is. For eg I don’t know what my CDC is, though I would roughly classify myself to be in the West…

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:03:51 +0000

@Daryl: I wish it would be easy to be general and intuitive as well. However, from the original post you have linked, the author is recommending demarcations along postal codes. Singapore's postal code system is similar. But I suspect that the CDC's areas of responsibilities are divided in similar way too. Most citizens will know which CDC they are under. I do not have interactions with the organisation, but I know I am under Central CDC. We get occasional newsletter from CDC. All we have to do is to promote the grouping, so that others will know where is what #hashtag.

By: Daryl Tay

Daryl Tay — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:40:26 +0000

@Coleman: I feel like #hollandv or #plazasing is too specific for my liking… for example if I’m heading down to the Orchard area today and want a quick scan for what people are saying, maybe food offers, sales, free events etc, it’s too much trouble to search for #wisma, #taka, #heeren, #lido, #cineleisure, etcetc.

@Robert: CDC groupings may work, assuming that most of the population knows how such groupings work as well? The idea is it has to be general and intuitive enough for common use.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:48:03 +0000

sorry about the html tag…

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:47:13 +0000

i agree with @coleman. However, I am sure most people will now about the CDCs and how Singapore is divided up so each CDC can provide their services to the citizens.
[img src=”http://www.cdc.org.sg/MungoBlobs/51%5C273%5Ccdc_03,0.jpg” />
perhaps we can use this as a guide?

Image from CDC website

By: Ian Timothy

Ian Timothy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:39:57 +0000

“location-aware iphone twitter app” is a good idea but how would people search?

So say you get people twittering near each other, how do you decide if they are talking about happenings in the same zone?

How will the precise points be aggregated when presenting results?

By: coleman

coleman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:13:49 +0000

While #singapore might be too much, it would be useful if we could do a search by country, meaning that I’ll only get results posted by those in singapore for instance.

The #sgn, #sgw etc won’t work because most of us do not think in terms of north, east, west, etc very often.

More useful would be #hollandv or #plazasing, except that it’s not so easy to standardize the hashtags.

A location-aware iphone twitter app might help though.

By: brian

brian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:32:55 +0000

i think it’s a great idea!