When listening to syndicated radio shows, how often do you _not_ hear the location of a caller mentioned? Every radio show I’ve listened to with national reach has always mentioned the callers’ location. Knowing the location of a caller helps localize national shows. It is a little comforting knowing that someone near you is going through the same thing, or that someone near you has the same views on a certain subject. I believe this is something that is missing in the blogosphere.
Since the web is an international medium, having user’s locations in blog comments will help humanize the blogosphere. Instead of limiting all communications to the online world, people who meet while commenting on a certain blog entry may decide to carry on their discussions offline, if they know that they are co-located.
Instead of burdening the user with yet another box to fill out, I’ve been thinking about using some type of IP address to location mapping software. I’m currently investigating MaxMind GeoIP. GeoIP has a Ruby API, which will be great for integration into Typo. Well, its another project to add to my list of cool things to do. However, this year I actually intend on implementing some of my ideas. 2005 is the year to focus on getting things done.