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Comment by zachrose | Hacker News Reader

This reminded me of an idea I had a few years ago: randomly delayed messaging. There should be some utility (Facebook app, whatever) that sends messages that take anywhere from 3 to 7 days.

The idea is that you won't know for sure when the recipient will get the message, so you don't actively expect their response.

Likewise if you get a message, you can reply directly and it will still feel casual, or reply later and nobody will feel ignored.

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I have experimented with this, and to my joy, it works. In first attempt at rhythm, I emailed users on a consistent basis. Soon I discovered that they were getting ad-blindness (well, sorta). So now, my new version emails them once every 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, or 21 days, with the probability of a user being emailed weighted over the slower end

> with the probability of a user being emailed weighted over the slower end

This doesn't parse for me. What does it mean?

l = [1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34] <--- this is the list of fibonacci numbers. The probability of a user being on the track of once every l[7] is higher than the probability of the user being on track for once every l[0].

Users change tracks on a monthly basis. So if you're on a once every 21 day email cycle for June, you might be on a once every 8 day email cycle for July, although the probability is high that you will stay on the once every 21 day cycle

Interesting. Thank you.

I thought you were joking, because you're basically describing the postal service, ie. snail mail.

with postal tracking nowadays, even snail mail is making me a feedback junkie. I mean, who hasn't been repeatedly pressing F5 on a mail tracking page?

No you got it, exactly like that.

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