You may have noticed a new 'Proximity' button near the top. So what is this thing?

Obviously it's another mode to browse GoatMatrix with. It actually matches closer to how one was meant to originally explore GoatMatrix when I first started the site.

The idea was to create a site where people wouldn't run out of content to look at. So how does proximity fit into this? The idea was to make all posts positional. They have more properties than just being upvoted and downvoted. By doing this, we can make an exploration loop, similar to video games. Load a page, vote on things, and then reload with different content based on what you last voted on.

Part of the problem with that is, well that's not currently the default way to view the website. People are expecting a reddit-like experience, and this more unique way of exploring content would likely give you older content. So a more standard reddit-like sort probably has to stay the default at least while we don't have reddit scale activity.

But now the option is quickly available. Likely, I'll still need to tune it. All it currently does is increase your current proximity setting to 18x. Trying to find the right balance of the age factor to go with that is tricky. But I just thought of an idea that could resolve that, which I might do. I could make the proximity mode filter out anything you've already voted on, so you are always seeing new content.

The other catch with this system is that it is intended to work better with some downvotes. You can't just upvote everything and expect it to know what you like and dislike. So if you see some downvotes on your posts, I wouldn't get too shaken up about it. It just means someone wants to see some more of a different content than yours.

In short: Try the proximity button. Don't be shocked if it isn't that great yet. We'll improve it. It is intended to be used with successive reloads. Potentially good for when your front page is all things you've already seen. It will be even better for that soon.