Making Location compulsory...

[robocleaner]

Can I suggest that the location - at least the Country - of Members is made compulsory when registering on this forum?

So many new members join for advice with "how do I fix my problem" queries... only to find that several posts into that discussion, it turns out that new member is posting from Israel or Norway or Australia... where the helpful advice offered by the experienced members located elsewhere around the world just isn't relevant.

As an example, it's all very well for our valued/experienced American Members suggesting someone buys new battery packs, or a new bearing, or a replacement lidar unit from this or that source, but if it then transpires that the posting Member happens to be posting their question from the opposite side of the world, that option is likely not available to them. Again, certain makes and models are only available in certain countries, so with queries such as "Which would be the best robotic cleaner for me?", it helps to know which country that poster happens to be in.

Sometimes, the advice offered can be generic and relevant wherever the poster happens to be around the world. But I do feel that on many occasions the relevance of the advice offered is very dependent on knowing which part of the world that member happens to be asking the question from!

[glnc222]

There are two different issues mixed up in this. First is the general policy on anonymity in web communications globally. Google and its YouTube have moved to real names besides location because of problems with abusers of the internet and a need for accountability in certain venues. The older tradition of anonymity retains a role especially global from basically political concerns, and the different relations between governments and their citizens' communications in different nations, to put it somewhat neutrally. This site has maintained the option of anonymity with optional profile filling by those who have use for it, including partial profiles with just general information. Users wanting extensive profiles may prefer such services as FaceBook, LInkedIn etc.

The second, separate issue is the need for market and product information relevant to particular locations.
Since the site is American, I would think foreign contributors would understand that local market and product information for their country would not be considered here unless included in posts made, requesting relevant information. This leaves origin identification up to the user with maximum flexibility. Foreign posters who do not understand this limitation will have to discover it. Not every problem can be solved by elaborating features of the site. This site is popular merely because of the size of the American market and the larger population of potential contributors. I am not familiar with what goes on in China and Japan, which could also have larger bases of users. It is also a matter of where the robots get distributed, which can vary across brands (Vorwerk, for example, is limited to Europe and is discussed much more on the German Roboter-Forum than on this site.) iRobot has sought to expand foreign distribution.

A purely technical aspect is that profile data for country is not displayed in the posts as the site is currently configured. Readers must take extra steps to show the poster's profile. It is not usually effective to clutter the display with a lot of seldom wanted information, either.

One practice which might be useful is for posters with inquiries about specific location markets and products should create threads with that information in the title, and make separate discussions of issues related to particular countries only.

[edit] (This post might best be read in a very deep voice often heard for such diplomatic statements.)

[robocleaner]

...the general policy on anonymity in web communications globally. Google and its YouTube have moved to real names besides location because of problems with abusers of the internet and a need for accountability in certain venues.

I think you're reading too much into the point being made. Nobody would expect members to give a pin-point global satellite positioning reference for their location, just the Country they happen to live in to help respondents answer their questions more relevantly. Anonymity isn't compromised.

Since the site is American, I would think foreign contributors would understand that local market and product information for their country would not be considered here unless included in posts made... Foreign posters who do not understand this limitation will have to discover it.

It's readily apparent that many new posters don't immediately realise this site is American. It's not immediately apparent this site is American, and many of the regular contributors here aren't American either. I certainly don't see any stars and stripes on the header page that makes that point obvious. Discussions are usually well into several posts before new posters realise that. I hate to generalise, but Americans tend to think American. The rest of the world tends to think Globally. And you illustrate this point well with your next statement...

This site is popular merely because of the size of the American market and the larger population of potential contributors.

No, this site is popular because Google is the dominant search engine across the world, Neato and Roomba are dominant models across most countries across the world, and this forum has an extensive history discussing those models. Ergo, anyone using Google to search for queries relating to those (and most other) models, this site most often comes up first - wherever in the world you may be asking your question from. Ironically, if I do a Google search from here in England for European models Karcher 3000 or Samsung Navibot (ironically a model never sold in the US), Robot Reviews comes up as Googles first listing... I hate to break it to you, but robots are global, the internet is global. That this site happened to originate and is hosted in America is totally irrelevant in todays Global marketplace; if it's on the internet, it's reach is Global.

It is not usually effective to clutter the display with a lot of seldom wanted information, either.

I don't see how it adds clutter: The Location is already displayed for those who choose to disclose it. I'm simply suggesting, for the benefit of the wider worldwide audience, that filling this field is made compulsory for the benefit of other members wishing to respond, so that their replies may be more relevant from the outset.

But it's no big deal.

PS: The spell checker is telling me I've used a lot of "S"'s where I should be using "Z"'s... Only the Americans use Z's... the rest of the English speaking world (i.e. the larger part of the world) use S's!

[glnc222]

I see the posts are tagged already with location display. Adding regional names as well as countries should suffice. With global distribution already and still spreading, you are probably right. It does seem a mistake to assume an English language site is American given the scope of the English speaking world (lot of contributors in Australia, for example, besides the emerald isles, with a leading role in vacuum cleaners due to Dyson). The U.S. location of the robot companies and their Silicon Valley connection gives that false U.S. market impression.

In the global environment with so much variation in tax systems and retailing you would think anyone asking about sourcing would identify markets in queries to any site, or putting that info in their profile, given the dispersion of participants over such distances.

[edit] This site has a separate section "International" specifically for shopping and logistics issues in countries besides the U.S.