Relative dates are great to display the temporal incidence of recent activity, but at what distance is it an inconvenience for the user to see a relative date rather than an absolute one?
Let's assume the context is a forum.
+1
A:
For me, a week is about the limit. I don't know of any industrial pysch studies to support it.
Charlie Martin
2009-05-29 01:51:54
+1
A:
I just display today and yesterday as relative dates, like facebook does.
3 days ago makes me wonder which day it was, and I find it confusing. Not to mention Flickr's "three months ago" without any detailed info :(
MartinodF
2009-05-29 01:55:02
+1
A:
This is completely relevant to whatever the dates are associated with. If it's an update feed (like your SO recent activity), then it may be a good idea to display relative dates by the hour. If it's articles talking about software updates, then days would be more appropriate...
Cuga
2009-05-29 01:56:13
You're right; post edited.
orlandu63
2009-05-29 02:02:30