How search works

What shapes where you appear

1. What was searched for. A listing whose name or kind matches what was meant comes before one where it only appears in the description, and that before one that is only close to it, like event organising for a wedding. Nothing else can lift a weaker match above a stronger one.
2. Replying to inquiries. When somebody writes to you about something you offer, a reply within a few days is what counts most. A late reply still counts, for a little less.
3. A complete profile. A photograph, a few lines about you, what you do, each offering with a line about it, some examples of your work, and your links.
4. Keeping it current. Sharing an update, adding recent work, changing an offering, or confirming your offerings are still available. It is counted by the week, so ten small edits in one day are one week, and saving without changing anything counts for nothing.
5. Taking part. Offering to help with somebody’s request, or commenting on somebody’s update. Each person counts once. Likes and follows do not count.
6. A fair turn. Members who are close together are shuffled, in a different order every day, so nobody holds the top spot for good. You see the same order all day, so going back to a result works.

One member with many listings does not fill the page: everybody’s best match comes first, and their second and later ones after. Requests on the board are always newest first.

How a search is read

Search reads what you mean, not only the words you typed, so “someone to take pictures at my wedding” finds photographers. To do that, the words you type are read by Claude, an AI made by Anthropic, together with the list of Folk.Share’s categories. Nothing about you and nothing from anybody’s listings is sent with them. We do not keep what you type, and Anthropic does not use it to train its models.

Claude only works out what is being looked for. Which listings come up, and in what order, is decided here, from what each member wrote. When Claude is not available, your words are read here instead, against Folk.Share’s own categories, and are not sent anywhere.

New members get a fair start

For their first month, a new member is placed among those who appear first, while people get to know them.

What we never do

• We never read your messages to do this. We only look at whether and when a reply was sent.
• Nobody sees how anybody else is doing. There is no score, star or rank to see, of you or of anyone.
• Listing more things does not move you up.

Your own Profile health, on your home page when you are signed in, shows you how your profile is doing in plain words, with a checklist and a suggestion or two. Only you see it.

When you are away

If you are going away, or simply cannot take anything on for a while, press I’m away on your home page. Your listings are hidden from search, People and suggestions, and nobody can start a new conversation with you until you are back. Conversations you already have carry on. You can choose a date to come back on, and your listings return by themselves that morning.

Your place in search is kept for when you return. Inquiries that arrived before you went still want a reply, so it is worth answering them before you go.

When inquiries go unanswered

Everybody misses a message now and then, and one or two never matter on their own.

If a couple of inquiries in two months go without a reply, we send a friendly reminder. If a few go unanswered, we pause your listings for now and tell you by email. Nothing is deleted, and showing them again is one press on your home page, whenever you are ready. Nobody else is told why: to them it reads only as “Not taking new requests at the moment”.

A message never counts against you when it came from somebody you blocked or reported, when the person who asked says they no longer need a reply, or when it was not about something you offer.