Last weekend we made some infrastructure updates and we also switched the site to the UTC time zone. You all (our users) have been SO COOL and helpful regarding the time zone change. Travis and I were extremely impressed with your willingness to roll with the change and we really appreciate all of the feedback.

And your reward? More confusion! Ugh. Sorry. We know this is a little crazy… but…

Today we switched Swap-bot back to US Pacific Time.

Swap-bot was originally created in the Pacific time zone (years ago) and in listening to your feedback and concerns about UTC time, we feel that this will be a good solution. Putting the site in Pacific Time will mean that most of the world will be AHEAD of official Swap-bot time. This will give everyone (except for those in Hawaii and Alaska) a little extra leniency and time when signing up for and sending swaps. Unfortunately, it will also mean that our international swappers will have to wait a little longer (according to their local time) to assign swap partners.

The time zone issue is tricky and confusing since each international swap is technically being coordinated simultaneously across the globe. But being in Pacific Time will mean that very, very few swappers will ever have to worry about their swap being marked late (if they send on time in their own time zone). The corner “Swap-bot Time” clock will stay, and we hope to add some info explaining why it may be different than your current time zone.

Thank you again for all of your help and patience. Please continue to keep us posted with any questions or concerns.