Electronic Messaging Systems

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for:

• (A) receiving, from a first user, one or more user watch area attributes;
• (B) using said one or more user watch area attributes to define a watch area;
• (C) determining whether said first user has entered a shared watch area;
• (D) at least partially in response to determining that said first user has entered said shared watch area, substantially automatically adding said shared watch area to said user watch area;
• (E) receiving, from a second user, a message associated with a particular geographical location, wherein said second user has indicated that said message should be associated with said particular geographical location;
• (F) determining whether said particular geographical location is located within said user watch area;
• (G) at least partially in response to determining that said particular geographical location is located within said user watch area, subscribing said first user to a thread of messages that includes said message;
• and
• (H) decreasing a size of said user watch area in response to determining that a number of message postings within said user watch area is more than a predetermined threshold value.

A computer system for facilitating communications between users, said computer system comprising:

• at least one processor, wherein said computer system is configured for:
• (A) receiving, from a first user, one or more user watch area attributes;
• (B) using said one or more user watch area attributes to define a watch area;
• (C) determining whether said first user has entered a shared watch area;
• (D) at least partially in response to determining that said first user has entered said shared watch area, substantially automatically adding said shared watch area to said user watch area;
• (E) receiving, from a second user, a message associated with a particular geographical location, wherein said second user has indicated that said message should be associated with said particular geographical location;
• (F) determining whether said particular geographical location is located within said user watch area;
• (G) at least partially in response to determining that said particular geographical location is located within said user watch area, subscribing said first user to a thread of messages that includes said message;
• and
• (H) dynamically adjusting a size of said user watch area based, at least in part, on a population density associated with said user watch area.