Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass?

#11

Post by tjit » Wed, May 06, 2009, 8:14 PM UTC

markessien wrote: post #7

I think you misunderstand viral. It may be virally shared, but it's not viral by its nature. A viral app is an app like skype or paypal, as they only get useful when the other person uses it. An app like facebook, you interact with the other person over the site, as the person who invites you is 'there'. Your app is just a 'share this amusing link if you like' type site. It's not inherently viral app. Change it in a…

Ok, I might have used the term viral a little to easily.

With regard to the inviting: an attempt to this end is made in enabling users to tweet their conversations. This would allow their followers to eavesdrop on their particular conversation in realtime. Why would you want a lot of eavesdroppers? Hmm, good question ;)

So something else for people to invite others..

Re: Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass?

#12

Post by MoeDrippins » Wed, May 06, 2009, 8:22 PM UTC

tjit wrote: post #4

asimjalis wrote: post #2

Look at the conversations and see what the value proposition of the site is. What is it that people are looking for. And then highlight that value.

People are looking for a way to kill some time. I think this is highlighted by allowing visitors to share conversation-links with others.. Still, the problem remains the fact that it's difficult to get an initial userbase that makes sure there's always something interesting to read about on there :)

> People are looking for a way to kill some time.

You think so, eh? Look at the apps coming out that track your time, that let you restrict yourself from killing time, etc.

On what basis do you make such a proposition? (I'm not busting your balls here, I'm genuinely curious.)

Re: Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass?

#13

Post by tjit » Wed, May 06, 2009, 8:50 PM UTC

swombat wrote: post #9

How is it "highly viral"? If it was highly viral, surely, it would acquire critical mass by itself (that's kind of the definition of a viral application)

I probably should have toned that down a bit, yeah. What I meant was that when kickstarted, the concept will pretty easily attract new visitors, because it's a weird experience; and there's hardly a barrier to engage with the site (just click a button and off you go).

The problem is in the kickstarting: no people chatting, means no eavesdropping and barely anything of interest there when you visit.

Re: Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass?

#14

Post by kalmi10 » Wed, May 06, 2009, 9:12 PM UTC

Make "high-speed replay" more speedy. Having to watch for 30 lines for 3 minutes is a bit boring... (or at least add on option to speed it up)

This is not going get you "critical mass", but it might help a bit.

Re: Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass?

#15

Post by mahmud » Wed, May 06, 2009, 11:28 PM UTC

delano wrote: post #5

I noticed your post yesterday in the thread about company names and I tried out a few conversations with Tjetter. I saved a couple of the URIs: http://tjetter.com/#3JcS http://tjetter.com/#3Jdz It's an interesting concept but I wasn't sure what to do at first. What do you say to a person without any context? In each of the conversations the other person inevitably asked if I was male or female. I think it would be ea…

Heya delano! you plum-cheeked, rosy-bummed, fun-pack of a man!

Oh, you're shocked I just said that? well, that was a response to your question:

>What do you say to a person without any context?

With the proper identity, the site can be tuned to encourage odd-ball, fun and goofy monologue-type conversations. It should foster an standup-comedy type atmosphere.

The site owner can encourage a conversation by offering them a "prop"; a graphic image of an object or a person that appears on the screen as a conversation starter. Perhaps a theme/stage/setting where people are encouraged to act out a persona, etc.

Now that thing I said about your bum and your cheeks? err, "nohomo"[1].

--

[1]http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nohomo

Re: Ask HN: ways to obtain critical mass?

#16

Post by delano » Thu, May 07, 2009, 9:10 AM UTC

mahmud wrote: post #15

delano wrote: post #5

I noticed your post yesterday in the thread about company names and I tried out a few conversations with Tjetter. I saved a couple of the URIs: http://tjetter.com/#3JcS http://tjetter.com/#3Jdz It's an interesting concept but I wasn't sure what to do at first. What do you say to a person without any context? In each of the conversations the other person inevitably asked if I was male or female. I think it would be ea…

Heya delano! you plum-cheeked, rosy-bummed, fun-pack of a man! Oh, you're shocked I just said that? well, that was a response to your question: >What do you say to a person without any context? With the proper identity, the site can be tuned to encourage odd-ball, fun and goofy monologue-type conversations. It should foster an standup-comedy type atmosphere. The site owner can encourage a conversation by offering the…

Haha, those are great ideas. I would absolutely return regularly to act out different personas.