Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#111

Post by robertlagrant » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:32 PM UTC

vladms wrote: post #81

ecshafer wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think its a better place, or do the users think its a better place? Take political partisanship out of it. So its about a 30/30/40 breakdown between Trump/Harris/None. So 70% of people either Support or Don't care that much about Trump, and that's assuming that every single democratic voter is angry enough to quit Facebook over this, this is probably not true. You are looking at probably >85% of people that do…

Is Facebook though the perfect community tool? Using centralized systems has advantages (simple/easy/available/cheap) but also disadvantages (less customization/less control/more expensive). When Facebook appeared maybe the alternatives were not there due to technical complexity is this still the case nowadays?...

There were alternatives, but the network effect is real. Facebook wants people to stay on their platform, sure, but people also like staying in one app if they can. They know how to use it, and it's not yet another app.

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#112

Post by bdangubic » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:33 PM UTC

rgbrgb wrote: post #56

bdangubic wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yup, quitting in droves ... https://www.statista.com/statistics/223289/facebooks-quarter...

That shows quarterly revenue not user activity in the US? In my orbit there is nearly 0 Facebook usage outside of a few boomers but instagram seems very popular.

"In my orbit" there 100% of the people play racquetball which means there are roughly 350 million players in the USA - hence it is the most popular sport on the planet and owner of my local team is richer than all NFL owners combined /s :)

Also see https://www.statista.com/statistics/408971/number-of-us-face... just for kicks :)

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#113

Post by nzoschke » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:34 PM UTC

beisner wrote: post #45

For events specifically, my cohort (somewhere between Gen-Z and Millenial) have moved event organizing entirely to Partiful, which I've found to be far superior to Facebook Events. Doesn't help with group posts though.

I’ll second Partiful.

Their use of good old fashioned www links and SMS messages makes it easy for everyone to share and join events. No app and no Partiful account necessary.

They also have simple and good event privacy model, group scheduling, reminders, Venmo based ticket system, and group chat.

It’s taken over almost completely in my social circles and I’m all for it.

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#114

Post by luizfzs » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:35 PM UTC

I'd suggest a different approach. I'm not sure how feasible it is for your case but just my 2 cents.

Community building would probably be way more efficient if done in person. That would make getting to know each other way easier. It would allow 'water fountain' type of interactions; which you usually don't have online.

So, my 2 cents would be to find a park, or something else public (weather permitting) and gather there. It could also bring passerbys to get curious and gather more people.

Not everything has to have a technological solution. In-person interactions should be more important for community building.

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#115

Post by robertlagrant » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:36 PM UTC

Stronico wrote: post #55

I run a discussion group that meets once a month - our tech stack is 1. A blog running WordPress that I use to announce meetings 2. A meetup.com account (free tier) that has the same information as the blog 3. A MailChimp account (free tier) where I send notices about the meetups 4. A very active Slack group (free tier) where I announce meetups and we have entended discussions. Discord would probably work just as wel…

This is why Facebook ended up being the tool of choice. Stay in one app instead of logging into 2 and checking your email and a website. I'm only surprised that 1-3 can't all be done via Meetup.

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#116

Post by robertlagrant » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:38 PM UTC

Does Nextdoor have anything useful for you? They have community events and so forth.

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#117

Post by righthand » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:40 PM UTC

nmorenoEM wrote: post #53

https://werz.at

I tried to sign up for this to check it out but it requires an instagram account or some existing online media presence…pretty big barrier to entry for someone looking to leave Meta properties.

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#118

Post by gadders » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:41 PM UTC

ADeerAppeared wrote: post #35

ecshafer wrote: post #14

> I live in a more rural community (moved from a big city). We have 5-6 small (~50k people) towns, all well connected. Everything happens on Facebook. I would like to move to a different platforms. Plus points for self-hosted, federated. Do YOU want to move off of Facebook for some reason, or do people want to move off of Facebook for some reason. MOST people in the US, especially in a rural are are not going to quit…

> because say the CEO of a company is friendly to the President. "Engaging in political censorship of their platform in favour of the President" is a little more than being "friendly". Free Speech in the US is dying. Ignore it at your own peril.

Yes, Zuckerberg admitted that this is what used to happen under Biden recently on a podcast,

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#119

Post by gadders » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

blactuary wrote: post #87

javier123454321 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you talking about his role censoring for the current, or for the former admin? His flip flopping shows such a lack of character. However, being selectively outraged because this time he is doing it for someone you disagree with, which a lot of people are, reveals the real motives.

He didn't censor for the former president

He did, and has said so publicly: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxlpjlgdzjo

Re: Ask HN: Organize local communities without Facebook?

#120

Post by graemep » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 4:43 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #71

sirsinsalot wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dying? It isn't free speech if you can say what you like, but can only do it in a sound proofed room, alone.

He’s talking about private groups. Regardless, no private platform is forced to provide you a voice. You can set up your own site and set up your own servers if need be. People have been getting their ideas out there before social media and even when the mainstream media wouldn’t cover them. That’s how the civil rights movement came to prominence.

> Regardless, no private platform is forced to provide you a voice.

That was a reasonable stance historically. Only the government had real power to control speech.

Now a tiny number of platforms have a huge amount of power. They should have an obligation not to censor, because between them they can virtually block all practically available channels of communication.