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Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

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Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#21

Post by iMuzz »

xena wrote: post #17

I have mixed feelings about this as someone that creates a bunch of content across different platforms. I intentionally spread it out across platforms as different platforms have different groups of people that follow me and engage with things differently. This is a nice idea but feels like it could be used for stalking. It would be nice if there was an explicit opt-in for creators having their feeds associated here…

Appreciate the feedback here /u/xena —

> This is a nice idea but feels like it could be used for stalking.

So we make sure to only aggregate publicly available information that the creator released and never include pieces about them or from someone else. We also make sure not to aggregate any gated/paywalled content.

The problem with having every creator opt-in is that that we'd never be able to launch the profiles because there are so many creators. But maybe we could have an opt-out? We actually have the ability for creators to claim their profiles as well and make changes/edits. So in theory, a creator that doesn't want to be indexed could hide all the content on their profile.

Does that address the concern? open to any other ideas you might have!

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#22

Post by ghostbrainalpha »

Are you ..... me?

This is such a dream product. I hope that it can be useful and a big success outside our tiny corner of the internet.

Like will this be useful for someone who is following thought leaders in MMA fighting, Pornstars, DIY Guns and Drugs?

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#23

Post by iMuzz »

Nowado wrote: post #20

How is it different from, well, Google Alerts?

It actually works! I've found Google Alerts to be extremely noisy and alert me for content about certain people.

Alias only notifies you if the person actually participated/appeared on it vs. being covered.

We're also deeply indexing folks and their content so you'll be able to do conditional alerts.

Example: "Notify only me when Elon talks about battery prices" or "Notify me when Stéphane Bancel (Moderna CEO) talks about Delta Variant".

Hope that makes sense!

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#24

Post by ghostbrainalpha »

Nowado wrote: post #20

How is it different from, well, Google Alerts?

Sorry, but Google Alerts fucking blow.

Let's say I want to "subscribe" to Malcom Gladwell, how do I get all his brand new ORIGINAL content, without it Google Alerts pulling every time he is quoted or mentioned?

I had to unsubscribe from Google Alerts on my own name because it was overwhelming junk, and I wouldn't qualify as even a Z List Internet Personality.

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#25

Post by iMuzz »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #24
Nowado wrote: post #20

How is it different from, well, Google Alerts?

Sorry, but Google Alerts fucking blow. Let's say I want to "subscribe" to Malcom Gladwell, how do I get all his brand new ORIGINAL content, without it Google Alerts pulling every time he is quoted or mentioned? I had to unsubscribe from Google Alerts on my own name because it was overwhelming junk, and I wouldn't qualify as even a Z List Internet Personality.

Yup that's exactly right. Alerts are only sent out when original content is released.

Mentioned this in the earlier reply but you'll soon be able to do conditional alerts as well.

Some Examples:

- "Notify me when Elon talks about battery prices"

- "Notify me when Stéphane Bancel (Moderna CEO) talks about Delta Variant"

- "Notify me when Gladwell releases a new a book." :)

Who are some people you think we should add? We're looking to add more people every day :)

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#26

Post by jonathancai »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #22

Are you ..... me? This is such a dream product. I hope that it can be useful and a big success outside our tiny corner of the internet. Like will this be useful for someone who is following thought leaders in MMA fighting, Pornstars, DIY Guns and Drugs?

> Like will this be useful for someone who is following thought leaders in MMA fighting, Pornstars, DIY Guns and Drugs?

We haven't quite been considering the latter folk for obvious reasons, but we have been pondering the general question of "which types of people should we index?"

I think this is an interesting question to consider.

One framework we've been using to try to answer this question is the old vitamins vs. painkillers line of thought. Where is the need for a product like this the greatest? Or "where is the consequence for missing out on a piece of content the highest?"

This line of thought leads us towards the finance folks, where a single piece of information/alpha from a thought/industry leader can lead to 100+x returns, and missing out on those returns can be financially painful.

But I'd love to hear others thoughts on this question.

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#28

Post by rahimnathwani »

I wanted to follow two people who are not super-famous. They have written blog articles and been interviewed on podcasts. But I could not find them in your search.

The folks who you recommend are pretty famous, so their stuff comes across my Twitter feed from multiple sources anyway.

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#29

Post by jonathancai »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #28

I wanted to follow two people who are not super-famous. They have written blog articles and been interviewed on podcasts. But I could not find them in your search. The folks who you recommend are pretty famous, so their stuff comes across my Twitter feed from multiple sources anyway.

Who are the two people if you don't mind me asking?

Re: Show HN: Alias – Google Alerts for your favorite people

#30

Post by rahimnathwani »

jonathancai wrote: post #29
rahimnathwani wrote: post #28

I wanted to follow two people who are not super-famous. They have written blog articles and been interviewed on podcasts. But I could not find them in your search. The folks who you recommend are pretty famous, so their stuff comes across my Twitter feed from multiple sources anyway.

Who are the two people if you don't mind me asking?

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