Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#1

Post by kulkarniankita » Fri, May 02, 2025, 12:51 AM UTC

Hey HN, A couple years ago, I switched from my corporate 9 to 5 job to become a Tech Educator. Starting with little social proof was tough, I only had testimonials from past colleagues.

Existing social proof tools were charging $75/month i.e. ($900/year) and were too complex to use.

This is why my partner and I built ProofyBubble for my Next.js Course Early Access Launch.

We saw a real jump in revenue the moment we added ProofyBubble to show off our website traffic, waitlist signups, incoming sales, and past sales.

I've since used ProofyBubble in all my products - my newsletter subscribers grew, sales increased, and I launched my course with tons of social proof.

I hope it helps you as much as it helped me. Would love your feedback please.

Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time
proofybubble.com

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#2

Post by barbazoo » Fri, May 02, 2025, 3:03 AM UTC

Whenever I see these pop up I basically never believe them. They are even worse when made up scarcity is involved.

I want to go one step further and say this is actually a dark pattern.

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#3

Post by sparrish » Sat, May 03, 2025, 4:17 PM UTC

I came just to find out what a 'toast' is in this context. I'm understanding it's a 'little popup'... is that right?

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#4

Post by echoangle » Sat, May 03, 2025, 4:20 PM UTC

sparrish wrote: post #3

I came just to find out what a 'toast' is in this context. I'm understanding it's a 'little popup'... is that right?

Yes, named that way because they pop up (mostly) from the bottom like the bread when a toaster is finished.

https://web.dev/articles/building/a-toast-component

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#5

Post by laweijfmvo » Sat, May 03, 2025, 4:21 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #2

Whenever I see these pop up I basically never believe them. They are even worse when made up scarcity is involved. I want to go one step further and say this is actually a dark pattern.

Agree, super ironic that they’re apparently called “Social Proof” haha

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#6

Post by Phreaker00 » Sat, May 03, 2025, 4:21 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #2

Whenever I see these pop up I basically never believe them. They are even worse when made up scarcity is involved. I want to go one step further and say this is actually a dark pattern.

I agree. As a programmer I never believe this is actual interaction of people but instead random events programmed to show up to spoof activity. There's no way to verify the truthfulness of the data. As a consequence I distrust the website and make an effort to find a different seller.

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#7

Post by hnuser123456 » Sat, May 03, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

Phreaker00 wrote: post #6

barbazoo wrote: post #2

Whenever I see these pop up I basically never believe them. They are even worse when made up scarcity is involved. I want to go one step further and say this is actually a dark pattern.

I agree. As a programmer I never believe this is actual interaction of people but instead random events programmed to show up to spoof activity. There's no way to verify the truthfulness of the data. As a consequence I distrust the website and make an effort to find a different seller.

Yes, but we're not typical customers.

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#8

Post by barbazoo » Sat, May 03, 2025, 4:55 PM UTC

hnuser123456 wrote: post #7

Phreaker00 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. As a programmer I never believe this is actual interaction of people but instead random events programmed to show up to spoof activity. There's no way to verify the truthfulness of the data. As a consequence I distrust the website and make an effort to find a different seller.

Yes, but we're not typical customers.

Makes it even worse if they find actual people to deceive.

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#9

Post by barbazoo » Sat, May 03, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

echoangle wrote: post #4

sparrish wrote: post #3

I came just to find out what a 'toast' is in this context. I'm understanding it's a 'little popup'... is that right?

Yes, named that way because they pop up (mostly) from the bottom like the bread when a toaster is finished. https://web.dev/articles/building/a-toast-component

The difference being that the toast is real

Re: Show HN: I made a toast that shows what visitors are doing in real-time

#10

Post by ramoz » Sat, May 03, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #2

Whenever I see these pop up I basically never believe them. They are even worse when made up scarcity is involved. I want to go one step further and say this is actually a dark pattern.

These are all dark patterns used in the SaaS community and it takes zero effort to create. Two valid alternatives to this product: (1) lie (2) average out whatever proof throughput you get and simulate the events