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Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

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Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#11

Post by flashman »

minimaxir wrote: post #7

As the person who started the Product Hunt beatdown last thread, and would like nothing more than to see a good PH competitor, I regrettably have a few issues with this. 1. The hypothetical example you give about the Financial Times writing favorable stories for investors is an example of conflict of interest , which is a different issue than the elitist exclusivity discussed last thread. (And much more gray) 2. As n…

Ah, while I was writing my response you said the same thing a lot better. I think any alternative to ProductHunt still needs an editorial team of some sort. But the fix could be as simple as changing PH to include 'staff/influencer picks' and 'community picks', while requiring staff/influencers to disclose their relationship to the product.

Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#12

Post by pcr0 »

l33tbro wrote: post #6
rib3ye wrote: post #3

The web app behind PH is trivial. You still need a human to curate and build hype around the thing, and therein lies the problem. PH is rigged because Silicon Valley is rigged.

Really? I think the Reddit model works pretty well. It's based on (as far we know) organic upvotes from users. It's also engineered so it makes it very difficult to game with upvote brigades and such.

Reddit model works due to the size of Reddit's user base, and mostly on the larger subs. If you look at smaller subs, you can find examples of astroturfing and vote brigading.

But in those cases, looking at the poster's history and then reporting them to mods is a pretty good (albeit manual) solution.

I think Reddit-PH would still stand a better chance since it discourages anonymity and participation for non-established users.

Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#13

Post by baudehlo »

l33tbro wrote: post #6
rib3ye wrote: post #3

The web app behind PH is trivial. You still need a human to curate and build hype around the thing, and therein lies the problem. PH is rigged because Silicon Valley is rigged.

Really? I think the Reddit model works pretty well. It's based on (as far we know) organic upvotes from users. It's also engineered so it makes it very difficult to game with upvote brigades and such.

But there's practically zero popular reddit's that are ok with people promoting their own products.

Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#14

Post by minimaxir »

flashman wrote: post #11
minimaxir wrote: post #7

As the person who started the Product Hunt beatdown last thread, and would like nothing more than to see a good PH competitor, I regrettably have a few issues with this. 1. The hypothetical example you give about the Financial Times writing favorable stories for investors is an example of conflict of interest , which is a different issue than the elitist exclusivity discussed last thread. (And much more gray) 2. As n…

Ah, while I was writing my response you said the same thing a lot better. I think any alternative to ProductHunt still needs an editorial team of some sort. But the fix could be as simple as changing PH to include 'staff/influencer picks' and 'community picks', while requiring staff/influencers to disclose their relationship to the product.

Obviously, any link aggregator would need full-time moderators, which is another consideration for this mysterious PH competitor.

The notion that human curation is intrinsically better than algorithmic ranking is a Silicon Valley trend I don't feel is accurate, but that's a topic for another rant thread. (In general, I think the new semimanual approach Hacker News has been doing is an interesting idea)

Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#16

Post by guinness74 »

rib3ye wrote: post #3

The web app behind PH is trivial. You still need a human to curate and build hype around the thing, and therein lies the problem. PH is rigged because Silicon Valley is rigged.

I don't know the politics of Silicon Valley well enough to say whether or not PH is rigged, but I agree the challenge is cultivating the community, not developing the software.

I would be interested in developing the app, but it's putting the cart before the horse.

Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#17

Post by tedmiston »

minimaxir wrote: post #7

As the person who started the Product Hunt beatdown last thread, and would like nothing more than to see a good PH competitor, I regrettably have a few issues with this. 1. The hypothetical example you give about the Financial Times writing favorable stories for investors is an example of conflict of interest , which is a different issue than the elitist exclusivity discussed last thread. (And much more gray) 2. As n…

Agree strongly with #2. The challenge is not in building the tech or having an unbiased ranking system -- it's all in building the community.

Re: Let's Create a Better Product Hunt

#19

Post by sillysaurus3 »

minimaxir wrote: post #14
flashman wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, while I was writing my response you said the same thing a lot better. I think any alternative to ProductHunt still needs an editorial team of some sort. But the fix could be as simple as changing PH to include 'staff/influencer picks' and 'community picks', while requiring staff/influencers to disclose their relationship to the product.

Obviously, any link aggregator would need full-time moderators, which is another consideration for this mysterious PH competitor. The notion that human curation is intrinsically better than algorithmic ranking is a Silicon Valley trend I don't feel is accurate, but that's a topic for another rant thread. (In general, I think the new semimanual approach Hacker News has been doing is an interesting idea)

semimanual

It's not semi. That's the core reason why Lamer News had no chance of success, even if their broken software had worked.

It's odd that it's a controversial idea. The best Reddit communities are those that are heavily moderated.

To admit this is to admit that some people have better taste than others. Maybe that's the controversial bit. But it's the cornerstone of any new successful community. You see it pervasively everywhere you look, from SO to Reddit to HN.

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