that's what public gardens should be for :)
Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
11–20 of 69 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#12The internet, which in many places is supported by government, seems like the approximate digital parallel of a park. What you choose to do at the park is up to you.
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#13Which government? Worldwide like UN or country level like Peru or some regional / city wide network?
It is probably the one thing no one asked for but could be done. Would probably make more sense in areas with limited freedom as a means to control society.
A non profit would make more sense as they can be seen in a more neutral light.
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#14All the other answers are great, but I think they're missing the biggest and most important reason: a social network run by any government entity would only run on Internet Explorer 6 or Firefox 2, would store your password in plain text, and would run on 15-year-old un-patched IIS on a few Windows XP servers stored in the basement of city hall. And it would probably all be built on top of a deprecated social media Wordpress plugin.
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#15[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#16Social networks are global. public goods are local or national. Would the rules that apply to non-citizens or non-locals apply to outsiders?
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#17Have you ever used a government website?
With the exception on gov.uk, they are all god-awful. I suspect lack of talent within the government is one major reason.
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#18All the other answers are great, but I think they're missing the biggest and most important reason: a social network run by any government entity would only run on Internet Explorer 6 or Firefox 2, would store your password in plain text, and would run on 15-year-old un-patched IIS on a few Windows XP servers stored in the basement of city hall. And it would probably all be built on top of a deprecated social media W…
Much unlike today's social media networks, which have never had any massive privacy or security scandals.
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#19You need roads, bridges, water, electricity, and garbage collection to fulfill basic physiological needs, and also so you can swap menial tasks for higher level work/spending time with family/enjoying a better standard of living. Framing in Maslow's pyramid [1]: Many of the goods/services the gov provides fulfill either level 1 physiological needs or level 2 security needs. Social networks fulfill level 3 and 4 needs…
Social networks fulfill all needs.
That is why the ultimate form of punishment in our society is to isolate the individual from all human contact.
Humans do terribly in an environment without other people.
Why does it matter that the medium is digital?
Re: Ask HN: Why are there no public social networks?
#20All the other answers are great, but I think they're missing the biggest and most important reason: a social network run by any government entity would only run on Internet Explorer 6 or Firefox 2, would store your password in plain text, and would run on 15-year-old un-patched IIS on a few Windows XP servers stored in the basement of city hall. And it would probably all be built on top of a deprecated social media W…
And it would be certified secure.