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Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
251–260 of 399 posts
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#252[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#253Fleeting idea that could be combined with that: a web-of-trust social network where you can only "friend" people in real life, by tapping phones. When you do so, the app might say, "The person you just met claims to be Joe Schmoe, do you want to vouch for them?" If you approve them, they can message you and vice versa. A friend of Joe's can see you in his friend list, and try to message you, and you can accept it if…
The first problem I see is separating my online identity with my real identity. I really don't want anyone at my job finding out which dog I am on the internet. My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting. :) The second is friends of friends can get really awkward. There are some people who are friends with me that are also friends with people who never want to see me again.
> My coworkers and family really wouldn't appreciate my shit posting.
Shit posting is one of the biggest forms of toxicity online. It would be nice if it went away by tying posts to real people. Some people don't care and would shitpost anyway, but most people only shitpost because nobody knows who they really are.
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#254Personally, I think something like mastodon is better for this purpose. You can post your HN related stuff hashtagged #hackernews and others might follow. That being said - IMHO if you want a social network or community, don’t call it a “communal product”. Products are for making money and whatnot.
Disclaimer: I'm taking care of finance at Mastodon Appreciate Mastodon comes to mind here. I disagree with the second part regarding product not being the right term. Take Mastodon as an example: Mastodon is a non-profit LLC and an FOSS software but its community as well as the LLC clearly _produce_ something users are using.
Right term used where?
Because I’m not saying that it’s not a product. I’m saying that IMHO calling/thinking of something as a product upfront (as OP did) isn’t a good way to drive interest in it as a community.
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. A group of actual (traditional) friends is not the same thing as a bunch of online people that have something in common. For a group of real life friends, online conversations are often/best handled in a chat-like experience. Here in Europe it's mostly WhatsApp. There's also differences in what you expect from content. When one of my real friends share that they took their family to a zoo and had a great day…
" There has to be some higher shared purpose, the more specific the better." I have no idea if this is true but it's an interesting point that sounds right. I suppose the answer might come down to the individual purpose of group interaction. I'll definitely give this some thought. Thanks for the input.
To me that has always been the promise of the internet: to connect with people on topics I'm passionate about as such a thing is highly constrained in the real world. It's a brand new capability, a super power.
The opposite is true for generic chitchat online. Instead of more powerful, it is less powerful compared to the real world equivalent. You don't gain anything.
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#256As someone else pointed out, that was Google Plus. The number one thing to realize is: this is not a technical problem. It's a marketing, political, and social problem. Facebook and Twitter have vast numbers of users who are not at all technical. How you reach people like that and get them to join is your problem, and it has nothing to do with deep understanding of the technology.
right, google plus failed bc it was a platform problem. Who would prefer to use that product over facebook, twitter, etc that duplicate the functionality 90%. ello was another hilarious example (that somehow... still exists...)
I actually liked Google+ to an extent, but mostly because I found it to be so easy to get away with shitposting there. For some reason shitposts got a ton of viewers as opposed to Twitter and Facebook. Good memories, even though I was the only one in my friends group to visit often
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
I miss forums. Discord has replaced forums in most of the communities I cared about and it’s been for the worse.
I hate this, and I like Discord. Discord is a replacement for IRC/chat/AIM/other synchronous and informal conversation. It's not a replacement for forums, archives, or formal communication.
Dealing with opensource projects via discord is a nightmare. One I use regularly decided to escape the walled garden and move to github discussions and it's been such a boon for search. Discord is a repetitive nightmare of doing support I don't know why projects use it.
The discord server still exists but questions generally don't get answered as much or if they do it's usually a link to github discussions.
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#258Cool, this came up. Hey HN! I’m building Overlapp, a true social network connecting everyone over the things we like, dislike, and want to do: our Overlapps!
Imagine instagram with a sliding scale to share just how much you like or dislike something and also a button to easily add to your wish list.
From there we show you friends, colleagues or people nearby (or around the world) that also want to see that quirky band this weekend or didn’t think that hugely popular movie was so great.
We’ll have an “Only Overlapps” option so just people with similar tastes will see your opinions to avoid haters
Based your preferences by adding opinions and items to your wish list we’ll show you cool new things and people to discover.
Data will be treated with complete confidence. Here’s our website https://letsoverlapp.com we will post the app on show HN next week or so. Would love your feedback.
Edit: updated the link. Thanks
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
¯\_(ಠ_ಠ)_/¯ I mean this question is way too big for this sort of thread. I would say that simply calling it a “product” already reveals a certain ideological bias to begin with. It’s like the difference between a city square and a shopping mall as a place for a society or community. What is unique about this place is that many people here are more than qualified to build pretty much anything. So, it would be safe to…
Financial and intellectual resources are being diverted to projects with large markets but low utility. Also, "product" is a semantic argument. Product also means sum. Every application is a product of technology.
Yeah, everything around us can be seen as a product. It’s all sausage factory across the board.
The opinion I’m expressing here is that excessively seeing things in that way when venturing out to do them doesn’t make inspire trust.
Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?
#260Cool, this came up. Hey HN! I’m building Overlapp, a true social network connecting everyone over the things we like, dislike, and want to do: our Overlapps! Imagine instagram with a sliding scale to share just how much you like or dislike something and also a button to easily add to your wish list. From there we show you friends, colleagues or people nearby (or around the world) that also want to see that quirky ban…
Website is down…