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Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

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Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#271

Post by some_furry »

ineptech wrote: post #162
unsupp0rted wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would hate this because I’m physically nowhere near any HNers I’d trust, and vanishingly few HNers at all.

You wouldn't be first-tier friends with people you only know from the internet. You'd be first-tier friends with neighbors and cousins and the other parents at your kids' school. Then when I prove (keybase style) that I, HN user ineptech, am also "ineptech" on this social network, you would know that I really am a 48-year-old guy in Portland and not some other person because I have also friended all my irl friends, a…

I don't speak to my neighbors.

My blood family consists of violent homophobes that would shoot my house up if they ever learned I'm gay (or where I live).

I have a dedicated online persona (fursona, really) that I keep compartmentalized from people I distruat.

Some of my friends are trans.

Some of my friends have abusive ex-partners and stalkers.

Some of my friends are sex workers who need social media to find customers but don't want their real names leaked.

How would your proposal serve any of these use cases? From where I stand, it'd be more of a hindrance.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#272

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

cpersona wrote: post #266
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around here, I'm pretty unwelcome at things like tech meetups. I stopped going, after experiencing the "circle of avoidance" thing, a few times. New York ageism is even worse than Silicon Valley. No one wants to know me, and I'm OK with that, as I get a lot done, anyway, and the people that matter to me (all over the world) are part of my circle.

Sorry to hear your experience has been that. As someone approaching that point, I wonder whether I will have to find other outlets besides the traditional tech meetups that I was attending more regularly in the times before covid. Since you do bring experience, I would recommend (if you haven't tried yet), to give talks instead of just attending. I have found that the speakers tend to be well received regardless as t…

Yeah...the thing about the talks (I'm quite good at that stuff), is that they also skew young, and generally, at least around here, they are considered as currency, so there's a lot of competition for them. I could really give a rat's ass about ego, and I'm not looking for work, so I'm not interested in mud-wrestling some hungry young turk, with a syllabus full of Buzzword Stew, for a speaking engagement.

I'm good at Swift and native Apple stuff. I've given courses on it, in the past. I was actually shocked to find out that no one is really interested in that, out here. I could go into the city, but, quite frankly, I'd rather eat ghost peppers.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#273

Post by autoexec »

scrame wrote: post #269
qrio2 wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...)

yeah, was also more annoying to use. it read trying to solve the problem of broadcasting everything to everyone, so it had this concept of circles, whereas Twitter people WANT everyone to see everything they say, either for like or conflict. Facebook was similar, but you could throw sheep at your friend/girl you liked, and it might be ambiguous. plus made you define your social circles as literal "circles", that's no…

> Facebook was similar, but you could throw sheep at your friend/girl you liked, and it might be ambiguous.

Throwing sheep is an idiom I'm unfamiliar with and urban dictionary isn't helping (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=throw%20a%20...) what does it mean in this context?

I liked the idea of circles. It solves the problem of having to create multiple accounts (one for work, one for friends, one for parents, etc) that a lot of people were doing on facebook/insta so that they didn't have to self-censor as much. People don't always want to broadcast a night of drugs and drinking to your employer or your Mom but still want to send photos of your wild night out to your friends.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#274

Post by smoldesu »

theGnuMe wrote: post #117
baxtr wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a very neat "engagement" feature idea! Love it. I would probably then just bookmark the site and check it constantly.

But no ads. Cause we aren't in it for the money.

...well, okay. A few ads, but only for semi-relevant job openings.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#275

Post by kmeisthax »

qrio2 wrote: post #247
AlbertCory wrote: post #237

As 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...)

The thing is, Google+ had a dedicated user base. It just wasn't the Facebook killer they thought it would be.

Same thing with Google Reader, too.

If you want to "take on Facebook or Twitter", you will fail. But if you just want to create a community of people, you absolutely can outcompete those companies in that niche, because Facebook and Twitter traded in quality for scale.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#276

Post by benji-york »

some_furry wrote: post #271
ineptech wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't be first-tier friends with people you only know from the internet. You'd be first-tier friends with neighbors and cousins and the other parents at your kids' school. Then when I prove (keybase style) that I, HN user ineptech, am also "ineptech" on this social network, you would know that I really am a 48-year-old guy in Portland and not some other person because I have also friended all my irl friends, a…

I don't speak to my neighbors. My blood family consists of violent homophobes that would shoot my house up if they ever learned I'm gay (or where I live). I have a dedicated online persona (fursona, really) that I keep compartmentalized from people I distruat. Some of my friends are trans. Some of my friends have abusive ex-partners and stalkers. Some of my friends are sex workers who need social media to find custom…

This idea may not fulfill every use case.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#277

Post by motohagiography »

We already have one and it's perfect. Whenever you go into a new environment, especially for jobs, there are a bunch of HN'isms you can drop to recognize each other. Nobody asks each others handles, because they respect each others privacy, and you just know that the people you are dealing with have some of the same topics front of mind. I've never asked anyone their handle, and nobody has ever asked me mine, and that basic respect is what characterizes it to me. HN is forum where people have the incentive to write as their best selves, and the effect of that is the largest archive of human honesty in the history of the species.

Being meta about it presumes it's an object of criticism with an end instead of just an ongoing experience that exists for no other reason than because it's enjoyable.

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#278

Post by cfcfcf »

motohagiography wrote: post #277

We already have one and it's perfect. Whenever you go into a new environment, especially for jobs, there are a bunch of HN'isms you can drop to recognize each other. Nobody asks each others handles, because they respect each others privacy, and you just know that the people you are dealing with have some of the same topics front of mind. I've never asked anyone their handle, and nobody has ever asked me mine, and tha…

Example of these isms?

Re: Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?

#279

Post by kayodelycaon »

SoftTalker wrote: post #253
kayodelycaon wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Facebook does tie posts to real people. It doesn’t work. People are just as toxic.
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