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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?

#321

Post by [deleted] »

happyopossum wrote: post #318
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. :) Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe if there were any locally observable consequences to that behavior you’d stop and the Internet would be a better place…

[deleted]

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

#322

Post by elevenoh »

happyopossum wrote: post #318
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. :) Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe if there were any locally observable consequences to that behavior you’d stop and the Internet would be a better place…

No post body was provided.

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

#323

Post by autoexec »

nos482 wrote: post #307
autoexec wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 fo…

Not an idiom, it was an alternative to the "poke" https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/throw-a-shee...

Thanks! I would never have guessed that. Facebook seems like a strange place.

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

#325

Post by afpx »

kmeisthax wrote: post #275
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...)

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.

Google+ had a big user base of tech people talking to other tech people. Facebook had the college crowd, and they got their families to join. Twitter isn't all that big, but they got the brands on board.

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

#327

Post by kyleyeats »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #311
kyleyeats wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't he already, right now?

Well, right now they would need to unlock it and I can sign out of the app somewhere else.

The phone would have the same physical security features. But 'signing out' would be more of an ostracism thing.

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

#328

Post by snowwrestler »

Social networks, as a concept, are dead in my opinion.

People used them to do two things: to communicate with people they know, and to publish info to those they don’t know.

Modern messaging apps like WhatsApp or iMessage work way better for communicating with people you know. And algorithm-driven platforms like TikTok and Instagram work way better for building an audience. Twitter, BTW, fits much more in the latter category than the former, since tweets are public by default.

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

#329

Post by snowwrestler »

ilyt wrote: post #64
baxtr wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great idea. To add: I think the site would also need a rock star moderator who diligently checks every comment and keeps the site clean. Also maybe it would be great to have a voting system where one could downvote as well! But only after a certain number of upvotes I think.

Let's also have zero notification whatsoever that someone answered to your comment so you have to keep engaged in constantly looking thru it manually

Zero notifications, if such a thing existed, would help an online community stay constructive since the default behavior would be to forget conversations. This would help folks get some distance and perspective rather than being constantly reminded that they have an argument to win.

Another nice thing about zero notifications in our new social media app is that the development effort for that feature is very low.

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

#330

Post by prawn »

The idea as presented wouldn't survive. People fade away from a network more often than they explicitly leave so a capped group of 10 would be 1-2 people soon enough. The challenge that social networks have had is that they need to maintain content levels to encourage engagement, but typically the people you choose to follow will post less with time. This leads to networks adding in a lot of content you haven't chosen to follow - suggested tweets and follows and reels and the like.

Looking at my personal Instagram as an example: I follow 223 people; I mostly follow only people that I know. Often I'll take a look in the morning and there are all of 1-3 things posted. Over time, people have dropped away from using the app or are discouraged by "is this good enough compared to the polished content that trends?" Instagram tries to compensate by suggesting content from people I haven't followed, which I resent.

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