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Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

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Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

#1

Post by slymerson »

Firstly, thanks for actually reading this. I wanted to get the feedback from the HN community to see if it's worth pursuing.

IMO, BeReal would make sense to add video, but they haven't, which leads me to my idea. I've long thought that video should also be utilized for "social" and not only for "media" (TikTok, YT Shorts). I believe that there's an opportunity to create an app revolving around video content that is entirely made up by friends.

The app would work like this: you would open the app and be greeted by the camera, you would then have to upload a video of what you're doing to get access to the feed, and then every 24 hours it get reset. This wouldn't involve a notification telling you to get on, but instead whenever you want to browse the app, you would need to upload a video of whatever you're doing to get access. Now, it could be possible that people will post videos of a black screen to get access, BUT, you would think the same thing for BeReal, yet no one does that. Everyone uses BeReal for its intended purpose.

So what do you think? I'd love any feedback.

Re: Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

#2

Post by theGeatZhopa »

Ok, when one posts a video and got access, what happens to this video?

Will it be displayed/pushed to the others? What else can be done with that video?

Will it end of the user watching all the other users gaining Access videos?

What about privacy? I use insta for a prolonged, good puuping. Just imagine "Greetings comrade. Upload a video of what you're doing right now to gain access"

Nope. Can't imagine why one want to pay in advance (with one's time) and being restricted on the usage (not at any Situation possible)

The content is what matters. Not the access.

Re: Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

#3

Post by slymerson »

theGeatZhopa wrote: post #2

Ok, when one posts a video and got access, what happens to this video? Will it be displayed/pushed to the others? What else can be done with that video? Will it end of the user watching all the other users gaining Access videos? What about privacy? I use insta for a prolonged, good puuping. Just imagine "Greetings comrade. Upload a video of what you're doing right now to gain access" Nope. Can't imagine why one want…

It'll be pushed to others, just like every other social company. You'd be posting it to the feed where friends can see your video.

Re: Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

#5

Post by theGeatZhopa »

slymerson wrote: post #3
theGeatZhopa wrote: post #2

Ok, when one posts a video and got access, what happens to this video? Will it be displayed/pushed to the others? What else can be done with that video? Will it end of the user watching all the other users gaining Access videos? What about privacy? I use insta for a prolonged, good puuping. Just imagine "Greetings comrade. Upload a video of what you're doing right now to gain access" Nope. Can't imagine why one want…

It'll be pushed to others, just like every other social company. You'd be posting it to the feed where friends can see your video.

Others push Videos that are not just "what you doing ATM" - this is a limitation in creativity

And why videos in the first? Why not a photo? It would cost less time and can be taken anywhere (toilets f.e.)

I just don't get, why do you want to make it difficult to access the app (at first take your time to record a few seconds). Then why pollute an experience with recordings that wouldn't have mich creative input, because they're just for gaining access ("cooking smthg", "waiting for smth", "want to have a short look what my friends are doing and need to record smth.") - you'll never get an Input like "how the earth have evolved", as this is content, but you'll have faces at first.

What happens if one accumulates say 1k friends. Will he look at "access denied" faces the whole day?

The idea seem to solve a non problem: User engagement through access Control. If you ask me, I try it once, bur then go back to the other social apps.

Just because there I can consume.

Re: Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

#6

Post by MilnerRoute »

If you can pull it together, it sounds like an impressive project. (Which, if nothing else, would look good in your portfolio if you end up applying for other work in the future.) You might also learn a lot from the experience of bringing it together -- and then trying to pitch it to various incubators, etc.

About the idea itself: my first thought was, having you considered making it like TikTok (where the videos disappear after 24 hours)? This lowers your video-hosting costs, while giving users more of a sense of privacy. I don't know if this lowers your liability if someone posts a video of something they shouldn't...

Another thought: will people be able to cross-share these videos on other platforms? That might actually be a good way to publicize your platform -- maybe just watermark the videos in some way as coming from your platform, but with easy sharing icons built in. [This could end up being a lot of work for a feature no one uses - but it seems like a good idea.]

The best thing I ever heard about starting a product was: prepare to be flexible, once you have something out in the world and can see how people are using it. (Just for example, no one predicted how wildly popular Facebook would be until people started using it...) I heard a story about a small startup site that wanted to let people make scrapbooks with pictures and text and all their favorite memories. They found out the feature people were using most heavily was photos, so they pivoted to just that. They're still around today. Their name is Flickr.

You can't always see the future -- but you also don't always have to. Get something out there, and then be prepared to iterate.

Re: Ask HN: What do you think about my “BeReal, but for video” idea?

#7

Post by slymerson »

MilnerRoute wrote: post #6

If you can pull it together, it sounds like an impressive project. (Which, if nothing else, would look good in your portfolio if you end up applying for other work in the future.) You might also learn a lot from the experience of bringing it together -- and then trying to pitch it to various incubators, etc. About the idea itself: my first thought was, having you considered making it like TikTok (where the videos dis…

Thanks for the feedback! Definitely gives me more motivation to start it.
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