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Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

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Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#191
post #185
post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's only in the US and Canada, globally it's more something like $5. And you and I (and probably some more people of HN) would pay that. But 99% of the 2 billion people that use FB wouldn't.

I wouldn't pay a single dollar.

Case in point :-)

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#192
post #108

The social network I'd like to try is this: * Funded by subscriptions. * Free from ads. * Since it is not ad dependent, yes, it can also provide a chronological timeline. * Two post types supported: Text and Photo. Because sometimes a photo does tell a thousand words. * Links to websites not supported in posts. Avoids viral proliferation of dumbed down politics, fake news, or stupid memes. If you want to get to the w…

I could be wrong but it already exists and it's getting traction: https://www.vero.co/ It's not perfect, nor does it hit all your points but it's a start (of a trend at the very least) http://www.adweek.com/digital/this-ad-free-social-media-app-...

From the outside, Vero just seems like it's going to be a portal to a bunch of corporate services.

>Your friend just shared this cool Spotify song, please sign up for Spotify at Vero's special rate of $3.99 / month to listen.

Even on the landing page there is an advertisement for me to order a photo book of Prince.

This does not seem very social, it's just more hyped up media.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#193

Orkut was so popular in some parts of the world like India that I always wondered why Google thought it better to shut it down. All those orkut users moved to Facebook & made Facebook a hugely popular platform. I hope the same does not happen with Hello.

I am still trying to figure out why Orkut was more popular in India.

I remember trying it out, but it was so so slow. Thats pretty much the only thing I remember about it.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#194
post #108

The social network I'd like to try is this: * Funded by subscriptions. * Free from ads. * Since it is not ad dependent, yes, it can also provide a chronological timeline. * Two post types supported: Text and Photo. Because sometimes a photo does tell a thousand words. * Links to websites not supported in posts. Avoids viral proliferation of dumbed down politics, fake news, or stupid memes. If you want to get to the w…

It exists and is called WhatsApp.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#195
post #175
post #108

The social network I'd like to try is this: * Funded by subscriptions. * Free from ads. * Since it is not ad dependent, yes, it can also provide a chronological timeline. * Two post types supported: Text and Photo. Because sometimes a photo does tell a thousand words. * Links to websites not supported in posts. Avoids viral proliferation of dumbed down politics, fake news, or stupid memes. If you want to get to the w…

Try https://diasporafoundation.org

It doesn't satisfy a number of the person's requirements.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#196
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are conflicting what people want with what people would use! Also: feeds are not ranked because of monetization...they are ranked because they work better that way

I don't know if feeds really work better that way. There are people I wish I was still following on Facebook because I'd like to get the highlights of what happens to them (moves, deaths, other important life events) but I had to drop them because they post trivial shit that gets dozens or hundreds of likes. Reactions were designed to help with that problem (sad news can get sad reactions so it can get elevated the s…

Whatever system Facebook was using to determine the contents of your feed back when Facebook was more enjoyable for you would probably still be the best system to use now. Someone clever should just recreate the Facebook from 2000's that everyone liked, call it something else and give the UI/UX a long-overdue upgrade.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worse... Once you've signed up through mobile, you can use it from any browser. Makes you wonder why it wants you to sign up on mobile... Wants your phone number? Wants access to you contacts?

What else? I assume that the whole reddit thing is the same. Install our app so we can suck your phone dry of your personal data.

So websites now no longer simply want new users, they want unique,verified users.

I understand the need for such verification when a webmaster wants to prevent easy re-registrations of trolls and/or banned members, and it's still better than Google's invite only system for when they release something big like gmail or g+, but it's a dark pattern all the way.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#198

The founder has an amazing history, and the description of Hello is enticing but vague of what differentiates it. None of that matters for me though, because when I attempted to sign up from my laptop I got the message 'Sorry, we're mobile only'. I see no compelling reason to be mobile-only at full launch. Mobile-first for your MVP with early adopters, yes that makes a great deal of sense. But when a company does a f…

Yeah, as someone who carries neither iOS or Android devices, app only social networks won't ever pick me up.

They pick you up because at least some, if not most of your friends are using app-only social networks that have access to their contacts and phone books. A few matching entries with your phone number and they have you pegged with a very high degree of certainty and connected to more than just your phone number and text messages. Everything your friends have in their contact info for you (birthday, email, home address, work address, family members, etc.). Obviously the same thing is true for your SMS/MMS messages that are sent to friends with app-only social networks which have access to their messages and call info. In the end you're giving away most of the same data, the difference is that you're just unable to benefit from it in the same way that you could with an Android or iOS device.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#199
post #77

The founder has an amazing history, and the description of Hello is enticing but vague of what differentiates it. None of that matters for me though, because when I attempted to sign up from my laptop I got the message 'Sorry, we're mobile only'. I see no compelling reason to be mobile-only at full launch. Mobile-first for your MVP with early adopters, yes that makes a great deal of sense. But when a company does a f…

Native app support might be too much to ask, but at least a webapp should be a major part of the launch time product. It's fairly trivial to build a webapp around APIs that they've probably already developed for android/ios apps, so it's hard to forgive them for not having it ready by now.

Accessing Facebook through a Chrome/Chromium browser on an Android device allows you to make an app on your homescreen that's not nearly as invasive as the mobile app. That being said, the main difference will be improved battery life and less background processes running, as they'll gather most of your data from your friends on the receiving end of texts/calls/etc who are using the mobile app.

Re: Hello: A new social network founded by Orkut's creator

#200
post #130
post #108

The social network I'd like to try is this: * Funded by subscriptions. * Free from ads. * Since it is not ad dependent, yes, it can also provide a chronological timeline. * Two post types supported: Text and Photo. Because sometimes a photo does tell a thousand words. * Links to websites not supported in posts. Avoids viral proliferation of dumbed down politics, fake news, or stupid memes. If you want to get to the w…

> Funded by subscriptions This sounds like it might be a good idea because it seems like it would remove the incentive to monetize personal information, but in practice it creates a barrier to adoption and makes the social network kinda useless. I joined a subscription-based social network that was designed for expats [1]. It was by all-accounts well-designed, well-managed and had everything going for it. But no one…

Why do people have to pay for themselves? I’d pay for me and my social circle.

I’m sure there are lots of people who would pay for their friends. Most people have like 4 good friends, max, anyways. The rest are really just acquaintances, who may be on the network because someone else sponsored them.

And that’s how it can start off. Me and my close friends. I don’t really talk to the whole world so I don’t need the whole world on it. But if I have an acquaintance who is on the platform then great, we can connect on there, too.

And it doesn’t have to be a ridiculous sum. The company can still be very profitable with charging only $1/person/month. With 5 people that’s $60/yr. Facebook makes ~$25 per person in the US and Canada. That works out to 1/5 of facebook’s per-person profit. If a company made 1/5 of facebook’s profit (at facebooks scale), it would be an incredibly successful business.

Plus, facebook has a bunch of crappy UI that exists for the sole purpose of shipping ads. Without the incentive to ship ads to the user, the experience for the users would be waaaaay better. And without the need to collect and analyze so much data about each user, and then manage an ad distribution platform on top of that, the costs of running the platform would be lower.

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