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I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

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Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#231
post #98

Here's what I would do. 1. Make it QR code scanning instead of tapping so it can be a PWA. 2. Make it a PWA. This will make it accessible to many more people. Nobody wants to install an app. Nobody wants to install a PWA either but they will at least use a "web site" (a surprising number will install it if it's good). 3. Save yourself a lot of money by building it on top of the Nostr protocol. Run a relay yourself if…

> 1. Make it QR code scanning instead of tapping so it can be a PWA. Misses the point completely. The entire idea is that this enforces in-person meetings, which QR codes do not.

You could make the qr code extremely short lived, like 2 seconds or so.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#232
post #29

> He said he would sell it to me for $40k. I offered $20k, which he refused but he said if I had any domain names generating ad revenue, we could do a deal of domains and cash. He said he would accept a lower amount if I paid in Bitcoin. > So we worked out a deal where I gave him $20k in Bitcoin and a domain that was making about $9k/year in ad revenue, and he gave me the domain friendster.com. Now I was the owner of…

If you had a steady investment opportunity with 10% return (about in line with long-terms stock market returns), $9000 per year indefinitely is worth the same as $99000 now (in an idealized finance world. In the real world you can't invest $99000 and withdraw $9000 per year because withdrawals during downturns will take out too much. But it's a quick way to calculate equivalent values). That's obviously an upper boun…

What's the best network currently to put a domain to generate ad revenue?

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#233
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They dictate the capabilities that their device is offered and how the device is designed. It is up to the consumer to decide if that is worth the price of the device.

This argument falls apart since there is no real freedom of choice, and the importance of smartphones in our lives. People are becoming more aware that they don’t want a corporation in control over this essential near ubiquitous technology. I see no good reason to follow a “it’s a corporation they can do whatever they want” mindset

Who is forcing you to exclusively buy into Apple’s ecosystem?

Are other competitors banned where you live?

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#234

The 'tapping phones' gimmick strikes me as something that sounds cute but will become an annoying chore that one should be able to opt out of. Particularly given various unintended side effects -- I personally wouldn't want my connection to my deceased best friend to be subject to some decay feature on a social network. And either way, it's not the core feature that will draw users to the site If you want to differen…

Perhaps "remember when you met with your friends?" But taking a photo (possibly a group photo) is a more natural way to do that. Maybe it should integrate with photo-taking somehow? It would be annoying if you met up, forgot to do the ritual in person, and had no way to fix it.

I don't really like the idea of an app telling me how to manage my friendships, my view is that people can handle their relationships without intervention. I'm not sure what problem it is trying to solve.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#235

> this failed Apple App Store review because of Guideline 4.2 — Design — Minimum Functionality. They said “the usefulness of the app is limited because it seems to be intended for a small, or niche, set of users. Specifically, the app is intended for invited friends only.” This is why we need laws regulating mobile platforms. Apple shouldn't be able to dictate what you use your phone for, or what apps you can give to…

[flagged]

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am confused... what is harmed by having stale connections? Why would connections be used as an editorial filter?

Because you don't want to see posts from stale connections.

I assume you would just unfollow them if you want to stop seeing their posts? It sounded more like the person I was talking to was more concerned with follower counts being accurate, which doesn’t seem relevant for feed algorithms.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#237

>I don’t really care about making money from [$project], but I’d like it to eventually pay for itself. Warning bells. Slippery slopes. I think we should know by now that social networks do not mix well with the advertising business model. It would have been nice to see that eventuality ruled out explicitly here (PS: for the future as well as just for now) .

"no ads" - it is explicitly stated on the website and app store page

Just a thought: you could incorporate a non-profit to run the site, like Wikipedia or public radio/media, and be the president of that organization. For me, donating to a non-profit is much easier than a voluntary subscription to a for-profit corporation.

Love the app, I’ve already had some photos shared with me!

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#238

The 'tapping phones' gimmick strikes me as something that sounds cute but will become an annoying chore that one should be able to opt out of. Particularly given various unintended side effects -- I personally wouldn't want my connection to my deceased best friend to be subject to some decay feature on a social network. And either way, it's not the core feature that will draw users to the site If you want to differen…

> I personally wouldn't want my connection to my deceased best friend to be subject to some decay feature on a social network. It seems like a feature could deal with this specific case, such as marking a friend as deceased. Possibly, other friends doing the same thing puts the profile to be in deceased status until the user logs in and changes the status.

Much bullying potential. "You're dead to us" ...

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#239
> My wife and I met on OkCupid. I wouldn’t have my kids without it. Websites like that genuinely change the course of people’s lives — people meet, fall in love, build families. That’s incredible to me.

> If Friendster helps even a few people find that kind of connection, it will have been worth it.

Did you tap phones for OkCupid? The type of network you are building does not work that way -- you will not build the same types of connections in-person as you can online. I hope it goes well, but it's not the same type of thing.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often get in trouble on HN for being more sympathetic than most towards Apple. But that reasoning by Apple is ridiculous. They allow apps which only function if you buy a specific $100k+ EV, or some niche audiophile amp. Usefulness doesn’t get much more limited than that.

What even is the idea, what would be the value in weeding out niche apps, if they did it consistently? To reduce the work involved in keeping everything in the garden lovely?

None of the app store rules are used as guiding principles for ensuring some higher goal. It's just a bunch of random rules that allow them to ban anything they don't like at any moment in time. Sometimes it's because of the whims of a particular app store reviewer, and sometimes it's to get rid of apps that compete with something Apple wants to do.
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