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Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

sora.city

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Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#1

Post by chrispuska »

We wanted to create, to express ourselves without being judged either by strangers or some algorithm. We wanted our own space on the internet, where our photos and words would matter.

So we started to build an app that can showcase our content, without having to pick a platform. You can use Sora to publish a few different content types.

- Blog - Polaroid - Poster - Microblog

You can either display them all on your Sora profile as a summary (like mine https://topcat.sora.city), or put any of them forward for the world to see.

We plan to run this app for a long time and looking for feedback, so let us know what you think! (feedback@sora.city, or link on website)

---

Our stack today is Node, Typescript, NextJS, atomic CSS, with everything stored on Supabase.

Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform
sora.city

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#2

Post by phoe-krk »

0. How does this compare to Fediverse-based solutions, such as Write.Freely for articles, Pixelfed for graphics, Mastodon or Pleroma or Misskey for microblogging? Do you plan on supporting ActivityPub for federation?

1. What are your funding plans? If you plan on being free, what sort of user data will you be selling to pay for your costs?

2a. You mention on the bottom that Sora is Forever: "We're building Sora because we need a place to showcase our content too. We're bootstrapped and in for the long run." What sort of longevity plans do you have in case your servers/your backups/your company/your team goes under?

2b. Do the users get to own their data and move it elsewhere? Is your software FOSS so that users can run their own instances?

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#3

Post by chrispuska »

phoe-krk wrote: post #2

0. How does this compare to Fediverse-based solutions, such as Write.Freely for articles, Pixelfed for graphics, Mastodon or Pleroma or Misskey for microblogging? Do you plan on supporting ActivityPub for federation? 1. What are your funding plans? If you plan on being free, what sort of user data will you be selling to pay for your costs? 2a. You mention on the bottom that Sora is Forever: "We're building Sora becau…

0: We're going to support ActivityPub at some point this year. Also monitoring all the other protocols popped up recently.

1: Won't sell any data, ever. Bootstrapped for now, user funded once we scaled up. We might temporary suspend signups at a point to ensure uninterrupted service.

2a: Good callout, will update the site with future plans!

2b: We're actively working on making content exportable, so you'll be able to take all of your stuff. No short term OSS plans, but might consider down the road!

Appreciate the questions!

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#4

Post by phoe-krk »

chrispuska wrote: post #3
phoe-krk wrote: post #2

0. How does this compare to Fediverse-based solutions, such as Write.Freely for articles, Pixelfed for graphics, Mastodon or Pleroma or Misskey for microblogging? Do you plan on supporting ActivityPub for federation? 1. What are your funding plans? If you plan on being free, what sort of user data will you be selling to pay for your costs? 2a. You mention on the bottom that Sora is Forever: "We're building Sora becau…

0: We're going to support ActivityPub at some point this year. Also monitoring all the other protocols popped up recently. 1: Won't sell any data, ever. Bootstrapped for now, user funded once we scaled up. We might temporary suspend signups at a point to ensure uninterrupted service. 2a: Good callout, will update the site with future plans! 2b: We're actively working on making content exportable, so you'll be able to…

Thanks for quick answers, all clear now!

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#5

Post by layer8 »

> Sora, personal publishing platform

> So we started to build an app that can showcase our content, without having to pick a platform.

So… you built a platform in order to not have to pick a platform? I’m not sure I understand.

It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service.

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#6

Post by [deleted] »

layer8 wrote: post #5

> Sora, personal publishing platform > So we started to build an app that can showcase our content, without having to pick a platform. So… you built a platform in order to not have to pick a platform? I’m not sure I understand. It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#7

Post by chrispuska »

layer8 wrote: post #5

> Sora, personal publishing platform > So we started to build an app that can showcase our content, without having to pick a platform. So… you built a platform in order to not have to pick a platform? I’m not sure I understand. It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service.

We're still focused on making the writing/reading experience better, but content portability is an important feature we're planning to ship in the coming months.

Naming is hard, you won't be tied to this "platform".

---

> It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service.

We're hoping to shape it into a more utilitarian service than anything else out there.

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#8

Post by layer8 »

chrispuska wrote: post #7
layer8 wrote: post #5

> Sora, personal publishing platform > So we started to build an app that can showcase our content, without having to pick a platform. So… you built a platform in order to not have to pick a platform? I’m not sure I understand. It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service.

We're still focused on making the writing/reading experience better, but content portability is an important feature we're planning to ship in the coming months. Naming is hard, you won't be tied to this "platform". --- > It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service. We're hoping to shape it into a more utilitarian service than anything else out there…

Okay, I still don’t understand what Sora actually is. That is, it’s not clear what type of product or service or software this is, and which problems of existing solutions exactly you’re addressing. It would be helpful to have a bunch of “it’s like x, but avoiding problem y by doing z”.

Re: Show HN: Sora, Personal Publishing Platform

#10

Post by diytiara »

layer8 wrote: post #8
chrispuska wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're still focused on making the writing/reading experience better, but content portability is an important feature we're planning to ship in the coming months. Naming is hard, you won't be tied to this "platform". --- > It’s also not clear to me from the landing page what Sora is, other than maybe yet another blog hosting service. We're hoping to shape it into a more utilitarian service than anything else out there…

Okay, I still don’t understand what Sora actually is. That is, it’s not clear what type of product or service or software this is, and which problems of existing solutions exactly you’re addressing. It would be helpful to have a bunch of “it’s like x, but avoiding problem y by doing z”.

Take a look at the page! After that, it's been all clear for me.
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