Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#1

Post by willdamas » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:14 PM UTC

I'm looking to address a pain point that I have come up against often - having thoughts that would make great blog posts but no time or motivation to go through the hassle of having a full blown blog.

I've outlined what I have created here: http://idea.kickofflabs.com/

If you are interested please sign up there or drop me an email at damaswill@gmail.com. It would be great to hear from you.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#2

Post by willdamas » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:15 PM UTC

Clickable: http://idea.kickofflabs.com/

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#3

Post by kaolinite » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:17 PM UTC

I'm pretty sure that's what Tumblr was made for.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#4

Post by YuriNiyazov » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:18 PM UTC

Posterous did this, but tumblr won the mindshare, and posterous was acquihired by Twitter.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#5

Post by willdamas » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:21 PM UTC

kaolinite wrote: post #3

I'm pretty sure that's what Tumblr was made for.

Perhaps I didn't explain it as well as I could have done (or I don't fully understand Tumblr) but this would be more of an opportunity for people to put out a single post, without needing the full on "their own tumblr". I'm thinking especially people like me (and much of HN I imagine) who don't have the time to put in in maintaining a blog. With Tumblr and Posterous, you never really own the canvas either - I am looking at something whereby you can choose whether you have ads or not or you can pay etc.

Thank you though for your thoughts - it really helps.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#6

Post by kjhughes » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:35 PM UTC

At one end, people have their own blogs. (And Blogger, WordPress.com, and Tumblr are simple enough that large numbers of non-technical folk use them regularly.) At the other end, many people are happy to lurk without writing anything.

In the middle, people post comments on others' blogs or on meta sites such as HN.

I can't be sure, but from what you've said so far, I'm not seeing much unaddressed pain in the space.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#7

Post by ciarog » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:43 PM UTC

willdamas wrote: post #5

kaolinite wrote: post #3

I'm pretty sure that's what Tumblr was made for.

Perhaps I didn't explain it as well as I could have done (or I don't fully understand Tumblr) but this would be more of an opportunity for people to put out a single post, without needing the full on "their own tumblr". I'm thinking especially people like me (and much of HN I imagine) who don't have the time to put in in maintaining a blog. With Tumblr and Posterous, you never really own the canvas either - I am look…

I think it's a good idea. The problem with Tumblr is that you're encouraged to theme your blog, e.g. fitness, hunger games or whatever, so you end up having to make different blogs for each topic you're into because people that follow you aren't going to want to see workout logs mixed in with hunger games gifs.

It is a nifty idea to just be able to toss down some random idea on to a blog with no other pressure. With tumblr there is the pressure of having to blog regularly, queue up posts to publish every hour and keep to a theme etc.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#8

Post by swGooF » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:45 PM UTC

I would be interested if the posts where categorized. For example, I have an idea for one post on video games. I write the post, and send it off, and it gets posted to the video games section of the site. Then people interested in video games could find it. Maybe the next day, I have a good idea for a food blog post.

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#9

Post by michaelpinto » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:50 PM UTC

Suggestion: Don't look for suggestions here with an essay, instead you should prototype your idea and then get feedback. The problem with your essay is that it's abstract and too easy to say something like "what about Tumblr" so in this case the devil is in the details...

Re: Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

#10

Post by swGooF » Fri, Jul 06, 2012, 5:54 PM UTC

michaelpinto wrote: post #9

Suggestion: Don't look for suggestions here with an essay, instead you should prototype your idea and then get feedback. The problem with your essay is that it's abstract and too easy to say something like "what about Tumblr" so in this case the devil is in the details...

good suggestion