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Scaling an anonymous social network targeted to high schoolers... I shudder at the thought of the minefields you would be required to navigate. * Privacy * Bul

Scaling an anonymous social network targeted to high schoolers... I shudder at the thought of the minefields you would be required to navigate. * Privacy * Bullying * Under age pornography Facebook, Instagram, Snapshat etc all struggle with this across their networks. Something designed for a user base that is almost exclusively under 18.... Shudder. College students have trouble conducting themselves online in a proper fashion - just look at Yik Yak and the headwinds it is facing.

kedean 11y ago
One could avoid privacy issues by not collecting any information outside of email and chats, I would imagine. You don't HAVE to collect lots of user information. As for porn, why does a social network have to allow embedded images? If it's mainly a chat service, there's no risk. I suppose someone could use your network as transport for links to outside content, but that's pretty unlikely and it's a stretch to say the network is responsible at all. You could also disallow hyperlinking. Of course, both of those fixes make the system pretty damn hard to monetize, which I think is the biggest issue.
Animats 11y ago
Such negativism. This is YC. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.[1] Yik Yak has a $400M valuation. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUmAbi0Vm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUmAbi0Vm4
- blantonl 11y ago
  I tend to be skeptical at times. A 400m valuation for a local anonymous chat application? Yup, I'm skeptical. Actually, I think it is ridiculous.
  - nl 11y ago
    A 400m valuation for a local anonymous chat application? Yup, I'm skeptical. You'd be wrong. http://www.wsj.com/articles/year-old-messaging-app-yik-yak-draws-big-valuation-1416791097 http://www.wsj.com/articles/year-old-messaging-app-yik-yak-d... Perhaps you meant you disagree that valuation makes sense?
nl 11y ago
Minecraft. The most valuable truths are the ones most people don't believe. They're like undervalued stocks. If you start with them, you'll have the whole field to yourself. So when you find an idea you know is good but most people disagree with, you should not merely ignore their objections, but push aggressively in that direction. http://paulgraham.com/notnot.html http://paulgraham.com/notnot.html
personjerry 11y ago
> * Privacy * Bullying * Under age pornography Although you seem to condemn college students, it seems as though your concerns are all solved by moving the target audience to colleges, because college students are "adult" enough that we don't care about these issues for them for the most part (with respect to laws). > Facebook, Instagram, Snapshat etc all struggle with this across their networks. Pretty sure they all started by being built on similar user bases, and it's a tremendously appealing audience to start an app with.

kedean 11y ago

One could avoid privacy issues by not collecting any information outside of email and chats, I would imagine. You don't HAVE to collect lots of user information. As for porn, why does a social network have to allow embedded images? If it's mainly a chat service, there's no risk. I suppose someone could use your network as transport for links to outside content, but that's pretty unlikely and it's a stretch to say the network is responsible at all. You could also disallow hyperlinking. Of course, both of those fixes make the system pretty damn hard to monetize, which I think is the biggest issue.

Animats 11y ago

Such negativism. This is YC. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.[1] Yik Yak has a $400M valuation. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUmAbi0Vm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUmAbi0Vm4

blantonl 11y ago
I tend to be skeptical at times. A 400m valuation for a local anonymous chat application? Yup, I'm skeptical. Actually, I think it is ridiculous.
- nl 11y ago
  A 400m valuation for a local anonymous chat application? Yup, I'm skeptical. You'd be wrong. http://www.wsj.com/articles/year-old-messaging-app-yik-yak-draws-big-valuation-1416791097 http://www.wsj.com/articles/year-old-messaging-app-yik-yak-d... Perhaps you meant you disagree that valuation makes sense?

nl 11y ago

Minecraft. The most valuable truths are the ones most people don't believe. They're like undervalued stocks. If you start with them, you'll have the whole field to yourself. So when you find an idea you know is good but most people disagree with, you should not merely ignore their objections, but push aggressively in that direction. http://paulgraham.com/notnot.html http://paulgraham.com/notnot.html

personjerry 11y ago

> * Privacy * Bullying * Under age pornography Although you seem to condemn college students, it seems as though your concerns are all solved by moving the target audience to colleges, because college students are "adult" enough that we don't care about these issues for them for the most part (with respect to laws). > Facebook, Instagram, Snapshat etc all struggle with this across their networks. Pretty sure they all started by being built on similar user bases, and it's a tremendously appealing audience to start an app with.