3 ms·

Show HN: Cenchat – Civilized commenting service

2 points by rmmmp 8y ago

rmmmp 8y ago
Founder here. Also check out my blog post: https://rmmmp.github.io/2018/06/30/alternative-to-disqus.html https://rmmmp.github.io/2018/06/30/alternative-to-disqus.htm... to see the idea behind Cenchat.
- hkai 8y ago
  Would you say your proposal contributes to shutting off valid criticism and further reinforces echo chambers?
  - rmmmp 8y ago
    I wouldn't say so. Although the reply is only directed to the author or your friends, it's still public and can go viral and influence a lot of people. Thinking about it in a different way. In real life, you mostly just eavesdrop into someone else's conversations then keep your criticisms to yourself or discuss it among your friends rather than confronting the other group. If you truly need to speak up, there are other platforms well suited for that.
    - hkai 8y ago
      Interesting distinction. I approach comments on the internet more like comments on TV, which you broadcast to the entire world and can reasonably expect everyone to hear and comment on. Perhaps this is not how most people approach conversations.
      - rmmmp 8y ago
        With the current state of comments, I agree with what you've said. However, if you think about it, there's a reason why comment policies contains stuff like "Before commenting, ask yourself if you'd say the same thing to that person in real life". There's demand to approach comments as you'd approach them in real life. Not just saying everything you feel out loud without responsibility. It's just not happening though because people can hide behind the keyboard. This is something we want to fix with the stickers and gifs restrictions which you could think of as the reaction of the person eavesdropping in your conversation if you happen to see it. Plus, stickers and gifs can usually sum up a persons thoughts and emotions as well. We could already see chat apps having minimal conversation by just using them.
KajMagnus 8y ago
Interesting project. Would be interesting with a demo, or demo video or screenshots of how it looks like. There's the chicken and egg problem, right? Because: "You can only send text comments to website owners and your followers. To everyone else, only stickers and GIFs" This means text comments to no one (except for the blog post author), usually — since it's unlikely that one's Facebook connections have stumbled upon the same blog post. I'm thinking this means, that in its current shape, Chenchat will be restricted to stickers and GIFS, hmm. (Any thoughts about open source or not?)
- rmmmp 8y ago
  Valid feedback. Agree that it's unlikely for your Facebook connections to stumble upon the same blog post. The chances could well improve though for your closest friends (and maybe co-workers) as there's a better chance of viewing the same websites due to similar likes and interests. Although to make Cenchat really work to its full potential, you need to establish your followers/followings. When you do, you'll now be able to tag people into bringing them to the website (and comments section) or randomly stumble upon their comments as you're surfing the web. From there you could continue the conversations if any. This is usually what's happening in Facebook right now with viral contents. For other cases, having conversations with the author is enough for them.
brudgers 8y ago
For a demo like this, it might be worth opening the platform without requiring a signup. This makes it easier for the HN community to check Cenchat out and play with it. Simply put, I am not certain that Cenchat is worth the effort of typing in my email, checking my email, opening a link, and completing whatever might come next. Basically, the landing page asks for "payment" before showing me what I am "buying." Often when a website wants my email immediately, what I wind up buying is just spam about product updates for a product that isn't for me...which statistically Cenchat is, no matter how good it might be for other people. From the perspective of Cenchat as a organization, collecting my email up front doesn't distinguish between people who provide an email just to check it out and people who check it out and find enough value to sign up...those are the people who matter. For people like me who are going to judge a website by its landing page the email signup is a wasted opportunity. It might be useful to look at how HN's signup process works. Good luck.
- rmmmp 8y ago
  Interesting. Would you mind explaining more what you mean by opening the platform without requiring a signup? It sounds really literal but I'm at lost on how this would work. I mean, someone needs to have an account in order to do something.
  - brudgers 8y ago
    Look at HN's signup process.
  - KajMagnus 8y ago
    They can look at other people's comments and in that way see how the platform works, without typing their email. Like here at HN, you can look at this topic and read other people's comments, also before you've created an account (typed your email) yourself. ... Aha, now I see you've added a demo :- )

2 points by rmmmp 8y ago

Founder here. Also check out my blog post: https://rmmmp.github.io/2018/06/30/alternative-to-disqus.html https://rmmmp.github.io/2018/06/30/alternative-to-disqus.htm... to see the idea behind Cenchat.

hkai 8y ago
Would you say your proposal contributes to shutting off valid criticism and further reinforces echo chambers?
- rmmmp 8y ago
  I wouldn't say so. Although the reply is only directed to the author or your friends, it's still public and can go viral and influence a lot of people. Thinking about it in a different way. In real life, you mostly just eavesdrop into someone else's conversations then keep your criticisms to yourself or discuss it among your friends rather than confronting the other group. If you truly need to speak up, there are other platforms well suited for that.
  - hkai 8y ago
    Interesting distinction. I approach comments on the internet more like comments on TV, which you broadcast to the entire world and can reasonably expect everyone to hear and comment on. Perhaps this is not how most people approach conversations.
    - rmmmp 8y ago
      With the current state of comments, I agree with what you've said. However, if you think about it, there's a reason why comment policies contains stuff like "Before commenting, ask yourself if you'd say the same thing to that person in real life". There's demand to approach comments as you'd approach them in real life. Not just saying everything you feel out loud without responsibility. It's just not happening though because people can hide behind the keyboard. This is something we want to fix with the stickers and gifs restrictions which you could think of as the reaction of the person eavesdropping in your conversation if you happen to see it. Plus, stickers and gifs can usually sum up a persons thoughts and emotions as well. We could already see chat apps having minimal conversation by just using them.

KajMagnus 8y ago

Interesting project. Would be interesting with a demo, or demo video or screenshots of how it looks like. There's the chicken and egg problem, right? Because: "You can only send text comments to website owners and your followers. To everyone else, only stickers and GIFs" This means text comments to no one (except for the blog post author), usually — since it's unlikely that one's Facebook connections have stumbled upon the same blog post. I'm thinking this means, that in its current shape, Chenchat will be restricted to stickers and GIFS, hmm. (Any thoughts about open source or not?)

rmmmp 8y ago
Valid feedback. Agree that it's unlikely for your Facebook connections to stumble upon the same blog post. The chances could well improve though for your closest friends (and maybe co-workers) as there's a better chance of viewing the same websites due to similar likes and interests. Although to make Cenchat really work to its full potential, you need to establish your followers/followings. When you do, you'll now be able to tag people into bringing them to the website (and comments section) or randomly stumble upon their comments as you're surfing the web. From there you could continue the conversations if any. This is usually what's happening in Facebook right now with viral contents. For other cases, having conversations with the author is enough for them.

brudgers 8y ago

For a demo like this, it might be worth opening the platform without requiring a signup. This makes it easier for the HN community to check Cenchat out and play with it. Simply put, I am not certain that Cenchat is worth the effort of typing in my email, checking my email, opening a link, and completing whatever might come next. Basically, the landing page asks for "payment" before showing me what I am "buying." Often when a website wants my email immediately, what I wind up buying is just spam about product updates for a product that isn't for me...which statistically Cenchat is, no matter how good it might be for other people. From the perspective of Cenchat as a organization, collecting my email up front doesn't distinguish between people who provide an email just to check it out and people who check it out and find enough value to sign up...those are the people who matter. For people like me who are going to judge a website by its landing page the email signup is a wasted opportunity. It might be useful to look at how HN's signup process works. Good luck.

rmmmp 8y ago
Interesting. Would you mind explaining more what you mean by opening the platform without requiring a signup? It sounds really literal but I'm at lost on how this would work. I mean, someone needs to have an account in order to do something.
- brudgers 8y ago
  Look at HN's signup process.
- KajMagnus 8y ago
  They can look at other people's comments and in that way see how the platform works, without typing their email. Like here at HN, you can look at this topic and read other people's comments, also before you've created an account (typed your email) yourself. ... Aha, now I see you've added a demo :- )