7 ms·

Avoid the mainstream media, advertising-centric sites, social media, et al, and the Internet is mostly fine. Stick to the niche sites and services that have alw

Avoid the mainstream media, advertising-centric sites, social media, et al, and the Internet is mostly fine. Stick to the niche sites and services that have always been there and it’s a much more pleasant place.

merpnderp 7y ago
This! The internet outside of the big tech/media sites is mostly the same - maybe even a bit smaller and more communal. Although there’s no escaping modern advertising without using aggressive ad blocking.
- arthurcolle 7y ago
  Especially now that you are actually barred from some venues unless you allow them on the whitelist... Hope ad blocking manages to catch up soon.
polskibus 7y ago
Any particular niche sites that you have in mind and could recommend to others?
- jasonjayr 7y ago
  Isn't this antithesis to the issue at hand? These niche places are great exactly because they're hard to find, and the community there grows organically. I'm on HN now because slashdot was flailing years ago, and a friend I knew IRL mentioned it ....
  - giaour 7y ago
    Most of the niche sites I've seen aren't great because they're exclusive but because they're built around a specific interest. Anybody can join, but if they don't share that interest, they'll get bored and leave.
- almost_usual 7y ago
  I frequent a truck forum that hasn’t changed in years. I’d imagine there are other forums that exist for your special interests. I tend to meet a lot of nice and helpful people there. I probably spend less than five minutes a day on traditional social media which feels toxic in comparison.
- xvedejas 7y ago
  My friends host a RocketChat instance with maybe 20 or 30 active users. It's invite-only though, so I can't really recommend it in particular online. But these places exist, and you could consider spawning one and growing it to your preferred size. Our "treehouse" has been pretty great for hanging out and reminds me of the days when IRC was more of a thing.
- giaour 7y ago
  Ravelry is a lovely social network for knitters, crotchers, and spinners. It's a relatively small site, but it's a model for how social networks should work. Because it's built around a shared interest that people spend money on, the site can sell ad slots instead of relying on real-time bidding based ad networks.
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    Ravelry just had a controversy over banning patterns that had Trump's face on them as white-supremacist content.
    - giaour 7y ago
      Nevertheless, the site is well-built and their monetization strategy is non-invasive.
- agoodthrowaway 7y ago
  I am into motorcycles and so there are plenty of forums for that. In the Bay Area we have 2 active forums. A problem is that Facebook has eroded it a bit. I also mountain bike and there are also forums for that. One of my favorites is a garage forum for people who deck out their garages. Cool to see concepts people come up with for garage workshops. All those sites seem supported through ads related to the specific topic.
- ticmasta 7y ago
  HA! - I don't think you intended to make this joke but if you did, Kudos! If we give the HN hug to enough niche sites, maybe they'll pick up their SEO game, improve the ranking and start optimizing for the big ad dollars :)
- openfuture 7y ago
  What are you interested in? Find a niche community around that.
temp1231213 7y ago
> Avoid the mainstream media I seriously had that thought today. I do believe journalists report the facts and are not 'fake' news. But boy, is news opinionated nowadays. Every channel you go to, its all about selling you outrage. The CNN YouTube channel is especially cringe worthy for me. To see a respected news channel turn to click bait titles and circling pictures makes me kind of sad. I wish they didn't do that.

merpnderp 7y ago

This! The internet outside of the big tech/media sites is mostly the same - maybe even a bit smaller and more communal. Although there’s no escaping modern advertising without using aggressive ad blocking.

arthurcolle 7y ago
Especially now that you are actually barred from some venues unless you allow them on the whitelist... Hope ad blocking manages to catch up soon.

polskibus 7y ago

Any particular niche sites that you have in mind and could recommend to others?

jasonjayr 7y ago
Isn't this antithesis to the issue at hand? These niche places are great exactly because they're hard to find, and the community there grows organically. I'm on HN now because slashdot was flailing years ago, and a friend I knew IRL mentioned it ....
- giaour 7y ago
  Most of the niche sites I've seen aren't great because they're exclusive but because they're built around a specific interest. Anybody can join, but if they don't share that interest, they'll get bored and leave.
almost_usual 7y ago
I frequent a truck forum that hasn’t changed in years. I’d imagine there are other forums that exist for your special interests. I tend to meet a lot of nice and helpful people there. I probably spend less than five minutes a day on traditional social media which feels toxic in comparison.
xvedejas 7y ago
My friends host a RocketChat instance with maybe 20 or 30 active users. It's invite-only though, so I can't really recommend it in particular online. But these places exist, and you could consider spawning one and growing it to your preferred size. Our "treehouse" has been pretty great for hanging out and reminds me of the days when IRC was more of a thing.
giaour 7y ago
Ravelry is a lovely social network for knitters, crotchers, and spinners. It's a relatively small site, but it's a model for how social networks should work. Because it's built around a shared interest that people spend money on, the site can sell ad slots instead of relying on real-time bidding based ad networks.
- AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  Ravelry just had a controversy over banning patterns that had Trump's face on them as white-supremacist content.
  - giaour 7y ago
    Nevertheless, the site is well-built and their monetization strategy is non-invasive.
agoodthrowaway 7y ago
I am into motorcycles and so there are plenty of forums for that. In the Bay Area we have 2 active forums. A problem is that Facebook has eroded it a bit. I also mountain bike and there are also forums for that. One of my favorites is a garage forum for people who deck out their garages. Cool to see concepts people come up with for garage workshops. All those sites seem supported through ads related to the specific topic.
ticmasta 7y ago
HA! - I don't think you intended to make this joke but if you did, Kudos! If we give the HN hug to enough niche sites, maybe they'll pick up their SEO game, improve the ranking and start optimizing for the big ad dollars :)
openfuture 7y ago
What are you interested in? Find a niche community around that.

temp1231213 7y ago

> Avoid the mainstream media I seriously had that thought today. I do believe journalists report the facts and are not 'fake' news. But boy, is news opinionated nowadays. Every channel you go to, its all about selling you outrage. The CNN YouTube channel is especially cringe worthy for me. To see a respected news channel turn to click bait titles and circling pictures makes me kind of sad. I wish they didn't do that.