7 ms·
Strike while the iron is hot I guess, but not sure why you you are being such an ass in your copy, it's kind of a turn off, even if it is super cheap. Maybe it
by CosmicShadow 5y ago
Strike while the iron is hot I guess, but not sure why you you are being such an ass in your copy, it's kind of a turn off, even if it is super cheap.
Maybe it's a trend where if something is super cheap people tend to write in that style, but it kind of erodes trust, unless this is supposed to be a joke site, but the fact that I don't know really hurts your chance to actually get users to want to give you their email or money.
Nothing against being edgy or sweary or whatever, I like it normally, but not when you are trying to sell something on the Internet when you don't have some trust anchor that makes me ignore it like a big name brand.
- stavros 5y agoAh, see, you're assuming the site is not serious and I didn't actually make this because I needed it and it'll be a hassle if other people use it so they need to give me money to offset the hassle.
- edoceo 5y agoIt's not "free" money. They pay for the service. It's just regular money.
- busymom0 5y agoCall me crazy but the funny pricing page and copy is what convinces me to throw some money at this site.
- stavros 5y agoIf you upload a video of you throwing money at the screen I will give you a year's subscription.
- busymom0 5y agoJoin my onlyfans to get that video..
- mikestew 5y agoNow we know what keeps busymom0 so busy.
- SixDouble5321 5y agoThat and writing software, and I'm assuming motherhood too.
- cooperadymas 5y agoAnd where she gets all that money to literally throw at crappy internet services when she could be using Dropbox|Google|FTP|Fifikno for cheaper.
- busymom0 5y agoI see it as a way to contribute to meme culture similar to the WallStreetbets saga.
- blunte 5y agoI'm not sure there's any definite way to erode trust these days, since the most polished and believable sites can (and often do) completely betray the trust they instill or profess to uphold. Perhaps the creator is truly tired of the BS and guesses that there's an audience who also is. And for $5/yr, it costs virtually nothing to try. The bigger question is about limits of what can be posted, policing of content, and privacy.
- CosmicShadow 5y agoThe fact that it's so cheap makes it feel even sketchier, like who am I giving my credit card to if they are making it that cheap and easy to do; is it a trick to get my CC? They don't care how little I give, because the $5 isn't their target, it's something else. As a developer I know you can build stuff that actually is that cheap, but still, makes some alarm bell go off. Maybe if the site was worded differently, it wouldn't push things over the edge and I would "just try it". Also, I think if you want just $5 a year, why even ask for anything, unless you justify why it's so cheap and how it will just be enough to cover x costs or something.
- kristjansson 5y agoThe pricing page (after you log in) redirects to Stripe for checkout, as one would expect.
- SixDouble5321 5y agoIf you are concerned about your card there is a link to pay with bitcoin.
- stavros 5y agoYou're actually making a very good case for raising my prices again!
- version_five 5y agoIt would be interesting to see what kind of innovative products got made if everyone worried about being tut-tutted by self righteous internet critics for everything they did. Honestly your comment is a charicature of the kind of internet objections we'd expect to see to a new marketing style.
- BrianOnHN 5y agoThat style reads like "ego defense." As in, "if I make sure it looks like I didn't try hard, then it can't hurt when they say..."
- stavros 5y agoThe numbers don't lie: 99,9999987% of humans don't use this site and I'm not hurt.
- BrianOnHN 5y agoWell played.
- hunterb123 5y agoThis thread reads like "ego offense". As in, "I have to diagnose someone because it can't just be for fun and light hearted, this guy has to have a problem!"
- SkyMarshal 5y agoFrom the site: > Looking for a dead-simple way to share some images but are ashamed of what Imgur has become? I don't even know why I should be ashamed of what imgur has become. I still use it to host images I want to post to social media, be they funny memes, or screen shots of system/programming errors I'm seeking help solving. It works fine. What's the problem with imgur exactly? I imagine I'm not the only imgur user who doesn't notice any issue with it.
- DaiPlusPlus 5y ago> What's the problem with imgur exactly? Since yesterday, it's owned by the company that runs Genius.com https://www.medialab.la/ https://www.medialab.la/
- rexreed 5y agoJust wait. The company that brought you Kik and Whisper and Genius is now the proud owner of Imgur and all the fabulous images and data contained within.
- SkyMarshal 5y agoDid Medialab actually "bring" us those companies, or just acquire them after their founding teams already had?
- rexreed 5y agoThey acquired the teams and the product, but they brought the business model. Much as will happen here.
- statico 5y agoWhat's wrong with Imgur: Imgur started as a way to share images on Reddit. Imgur was even a great way browse all the images in a subreddit at once. Eventually Reddit implemented their own image uploading and hosting and added the new layout, which makes images bigger when browsing feeds. Imgur pivoted into being their own social network, and use cases like yours began to be ignored because they generated far more abuse than they do revenue. Even if you once paid for Imgur, like I did, the non-social features are completely broken. I can't even view my own images using https://statico.imgur.com/all https://statico.imgur.com/all, and I can't get to my old albums of images.
- civilized 5y agoDid anybody else read the copy, then read this comment, then read the copy again and go "what planet is this guy from?" How did "being such an ass" get defined down to something this mild? People are so easily offended these days. You can sign up for any image hosting website you want. I mean, you wouldn't go to Chipotle and rant at them for three paragraphs about how their mild salsa is way too spicy for you.
- smolyeet 5y agoYeah I was having the same problem. If he posted I host images , people would probably be less likely to join. People just like to complain about nothing
- nevir 5y agoTBH, I find the following from that site as "being a bit of an ass": > You are a guest here. You can use IMGZ, and it'll always be great, because I'm great. I've even open-sourced it. (in particular, due to the "because I'm great.") > It's super cheap. Like, $5/yr. And that includes bandwidth. There's even a free trial because I'm nice. (same theme: "because I'm nice") --- past that, the honest talk is nice to see, IMO.
- maldeh 5y agoNot to mention: > Already have an account? No you don't. > Try to log in below if you think you do anyway.
- allenu 5y agoYeah, I was confused by the copy. I also thought it wasn't a real service. On the "Money" page (with title "Buy my shit"): > That's because we want to avoid having to sell photos of your vagina to shady Russian oligarchs to pay for our servers and cocaine. I'm not offended by the language. It just doesn't give me a sense that this is a serious business.
- stavros 5y ago> I'm not offended by the language. It just doesn't give me a sense that this is a serious business. That was very much the intent, as it's not.
- rexreed 5y agoHonestly I'd rather have this straightforward no-BS talk than the "take this amazing journey with us" all is happy BS that is much easier to be cynical and skeptical about. What about the copy is false? It seems true to me, if it is blunt. I can't say the same for other website content that is much more bland, but also much more false.
- nimvlaj30 5y agoI don't know why talk like this gets a reputation as being straightforward and no-BS. It would be more straightforward and have less BS if it just said, "Image sharing made simple. Like imgur, but without he bullshit." Not a long ramble about being ashamed (why?) about an image board I never even think of.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- loktarogar 5y agoThere's a middle ground that isn't "amazing journey" and isn't "i'm an asshole but i'll let you use my service, I guess" From my perspective the latter associates itself with volatility which isn't fantastic for any kind of hosting.
- actusual 5y agoWe're trying to maintain the puritanical simplicity of the internet, didn't you hear? On a more serious note, I tend to agree with you and would add one more thing: I have several friends who have explicitly asked for more websites with this paid model. My friends want to pay to not be advertised to or have their data sold. It also happens to be the case that those same people all express their opinions in a very similar style as this website's copy.
- user-the-name 5y agoThis is neither "straightforward" nor "no-BS", there's plenty of BS in there are and pointless posturing.
- 5y ago
- delusional 5y agoI think the author commented on this view in their FAQ: > Listen, this is half service, half art project. I made it in two days because I needed one and Imgur is an embarrassing husk of its former self, and I had nothing better to do. If you're expecting professionalism, call Oracle and ask for a quote of Oracle Advanced Image Sharing for Hadoop or whatever crap they sell, IMGZ is awesome but what you see is what you get.
- system2 5y agoThen why would I trust him with my credit card or give him money while there are free alternatives?
- rexreed 5y agoBecause the customers know that "free" has a cost. That's the reason for this site's creation -- because if you're not the customer, you're the product. Free isn't the alternative that it might seem to be.
- user-the-name 5y agoThat does not answer the question "Then why would I trust him with my credit card"?
- rexreed 5y agoFor the same reason you'd trust a free service with your data. Especially photos and image data.
- user-the-name 5y agoI don't know about you, but I consider my credit card details to be a more sensitive piece of data than some meme I wanted to show to some friends.
- 5y ago
- 27182818284 5y agoEh, it isn't too far off from the "I created an image hosting service that doesn't suck." language used in the announcement of Imgur on Reddit 12 years ago.
- durpkingOP 5y agook arbiter of copywrite, should we call it imgzen instead. kumbaya
- CosmicShadow 5y agoThere's a difference between being an asshole against a problem or another company and being an asshole to the person you are trying to get to sign up. Here's what gave me the double-take: Already have an account? No you don't. Try to log in below if you think you do anyway. Why are you being a dick to me, I just got here. I didn't care that you want to shit on Imgur, but now I'm not sure what your problem is and don't care to waste any more time on this. Anyway, you can write your site however you want, but so can anyone share their thoughts.
- stavros 5y ago> to the person you are trying to get to sign up I am not trying to get you to sign uuuuuup! > Anyway, you can write your site however you want, but so can anyone share their thoughts. This is very fair.
- CaptainMarvel 5y agoFunnily enough, my reaction was the opposite. This is blunt, honest, and makes fun of all the crap marketing and fake sale pitches of other services.
- carabiner 5y agoThe "no bullshit" is a low key HN meme: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=no+bullshit+guide https://hn.algolia.com/?q=no+bullshit+guide
- threatofrain 5y agoThe top hits on this query is Ivan Savov's pedagogical branding sparsely spread across the years. The rest are like 0-comment posts.
- ASalazarMX 5y agoGoes perfectly well with the spirit of Imgur's style back in 2009. I like the cheeky tone in personal projects like this, it doesn't have to be serious because it's not a startup with investors and neckties, at least not yet. https://web.archive.org/web/20090226191747/http://imgur.com/faq.php https://web.archive.org/web/20090226191747/http://imgur.com/...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bradenb 5y agoTo me it's charming and funny. I like it. Others will, too.
- umvi 5y agoThis is same character "Maddox" plays (if anyone remembers him)
- alex_munroe 5y agoI found the copy hilarious, refreshing, and delightful.
- johntea 5y agoIt's somewhat more seasoned, yet "how banks work" was an intriguing series of posts: https://theminimilitiaapk.com/mini-militia-god-mod-apk/ https://theminimilitiaapk.com/mini-militia-god-mod-apk/
- kristjansson 5y agoIt's hilarious, and befitting what appears to be basically a personal project that accepts money and provides services as part of its schtick. Not everything on the internet has to be glossy and professional and trustworthy and inviting. It's ok to have fun.
- stavros 5y agoI think people greatly underestimate this. It was lots and lots of fun to make this, and to see people's reactions when they come across it. It was the most fun of everything I've made, and it made me realize what art is: To me, it's being able to say whatever you want, because that's how you like it, without caring whether others will like it. If they like it, good, if not, still good. I'd definitely recommend making a silly thing like this to everyone, with their only compass being their personal aesthetic. It's very liberating. Plus, if you can use the thing to store images, even better.
- mmcwilliams 5y agoI think making a super cheap service is the exactly the kind of thing that allows you to be "an ass" in your copy. Kudos, stavros!