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https://www.quidsentio.com https://www.quidsentio.com A private social network (“private” in the sense that is a journaling web app that you share with close f
by soneca 5y ago
https://www.quidsentio.com https://www.quidsentio.com
A private social network (“private” in the sense that is a journaling web app that you share with close friends, not as “e2ee privacy”).
Zero interest on HN or Reddit or wherever. The few people who tried (including friends and family) never came back. The one paid user that I had tried to use the “import Facebook status” tool and it wasn’t working. I didn’t know how to fix (it worked in my machine) so I refunded them.
I used as personal journal for several months but eventually quit. The web app is still up because it’s basically using free tier for hosting, so I leave it there.
Lessons learned
Honestly, idk. Maybe that a new social network these needs a very clear unique spin. Generic “keep in touch with close friends and family” is not enough, any of the big ones can do that. WhatsApp and a closed profile on Instagram deliver that value already. The big ones that tried eventually failed (Path, famously, but also a recent one YC-backed, Coccoon).
”Pay a subscription so we don’t have to sell ads and your data” is not enough of a motivation for adoption.
For those that this would be enough, they also care about e2ee and decentralization (which I didn’t deliver because it was technically hard to do).
Social networks are expected to be on native mobile apps, not web apps, I think.
If anyone likes the UI of it and wants to use the frontend (React) for a web3 or any sort of e2ee backend, get in touch.
- MihaiSandor 5y agoZero interest even in the comments section on this thread, lol.
- soneca 5y agoIt failed even at being a cool failed project.
- niyazpk 5y agoFWIW IMO: This should be marketed to the twitter croud, not the facebook crowd. I have no interest in writing journals for my friends and family, and even if I did, there won't be many who want to read what I write (in my personal network). But I can see writing for folks with the same interests in tech, business, books or what not. So I am willing to open up my personal journals, but only to complete strangers (anonymously).
- nso95 5y agoSocial networks are hard because they're only useful once they amass enough regular users. This is not the case with a lot of SaaS.
- Nathanael_M 5y agoMy friends and I are making a communal blog to do this exact thing, but I suspect posts will be infrequent. It's hard to casually implement regular long form writing in your life.