4 ms·

Are.na, although very niche (which I think is a feature), looks very interesting in this regard. Financed trough paid accounts instead of selling user data/ads

by smoe 5y ago

Are.na, although very niche (which I think is a feature), looks very interesting in this regard. Financed trough paid accounts instead of selling user data/ads and being driven by chasing big investor money. It also seems to have a very open api for people to build things upon. https://are.na https://are.na From Wikipedia: Are.na is an online social networking community and creative research platform [...] Are.na was built as a successor to hypertext projects like Ted Nelson's Xanadu, and as an ad-free alternative to social networks like Facebook, forgoing "likes," "favorites," or "shares" in its design. Are.na allows users to compile uploaded and web-clipped "blocks" into different "channels," [...]

mostlysimilar 5y ago
I'm drawn to the idea and the ethos, but wow that UI is hard to look at.
- slickdork 5y ago
  Homepage is definitely a mess on ultrawide/firefox.
- smoe 5y ago
  I don't like the homepage much, especially since I did absolutely not understand what this is supposed to be about. The application part itself I quite like. Some of the color contrasts are way to low and style over substance (my first impression was, that it must have been designed by a Swiss Architect), but what I do like a lot is, just how little noise there is.
dylan604 5y ago
>forgoing "likes," "favorites," or "shares" in its design I have a feeling that is going to alienate mass populace users.
- smoe 5y ago
  Which I think is great. Those features just incentivises people to constantly scream for attention and marketing agencies to try to create viral campaigns. There are already plenty products aimed at the mass populace, I would love to see again more communities built for the niches. Not just in terms of topics (subreddits et al), but functionality and interactions. Because honestly I came to the conclusion that communities only work if they stay relatively small and focused. I haven't used Are.na enough to say anything about their community specifically, but their approach resonates strongly with me.
- nvr219 5y ago
  Good
- mattgreenrocks 5y ago
  This is a feature. Literally every other social site falls over itself to show meaningless metrics.
- Zak 5y ago
  If I could make one change to Facebook, it would be to eliminate the share button. I wouldn't make it impossible for people to copy and paste links to third-party content, but there would be no front-and-center UI for it. The main thing I want from that sort of social media is to see original content from people that I know. I don't want to see the best cat video; I want to see my friend's cat video.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    If you eliminated the TOP 10 listicle type of things or entire domains that host that kind of content, I'd call it a good start.
- zeruch 5y ago
  That could be seen as a feature, not a bug, in and of itself.
- jjav 5y ago
  > I have a feeling that is going to alienate mass populace users. Sounds like a key feature. I think we've learned by now that mass adoption is the death signal for any platform since it will bring in the spammers, advertisers and other undesirables which ruin the experience.

by smoe 5y ago

mostlysimilar 5y ago

I'm drawn to the idea and the ethos, but wow that UI is hard to look at.

slickdork 5y ago
Homepage is definitely a mess on ultrawide/firefox.
smoe 5y ago
I don't like the homepage much, especially since I did absolutely not understand what this is supposed to be about. The application part itself I quite like. Some of the color contrasts are way to low and style over substance (my first impression was, that it must have been designed by a Swiss Architect), but what I do like a lot is, just how little noise there is.

dylan604 5y ago

>forgoing "likes," "favorites," or "shares" in its design I have a feeling that is going to alienate mass populace users.

smoe 5y ago
Which I think is great. Those features just incentivises people to constantly scream for attention and marketing agencies to try to create viral campaigns. There are already plenty products aimed at the mass populace, I would love to see again more communities built for the niches. Not just in terms of topics (subreddits et al), but functionality and interactions. Because honestly I came to the conclusion that communities only work if they stay relatively small and focused. I haven't used Are.na enough to say anything about their community specifically, but their approach resonates strongly with me.
nvr219 5y ago
Good
mattgreenrocks 5y ago
This is a feature. Literally every other social site falls over itself to show meaningless metrics.
Zak 5y ago
If I could make one change to Facebook, it would be to eliminate the share button. I wouldn't make it impossible for people to copy and paste links to third-party content, but there would be no front-and-center UI for it. The main thing I want from that sort of social media is to see original content from people that I know. I don't want to see the best cat video; I want to see my friend's cat video.
- dylan604 5y ago
  If you eliminated the TOP 10 listicle type of things or entire domains that host that kind of content, I'd call it a good start.
zeruch 5y ago
That could be seen as a feature, not a bug, in and of itself.
jjav 5y ago
> I have a feeling that is going to alienate mass populace users. Sounds like a key feature. I think we've learned by now that mass adoption is the death signal for any platform since it will bring in the spammers, advertisers and other undesirables which ruin the experience.