21 ms·

Not a knock on the author. All power to him for doing this. I worked on similar small side projects years ago. But I'm not convinced. And not of nicheless, just

by asim 4y ago

Not a knock on the author. All power to him for doing this. I worked on similar small side projects years ago. But I'm not convinced. And not of nicheless, just of anything attempting to fill the void where Twitter once was. I think some of these services might find their community and build something with network effects but I couldn't tell you which will make it as much as I couldn't say 3 years into Twitter if it would still exist a decade from then. But something just isn't sitting right with me in this entire space. As I sit and watch the mindless babble of the Twitter billionaire owner and his groupies, it's causing me to fade slowly into the background of life. Spaces for idle chatter turns out to be a total waste of time. Whether it's about movies, gaming or politics, there's really more we could be doing with our time. Twitter is a void and trying to fill that void with another one isn't the answer. I don't really know what the solution is beyond knowing some sort of community platform is definitely missing. But it's likely to focus on some active component, not idle chat.

louispereira 4y ago
Hey Asim. I appreciate you taking the time to thoughtfully (and elegantly) lay out your thoughts. At the moment, I don't want Nicheless to perform a similar function to Twitter. I love Twitter and use it daily, but I find it useful as a space to reach a broad audience of people I don't know. An open network with unlimited growth potential. With nicheless, I want it to be the opposite. A place to follow people you already know, either from real life, or from existing social connections. I want it to be a place for a higher density of thought to be exchanged for a smaller group of people. I've written a bit about it here: https://nicheless.blog/post/mission https://nicheless.blog/post/mission In fact, I'm even considering capping the number of people you can 'follow' on Nichless. Maybe it will help create an algorithm free feed of interesting thoughts that spark real life conversations. I don't know yet, but I might experiment and find out. Let me know what you think?
- asim 4y ago
  It's a noble goal. I think many an engineer have tried. Even convincing your own social group to try new things is hard so it really has to offer something new or attract a specific type of audience. I think most people's group of well know friends and contacts caps out at 100. So that would be where I'd put a soft limit on follows e.g a little hint that says maybe you want to split this out into sub groups or separate as accounts.
  - louispereira 4y ago
    Yup, that's an interesting idea. Will keep a note of it when I decide to run the experiment. Thank you!
- b3nji 4y ago
  This is an excellent idea, I love the thought you have put into it. A cap is also great, I've been a member of a wonderful social network that employs this stance, 10,000 all in, every year they open it up by deleting dead accounts. It keeps it running fine. More power to us, through your project.
  - louispereira 4y ago
    Thank you, Benji!
madeofpalk 4y ago
> Spaces for idle chatter turns out to be a total waste of time. [...] There's really more we could be doing with our time Really? Is this such a bad thing? Sometimes i just want to take a break from 110% productivity and have some idle, mindless chatter. If I go to the pub and chat with friends I'm not wasting my time.
- asim 4y ago
  A lot of time is lost to Twitter. I don't think it ends up being like the social norms of your small group of friends that go to the pub. How big is that group? How do you converse? From personal experience it's vastly different.
  - MonkeyClub 4y ago
    As you said in your previous, > Twitter is a void and trying to fill that void with another one isn't the answer. You are 100% spot on something here, something that's well known but usually goes undiscussed. As madeofpalk said, > Sometimes i just want to take a break from 110% productivity and have some idle, mindless chatter. That's true - so do I (although I usually opt for a chat with a friend, or for some mindless RealRacing). But for the majority of Twitterheads, Twitter has become synonymous with the public square, with results that verge on (or fully reach) the toxic. Here, I'm thinking of Sam Vaknin's position on the question of toxicity: Pt. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmXcjvL9VSc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmXcjvL9VSc Pt. 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m38W8glySGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m38W8glySGw Now, one may say that Vaknin isn't important, or that he's too self-important, or whatever. But his analysis (and he's not unique on that) concludes that such social media platforms have a corrosive effect on the individual and on society. If nothing else, it's a system that essentially echo chambers you, and preys on vulnerabilities in the standard human psychological make up to maximize profit. Not to mention that it's a private platform, and very specifically not a 21st century version of the agora/public forum. I think that on principle private enterprises shouldn't be permitted to usurp the public sphere.
    - asim 4y ago

by asim 4y ago

louispereira 4y ago

Hey Asim. I appreciate you taking the time to thoughtfully (and elegantly) lay out your thoughts. At the moment, I don't want Nicheless to perform a similar function to Twitter. I love Twitter and use it daily, but I find it useful as a space to reach a broad audience of people I don't know. An open network with unlimited growth potential. With nicheless, I want it to be the opposite. A place to follow people you already know, either from real life, or from existing social connections. I want it to be a place for a higher density of thought to be exchanged for a smaller group of people. I've written a bit about it here: https://nicheless.blog/post/mission https://nicheless.blog/post/mission In fact, I'm even considering capping the number of people you can 'follow' on Nichless. Maybe it will help create an algorithm free feed of interesting thoughts that spark real life conversations. I don't know yet, but I might experiment and find out. Let me know what you think?

asim 4y ago
It's a noble goal. I think many an engineer have tried. Even convincing your own social group to try new things is hard so it really has to offer something new or attract a specific type of audience. I think most people's group of well know friends and contacts caps out at 100. So that would be where I'd put a soft limit on follows e.g a little hint that says maybe you want to split this out into sub groups or separate as accounts.
- louispereira 4y ago
  Yup, that's an interesting idea. Will keep a note of it when I decide to run the experiment. Thank you!
b3nji 4y ago
This is an excellent idea, I love the thought you have put into it. A cap is also great, I've been a member of a wonderful social network that employs this stance, 10,000 all in, every year they open it up by deleting dead accounts. It keeps it running fine. More power to us, through your project.
- louispereira 4y ago
  Thank you, Benji!

madeofpalk 4y ago

> Spaces for idle chatter turns out to be a total waste of time. [...] There's really more we could be doing with our time Really? Is this such a bad thing? Sometimes i just want to take a break from 110% productivity and have some idle, mindless chatter. If I go to the pub and chat with friends I'm not wasting my time.

asim 4y ago
A lot of time is lost to Twitter. I don't think it ends up being like the social norms of your small group of friends that go to the pub. How big is that group? How do you converse? From personal experience it's vastly different.
- MonkeyClub 4y ago
  As you said in your previous, > Twitter is a void and trying to fill that void with another one isn't the answer. You are 100% spot on something here, something that's well known but usually goes undiscussed. As madeofpalk said, > Sometimes i just want to take a break from 110% productivity and have some idle, mindless chatter. That's true - so do I (although I usually opt for a chat with a friend, or for some mindless RealRacing). But for the majority of Twitterheads, Twitter has become synonymous with the public square, with results that verge on (or fully reach) the toxic. Here, I'm thinking of Sam Vaknin's position on the question of toxicity: Pt. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmXcjvL9VSc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmXcjvL9VSc Pt. 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m38W8glySGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m38W8glySGw Now, one may say that Vaknin isn't important, or that he's too self-important, or whatever. But his analysis (and he's not unique on that) concludes that such social media platforms have a corrosive effect on the individual and on society. If nothing else, it's a system that essentially echo chambers you, and preys on vulnerabilities in the standard human psychological make up to maximize profit. Not to mention that it's a private platform, and very specifically not a 21st century version of the agora/public forum. I think that on principle private enterprises shouldn't be permitted to usurp the public sphere.
  - asim 4y ago