4 ms·

I would hate this because I’m physically nowhere near any HNers I’d trust, and vanishingly few HNers at all.

ineptech 4y ago
You wouldn't be first-tier friends with people you only know from the internet. You'd be first-tier friends with neighbors and cousins and the other parents at your kids' school. Then when I prove (keybase style) that I, HN user ineptech, am also "ineptech" on this social network, you would know that I really am a 48-year-old guy in Portland and not some other person because I have also friended all my irl friends, and our friends-of-friends-of-friends eventually overlap. Maybe "friend" is the wrong term. Maybe "vouch". You could still message me, but you wouldn't vouch for me, because you don't know from HN whether I am who I say I am.
- jacooper 4y ago
  But why ? Why would you expose your entire real life social circle to the internet?
  - ineptech 4y ago
    If you don't want people to know that you're friends with Dave, don't friend Dave, or don't use it at all. This isn't supposed to replace pseudo-anonymous networks like Twitter, this is more like Facebook without all the bullshit. The use case is "I know Dave, and I don't care who knows that I'm friends with Dave, and I'd like to let him know I won't make it to the PTA meeting without involving an enormous advertising corporation".
  - redler 4y ago
    The fact of the "vouch" could provide the validation without identifying the people from whose circle overlap it was derived.
  - xapata 4y ago
    I think the point is that you wouldn't be. The network, from your perspective, will be quite small.
- some_furry 4y ago
  I don't speak to my neighbors. My blood family consists of violent homophobes that would shoot my house up if they ever learned I'm gay (or where I live). I have a dedicated online persona (fursona, really) that I keep compartmentalized from people I distruat. Some of my friends are trans. Some of my friends have abusive ex-partners and stalkers. Some of my friends are sex workers who need social media to find customers but don't want their real names leaked. How would your proposal serve any of these use cases? From where I stand, it'd be more of a hindrance.
  - benji-york 4y ago
    This idea may not fulfill every use case.
    - some_furry 4y ago
      It's fine if it doesn't fulfill all use cases, but demonstrating any thought to some of them would help flesh out the details of what's being proposed. Are you building a social network, or a chain of trust? Are identities fungible, or irrevocably linked to a person's legal name and physicality? Etc.
      - UncleEntity 4y ago
        Your example just shows the perils of monopoly social networks. Today you have Facebook and Twitter (and whatever the kids use these days) with not much in between. If you’re not on those you don’t exist as a person. If there were more options to choose from you could have a place with all your furry friends that is completely separate from the other aspects of your life like coworkers and family. No need to link between the two, nobody needs to know what you get up to on the other places unless you wanted them to.
      - ineptech 4y ago
        The whole point of vouching for someone is so they can prove they are who they say they are. If you don't want to do that, then don't do that. Or, if you have two identities, I suppose you'd have two accounts. Anyway, things don't have to be for everyone. In the unlikely scenario in which this gets built, there would still be other websites too.
ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
Around here, I'm pretty unwelcome at things like tech meetups. I stopped going, after experiencing the "circle of avoidance" thing, a few times. New York ageism is even worse than Silicon Valley. No one wants to know me, and I'm OK with that, as I get a lot done, anyway, and the people that matter to me (all over the world) are part of my circle.
- shanebellone 4y ago
  I can relate to this. Most people don't like me. The problem is they don't like me for the things I love about myself. Minimizing social friction produces lubricant, not "quality" humans.
  - tayo42 4y ago
    What is a quality that turns people off to you but you don't think is worth changing?
    - shanebellone 4y ago
      I am extremely direct, often play devil's advocate, and rarely react with emotional equivalence.
      - svnt 4y ago
        Excuse me for being direct, but do you mean to say you don’t care about other people, only whether what they say is accurate and whether they can communicate it without emotional reaction?
        shanebellone 4y ago
        I view all interactions as transactional. Some interactions are net-positives, but most are net-negatives. I value those who reciprocate and avoid those who do not. From my perspective, your question is quite nuanced. I do not value people (in general) because I place no value on life. We are born, we live, and then we die. In time, we will all be forgotten. The outcome is absolute.

You wouldn't be first-tier friends with people you only know from the internet. You'd be first-tier friends with neighbors and cousins and the other parents at your kids' school. Then when I prove (keybase style) that I, HN user ineptech, am also "ineptech" on this social network, you would know that I really am a 48-year-old guy in Portland and not some other person because I have also friended all my irl friends, and our friends-of-friends-of-friends eventually overlap. Maybe "friend" is the wrong term. Maybe "vouch". You could still message me, but you wouldn't vouch for me, because you don't know from HN whether I am who I say I am.

jacooper 4y ago
But why ? Why would you expose your entire real life social circle to the internet?
- ineptech 4y ago
  If you don't want people to know that you're friends with Dave, don't friend Dave, or don't use it at all. This isn't supposed to replace pseudo-anonymous networks like Twitter, this is more like Facebook without all the bullshit. The use case is "I know Dave, and I don't care who knows that I'm friends with Dave, and I'd like to let him know I won't make it to the PTA meeting without involving an enormous advertising corporation".
- redler 4y ago
  The fact of the "vouch" could provide the validation without identifying the people from whose circle overlap it was derived.
- xapata 4y ago
  I think the point is that you wouldn't be. The network, from your perspective, will be quite small.
some_furry 4y ago
I don't speak to my neighbors. My blood family consists of violent homophobes that would shoot my house up if they ever learned I'm gay (or where I live). I have a dedicated online persona (fursona, really) that I keep compartmentalized from people I distruat. Some of my friends are trans. Some of my friends have abusive ex-partners and stalkers. Some of my friends are sex workers who need social media to find customers but don't want their real names leaked. How would your proposal serve any of these use cases? From where I stand, it'd be more of a hindrance.
- benji-york 4y ago
  This idea may not fulfill every use case.
  - some_furry 4y ago
    It's fine if it doesn't fulfill all use cases, but demonstrating any thought to some of them would help flesh out the details of what's being proposed. Are you building a social network, or a chain of trust? Are identities fungible, or irrevocably linked to a person's legal name and physicality? Etc.
    - UncleEntity 4y ago
      Your example just shows the perils of monopoly social networks. Today you have Facebook and Twitter (and whatever the kids use these days) with not much in between. If you’re not on those you don’t exist as a person. If there were more options to choose from you could have a place with all your furry friends that is completely separate from the other aspects of your life like coworkers and family. No need to link between the two, nobody needs to know what you get up to on the other places unless you wanted them to.
    - ineptech 4y ago
      The whole point of vouching for someone is so they can prove they are who they say they are. If you don't want to do that, then don't do that. Or, if you have two identities, I suppose you'd have two accounts. Anyway, things don't have to be for everyone. In the unlikely scenario in which this gets built, there would still be other websites too.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

Around here, I'm pretty unwelcome at things like tech meetups. I stopped going, after experiencing the "circle of avoidance" thing, a few times. New York ageism is even worse than Silicon Valley. No one wants to know me, and I'm OK with that, as I get a lot done, anyway, and the people that matter to me (all over the world) are part of my circle.

shanebellone 4y ago
I can relate to this. Most people don't like me. The problem is they don't like me for the things I love about myself. Minimizing social friction produces lubricant, not "quality" humans.
- tayo42 4y ago
  What is a quality that turns people off to you but you don't think is worth changing?
  - shanebellone 4y ago
    I am extremely direct, often play devil's advocate, and rarely react with emotional equivalence.
    - svnt 4y ago
      Excuse me for being direct, but do you mean to say you don’t care about other people, only whether what they say is accurate and whether they can communicate it without emotional reaction?
      - shanebellone 4y ago
        I view all interactions as transactional. Some interactions are net-positives, but most are net-negatives. I value those who reciprocate and avoid those who do not. From my perspective, your question is quite nuanced. I do not value people (in general) because I place no value on life. We are born, we live, and then we die. In time, we will all be forgotten. The outcome is absolute.