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Ask HN: A Reddit alternative only for humans; how would you do it?
I keep thinking about this idea of figuring out a forum format that has checks in place to ensure that every participant is an actual human, as opposed to an automated bot.
I have had a ton of crazy ideas for how I would execute it, ranging from simply requiring to have government ID to requiring to have webcam on while using the website (to collect biometrics).
I am interested to hear from the community if (however crazy or restrictive, sci-fi) ideas that would allow to create a forum online that's only for humans.
- nullindividual 2y agoBiometrics are a non-starter. Part of the appeal of reddit is anonymity. You can post in your city's sub while getting your rocks off in some 18+ sub, from pornography to watching Russian dismemberment. Removing gamification would be a big one. Karma farming is a big part of the bot network.
- jonahbenton 2y agoWhat problem do you think ensuring every participant is an actual human would solve?
- TheAlchemist 2y agoHow does HN do it ? I have the feeling that there are close to 0 bots on HN, as opposed to any other online social media / forum.
- 1oooqooq 2y agobunch of nerds moderating for free. reddit have geeks, so it doesn't work.
- realityfactchex 2y agoOnly provision accounts to users you actually know and who agree to not run bots. This works for me, but only for tiny forums.
- 1oooqooq 2y agoall your solutions are red state boomer stereotype level. sorry.
- al_borland 2y agoBots exist because there are incentives. Remove the incentives.
- wruza 2y agoBreaking that would be an interesting task indeed. I like projects with elements like this because when you finished, you just unlocked a whole branch of ops. While this is mostly spam and abuse related, I think this is the only way for societies to pull their head out of a dark place and start to make changes that aren’t band-aid on a corpse, which internet practically is.
- romerocarlos 2y agoI understand perhaps with the validation of the identity of each user or something similar to a KYC. This would imply the handling of personal data in addition to all the legal barriers that such a measure would entail.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- whelchel 2y agoI've wondered this myself. I would love a version of reddit only with real people. I'd also love it if the anonymity was a gradient, and not a binary. E.g. you could join a California based subreddit and verify you are a California resident, but not go further than that, etc., without cross-tying with other claims you've made about yourself in other forums/sub-reddits. I've thought about using the various crypto-decentralized options here, such as Proof of Humanity or BrightID. I'd be curious if you've made any progress here thinking about this, feel free to DM me via profile.