8 ms·

What startup opportunity lies in channeling discussions in a more productive way? Is there a smart approach to this?

TillE 14y ago
Reddit for adults basically, with ruthless moderation. Attract a good audience, then sell ads to that desirable audience. Lots of people who are sick of the juvenile content and comments on Reddit would leave, but there's nowhere to go. Build an awesome community by tolerating absolutely no shit.
- obstacle1 14y ago
  So, metafilter?
  - anigbrowl 14y ago
    Depends. I closed my account last fall because I got tired of the personal abuse that pervades political threads. I'm pretty argumentative, true, but I found that forum to be increasingly aggressive and negative in tone.
- JonnieCache 14y ago
  If it's for adults why not charge to get in? It works for somethingawful. Their funnel is an absolute scream: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3222963&pagenumber=68#lastpost http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=322... Note: this is not meant to imply somethingawful is for adults. Just that they charge to get in and moderate ruthlessly.
  - trotsky 14y ago
    http://www.well.com/ http://www.well.com/
- dougk16 14y ago
  "with ruthless moderation" Yea, but that seems to just push the problem one degree away..."Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"-type situation. I've been part of a few niche forums over the years that have ruthless moderation, and it's not a fun place to be a lot of the time. http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/ http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/ is a forum for primitive skills discussion, and by far the most civil and "adult" forum I've been a part of...I have no idea how they do it. I love their rules though: http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/16448/Welcome-to-the-Forum-Forum-Rules-Please-Read#.UUtkpxxmhRc http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/16448/Welcome-to-the-...
- zokier 14y ago
  If you don't plan to provide significantly different mechanism for discussion, I don't see why you'd want to build completely new site instead of utilizing Reddit by making your own subreddit with the "ruthless moderation" you want. That's the real power of reddit, that it is as much a platform as it is a community.
- RyJones 14y ago
  I ruthlessly moderate a reddit - to the limit of my free time. People that need moderating exceed my ability to read and delete comments. Our ban list is huge. The eternal September is, truly, eternal.
  - caf 14y ago
    Now there's a nick I haven't seen in a few years. #distributed, right?
    - RyJones 14y ago
      Indeed.
- edwardunknown 14y ago
  Doesn't ruthless moderation just lead to rebellion? If HN had let this story go instead of censoring it the world wouldn't have ended. But now people are wondering (at least I am) about the mod's motives. If they're willing to remove stories they don't like do they also promote their friend's projects or squash competitors? In this case I have some sympathy because they were worried they were spreading false rumors but honestly it does sort of make me think twice about what I read here.
- vacri 14y ago
  There are shitloads of other general interest forums on the web that have strong moderation and less juvenile content. They're all just small forums - they don't get the critical mass of Reddit so they stay small. It's far from a wasteland out there.
nasalgoat 14y ago
Isn't that Quora? Which HN hates?

TillE 14y ago

Reddit for adults basically, with ruthless moderation. Attract a good audience, then sell ads to that desirable audience. Lots of people who are sick of the juvenile content and comments on Reddit would leave, but there's nowhere to go. Build an awesome community by tolerating absolutely no shit.

obstacle1 14y ago
So, metafilter?
- anigbrowl 14y ago
  Depends. I closed my account last fall because I got tired of the personal abuse that pervades political threads. I'm pretty argumentative, true, but I found that forum to be increasingly aggressive and negative in tone.
JonnieCache 14y ago
If it's for adults why not charge to get in? It works for somethingawful. Their funnel is an absolute scream: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3222963&pagenumber=68#lastpost http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=322... Note: this is not meant to imply somethingawful is for adults. Just that they charge to get in and moderate ruthlessly.
- trotsky 14y ago
  http://www.well.com/ http://www.well.com/
dougk16 14y ago
"with ruthless moderation" Yea, but that seems to just push the problem one degree away..."Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"-type situation. I've been part of a few niche forums over the years that have ruthless moderation, and it's not a fun place to be a lot of the time. http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/ http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/ is a forum for primitive skills discussion, and by far the most civil and "adult" forum I've been a part of...I have no idea how they do it. I love their rules though: http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/16448/Welcome-to-the-Forum-Forum-Rules-Please-Read#.UUtkpxxmhRc http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/16448/Welcome-to-the-...
zokier 14y ago
If you don't plan to provide significantly different mechanism for discussion, I don't see why you'd want to build completely new site instead of utilizing Reddit by making your own subreddit with the "ruthless moderation" you want. That's the real power of reddit, that it is as much a platform as it is a community.
RyJones 14y ago
I ruthlessly moderate a reddit - to the limit of my free time. People that need moderating exceed my ability to read and delete comments. Our ban list is huge. The eternal September is, truly, eternal.
- caf 14y ago
  Now there's a nick I haven't seen in a few years. #distributed, right?
  - RyJones 14y ago
    Indeed.
edwardunknown 14y ago
Doesn't ruthless moderation just lead to rebellion? If HN had let this story go instead of censoring it the world wouldn't have ended. But now people are wondering (at least I am) about the mod's motives. If they're willing to remove stories they don't like do they also promote their friend's projects or squash competitors? In this case I have some sympathy because they were worried they were spreading false rumors but honestly it does sort of make me think twice about what I read here.
vacri 14y ago
There are shitloads of other general interest forums on the web that have strong moderation and less juvenile content. They're all just small forums - they don't get the critical mass of Reddit so they stay small. It's far from a wasteland out there.

nasalgoat 14y ago

Isn't that Quora? Which HN hates?