<story><title>Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?</title><text>I have a concept for a social network that would eliminate many pain points. I&amp;#x27;m sure others do too.&lt;p&gt;How could we build a communal product for the public? Theoretically, this approach would result in a better product. Practically, it seems nearly impossible.&lt;p&gt;What are your thoughts?&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;p&gt;Let me give an example that I have been thinking about since 2009.&lt;p&gt;It requires a fundamental change from the reach model towards concentric social circles. The social network would allow users to arrange into small topical groups called social circles. These social circles would have a cap of 10 (arbitrary number) members. Each user could take part in many social circles. This inherently limits reach and therefore reduces the burden of misinformation, abuse, and moderation.&lt;p&gt;This model closely mirrors real social interactions and allows for both private and intimate communication. It also offers a profitable advertising opportunity. A social circle reflects its members’ interests and context.</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>bil7</author><text>I think what would really be great is a social media site that doesn&amp;#x27;t offer direct image or video hosting. A bit like how reddit used to be. You just have link aggregation, voting, and comments. That&amp;#x27;s it. Maybe in a nice, clean, minimal UI as well. This would lend itself to tech folk I think. If only it existed.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>baxtr</author><text>Great idea. To add: I think the site would also need a rock star moderator who diligently checks every comment and keeps the site clean. Also maybe it would be great to have a voting system where one could downvote as well! But only after a certain number of upvotes I think.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?</title><text>I have a concept for a social network that would eliminate many pain points. I&amp;#x27;m sure others do too.&lt;p&gt;How could we build a communal product for the public? Theoretically, this approach would result in a better product. Practically, it seems nearly impossible.&lt;p&gt;What are your thoughts?&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;p&gt;Let me give an example that I have been thinking about since 2009.&lt;p&gt;It requires a fundamental change from the reach model towards concentric social circles. The social network would allow users to arrange into small topical groups called social circles. These social circles would have a cap of 10 (arbitrary number) members. Each user could take part in many social circles. This inherently limits reach and therefore reduces the burden of misinformation, abuse, and moderation.&lt;p&gt;This model closely mirrors real social interactions and allows for both private and intimate communication. It also offers a profitable advertising opportunity. A social circle reflects its members’ interests and context.</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>bil7</author><text>I think what would really be great is a social media site that doesn&amp;#x27;t offer direct image or video hosting. A bit like how reddit used to be. You just have link aggregation, voting, and comments. That&amp;#x27;s it. Maybe in a nice, clean, minimal UI as well. This would lend itself to tech folk I think. If only it existed.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cheschire</author><text>We have to be careful to not simply crowd-source the moderation either. Keeping a crowd-moderated social media site from devolving is a dang hard task.</text></comment>