WTF?!?!?! Site owner goes by MK. And how the fuck do they get a CNN.com writeup? Their userbase is no bigger than ours, btw. I should retag this as #jealousy
Wow. Well, first off, that's not me. This is even weirder, because 90 days ago I created a HN clone that just gave users a number, but I deleted it. CNN doesn't typically do write ups on little sites like this. My guess is that 'M.K.' knows someone. I'm surprised that he can only estimate his userbase to the nearest 10k. The testimonials are odd too. I don't see CNN chasing down testimonials for a tiny site. M.K., how bizarre... We should tell them how columns don't work out. :) I think insomniasexx is right that we should have an intro email. Maybe we should tweet to Breeanna Hare.
I wonder what would happen? We were chugging along nicely and then we received thousands of hits from reddit around christmas. What happened was that many people came, checked it out and left never to be seen again. A lot of people stayed though and they've been a really great boon to the site. This has happened a number of times over the span of the site. It seems the good people stick around and the short attention spanners take off. I wonder if the same thing would play out if a CNN wave of people came over? The only problem I could see is if it scared away the "base" that makes this place special. You may be right though, it could have a negative effect. I'd be willing to take that risk at this point though.
The risk could be worth it. I think having hubski mentioned on more tech oriented and thoughtful places will be best for it's growth. The tech section of the CNN website could be good, while a mention on air might not. I can't really see many staying for any sort of instant gratification or "time wasting".
Well, I don't think CNN will be knocking on Hubski's door any time soon anyways. My guess is that the person who wrote this article had some sort of connection with the site. Otherwise, why write about it? Sort of strange.
Isn't it ironic that a few users of this site gave their names?
We need something mysterious and different to entice Mr. CNN writer. Something they can relate to real life or ongoing issues in the internet/real work and give a "big picture" spin on a little site. Also, a more..."standard" UI. http://socialnumber.com/
See..graphics...boxes....rectangular overlays...blah blah blah Here's the welcome email you get. Perhaps we should have one for hubski with this sort of brief "here's what's up and how to get started and the basics." Perhaps with a link to some of the posts that have collected all the beginners info (http://hubski.com/pub?id=59754)
How did they get CNN to write about them? That's just crazy! I'm pretty sure mk must have a side project going here…? Very strange. Also, how is it a novel thing to have a site that uses usernames instead of real names?
I think the novelty is in the numbering system; no usernames allowed. mk (the real mk) and I discussed that once upon a time, with the thinking being that there are no name associations, and hence no preconceptions, to every post. In the end, I don't like it, because it reduces one's sense of ownership over the material. Did you go to socialnumber.com? Not nearly as well put together, nor as active or thoughtful as Hubski. Well done, community.
My guess is that people think they want this level of anonymity, until they say something or write something that they're proud of and then wish they had identity. I didn't use the site, I just checked out the homepage but it didn't look bad. Ill check it out later tonight. Good find b_b.
Okay who created a 'throw away' account to make that post be uber ironic?? XD
My guess is if they're proud of something they'll post it to facebook.
Yeah, but if you're just making comments on the fly and you happen to make one that is really insightful and well thought out, you can't really post that on Facebook because it won't have context. But on sites like Hubski and Reddit etc. you still have anonymity but you also still have ownership through a continuity of a character that you've created. This is valuable in my opinion. It wouldn't take much for someone to figure out what my name is, based on my association with Hubski and my music. But, if I wanted to create an anonymous Hubski username, I could. I feel a sense of pride for the comments I make (not all) and its nice having a backlog of interesting posts. I like that. I could see how some people would want anonymous advice and would like to anonymously vent frustrations. I just don't crave that.
Sure- I understand the appeal. I just wanted to point out that this site isn't saying "abandon your usernames, toss away all other social networks!" If you have something you want to talk about anonymously, you can do it there, and otherwise there's not much of a reason to go there. Oh, man, I went there and it's just... it's pretty boring, run of the mill internet stuff so far.
That's kind of what I figured. As I said in my new anonymous username above, I'll check it out tonight.