
Show HN: I made online community for unusual people - Gik
https://holynetr.com/
======
RickS
I think I'm your target market. But this isn't the thing I expected.

I have like half of the issues on the list of topical chatrooms, and I like
finding new communities of cool people. But I don't want to sit in a room full
of people who self-select around that locus. From a literal standpoint, ADHD,
anxiety, etc are "mental illnesses", but apart from diagnostic and self-care
optimizations, I don't find it productive to think of myself in those terms.

I'm not excited to jump in a room of people talking about being sick. The
support I want is in the form of fascinating and electric co-conspirators, and
that's not a specific support I need because I'm a specific kind of ailing.
That's just the support that humans need.

I'm not "unusual" because I have anxiety and anxiety is weird. Anxiety is
normie as fuck. I'm weird because my specific flavor of brokenness tweaked my
trajectory in a way that, compounded over 30 years, is fairly off the beaten
path. I wanna talk to and about people like _that_.

It's why I'm on HN. There are so many blindingly smart people on here, and the
baseline quality of takes is way above most other places.

\-----

But looking closer, I don't think that's this website or the plan it has.
There's a thing about how soon there will be doctors involved? And a dating
service?

At a glance, it seems like the goal is to get a bunch of mentally ill people
into a pen and then monetize them in uninspired ways.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, RickS for your comment! Yes, I don't want this site become a rooms of
people talking about being sick. I want to make something special and such
feedbacks as yours helps me further to understand the right path to do that
special site.

------
taurath
Not to be callous, but as someone who's struggled with the feelings of
"otherness" of having to deal with mental health issues, this comes across as
someone with no context trying to help and making it worse.

The fact is most people with mental health issues want to be a part of some
sort of community. Having a mental health issue isn't a community itself -
just like "people that fly on planes" isn't a community, or "people who drink
coffee from starbucks".

I assume that the intentions are pure here - but its both culturally and
tonally offensive. It comes across as patronizing and does not meet anyone
where they are - the tone of the site addresses people the way a parent would
a child with poor mental faculties. I'm sorry, but I don't think you realize
how "normal" people who deal with anxiety, depression, bipolar, etc are. Its
almost like you've taken the view of mental illnesses from the 1950s and
slapped bootstrap on it.

Some examples -

Grammar:

> Earning points and prizes for creativity, art, hobby

Language:

> Jobs board for people with psychic problems

Patronizing:

> We know that despite your difficulties you have necessary skills and
> intelligence to use web applications and internet surfing.

I'd beg you before you go further - meet and get to know some of the people
who you're creating this site for. Theres a fundamental lack of understanding
on display here.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, taurath. No, I know people with mental issues, it's not the lack of
understanding it's lack of English language knowledge on my part. Obviously
everything you suggesting here is true and I'll do my best to fix any wrongs
on my site with the help of somebody. Thanks!

~~~
taurath
Maybe it would help if you described a few of the people you know, and the
level to which they're debilitated. There is a very wide range of ableness,
and most people suffering from a mental health issue can get along in life
just fine. There's a sense of... superiority that you project when you talk
about people, and I have no idea where it comes from. Your site is intended to
attract a wide range of people with depression, anxiety, bipolar,
schizophrenia.

~~~
Gik
Yes, describe them in some way on the site. Maybe. But the superiority of mine
is a surprise for me. I'm just a plain geek from Moscow who tries just do
something useful for somebody. Thanks a lot for your input here!

~~~
taurath
Not on the site! I mean here - I'm trying to understand the context that you
have on people with mental health issues, so I can better communicate a way to
get to a better mindset.

~~~
Gik
I think there are some people with sever conditions inside their minds that
truly disabled. I saw them and I don't understand how they live, what they
feel about this life except I know they feel kindness and care to them just as
anybody else. And there are others that can behave almost normaly on public
and even those who lead an asolutely normal life. I know for an average person
it's hard to understand the people with mental issues and the people
understand it too but it's just some mistakes in the gene in the brains but
they are all just as normal as anyone in the earth, just little problems,
everybody has problems.

~~~
4ntonius8lock
I'm going to offer some insight, particularly because I feel you are suffering
from something I suffered from.

1- I think you have muddled thinking. This results in muddled messaging. Look
at what you write: > I saw them and I don't understand how they live > I know
for an average person it's hard to understand the people with mental issues >
they are all just as normal as anyone in the earth, just little problems,
everybody has problems

Do you see the contradictions in these? It feels dishonest (not saying it is,
just how I feel)

Also, you are truly trying to capture everyone. That's not how it works.
Facebook started as a college campus thing, with specific colleges.

You start out niche, then you go broad. Not the other way around.

My other suggestion: be personal. Why are you starting the site. How do YOU
feel? What do YOU want? If you have a specific mental health issue, then focus
on that. And find like minded people. Maybe mental health issues for the
Russian diaspora?

Right now, you want: everyone who has any level of mental health issues (i.e.
25% of the population) and you want them for... chats (billion dollar
industry), dating (billion dollar industry) and medical advice (billion dollar
industry). Even facebook, google and amazon isn't that ambitious, and they
have tens of billions of dollars in their war chest.

You need to be able to have a specific person in mind who is your idea brand
ambassador, and have a service or something that they value enough to tell
friends.

~~~
Gik
Thank you, 4ntonius8lock for your insight. Yes, I have social phobia or social
anxiety disorder and had been thinking from the start to make something
specifically for this group of people but decided then to do this social
network for every one with mental issues. I know that start small is the way
and I'll give it a proper thought too. But I think this site can be for any
group of mentally troubled people too why not? Thanks again!

------
Foomandoonian
This seems poorly thought out in a lot of respects, but I think specifying
"unusual people" is emblematic.

The kinds of people who describe them selves as 'unusual' brings to mind very
conventional folks trying to project an image of 'wackiness', or otherwise
people who have adopted a genuinely rare or controversial lifestyle... like
freegans, nomads, cultists, furries or people with other strange kinks, etc
etc. Not exactly communities with much in common!

On the other hand, those with mental health issues often don't want to be
considered 'unusual'. People take great comfort in knowing, for example, that
depression and anxiety are actually incredibly common.

After talking about the mental health features you're planning, you say "maybe
you're a real geek", which again is conflating to wildly different types of
'unusual'. (Besides, in these days of superhero blockbusters is being a geek
even unusual anymore?)

If you want to be a site for people with mental health issues, then you need
to understand that:

1) Though there's an overlap between this and niche interest subjects; the two
things are VERY different, and, 2) Language is INCREDIBLY important if you
want to be accepting of everyone and project that you truly understand these
diverse conditions and are properly committed to supporting them.

~~~
Foomandoonian
Oh, and the slogan 'We know' is incredibly sinister. :D

~~~
Gik
Didn't mean to be sinister, just people with mental issues used to think that
nobody understand them, that's why the slogan

~~~
neogodless
Something like "We get it" is a bit friendlier. "We understand."

~~~
Gik
Thanks, neogodless. I'll consider it. "We understand." is good I think

~~~
coldtea
"We understand" is worse than "we get it".

The latter implies more empathy and is less formal and patronising.

Also "unusual" hints more at "eccentric". Bjork is unusual. Brian Wilson had a
mental illness...

You could go out and spell it out: people with mental issues, or disabled, or
whoever you like to include.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, coldtea for your interest and help with the wording, I'll consider it
absolutely.

------
RankingMember
Good on you for taking a concept and and making it real. Most projects don't
make it to reality, so kudos for making this one happen.

That said, I think the verbiage on the page could use some help. "Unusual"
people isn't descriptive enough. If the site is for people with anxiety or
some other mental issue, specify that. I also have to wonder what purpose the
site will serve that an anxiety or ADHD subreddit doesn't already. I'd also
recommend dropping the "doctor communication" part until you've got the site
really rolling. There's a whole mess of legal issues that come with sharing
medical information online.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, Ranking Member for your input! Yes unusual probably is not a right
word, and maybe yes make accent on anxiety issue, legal issues is a problem
too but it needs just a proper thought

~~~
Circuits
Just want to add, you might want to have your blurbs checked for spelling and
grammar. They read like they have been written by someone who's first language
is not English.

~~~
Gik
Yes, I'm not very good with English language. Good but not very much. I must
consider help with that. Thanks for pointing to that, Circuits.

------
miki123211
Unusual people != mental illnesses. I'm a blind person, and I would definitely
use a site like that, as some/most people are used to thinking of blind people
as aliens that are better avoided. People who don't mind talking to unusual
people is exactly what I'm looking for.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, miki123211! You are very welcome!

------
GeorgeRichard
Is this a religious (Christian) site? Some of the thumbnails and the name
"holy..." seem to indicate it is. That's ok but if it is you have to be
upfront - lots of people with mental health problems are atheist (like me),
Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, etc, etc, etc. I'm always interested in
attempts to get us together but this looks like there's a hidden addenda.
Maybe I'm overly suspicious but, you know, that's part of the way "we" are.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, GeorgeRichard! I don't mind if somebody would think that there is a
religion input and maybe it really is in general but otherwise I'm not making
accent on it

~~~
injidup
What exactly do you mean? You seem to be the developer here so "maybe" is not
really an answer. What is the religious angle of the site? I'd be concerned
that the site is an aggregator for vulnerable people who will then be pitched
a cure. Scientology?

~~~
Gik
Thanks, injidup, for your interest! The site is about making the life of
people with such type of illness less stressful as far as I could make it.
Some people here agree that the place is very welcome and can be very
supportive for people with such desorders. And the pitch is not the primary
thing here. I mean the doctors interest is not the main thing here. And I
don't know what Scientology exactly is.

~~~
injidup
For sure it can be very welcoming if done correctly but you are dealing with
vulnerable people and you seem to be deflecting on what the religious angle
is. What people certainly don't need is to be data mined and then pitched,
subtley or otherwise an e-meter test. Can you promise that this site is not a
data mining operation for a religious organisation?

I'm just using Scientology as a stand in. But if you are interested, they are
a (pseudo) religious organisation with a habit of pitching psychological tests
to vulnerable people.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology)

~~~
Gik
I promise that it's not a religious organization in any possible way.

------
cableshaft
If I was making something targeting unusual people, I would make my landing
page look at least a little unconventional, some crazy art or pictures of
people doing unusual things, something, to attract people who are unusual or
different.

This landing page looks to me as if it's trying to attract the most mainstream
audience possible, like trying to be Facebook or ChristianMingle or something.
It doesn't have to look too crazy, but it should look different from the norm,
at least in colors or themes or something. Try looking at some unconventional
sites and see how they sell themselves.

~~~
asdfman123
What, is this site for gypsy trapeze artists?

You know people with common mental illnesses are just normal people, right?

~~~
cableshaft
I missed that this was a social site for common mental illnesses specifically.
I thought it was more like "Freaks and Geeks" or people who consider
themselves or their lifestyles to be alternative to the norm (insert whatever
you like here, goths, punks, the modern day equivalent, etc). I don't think
those people would necessarily be drawn to something like this. I personally
have been considered a bit weird and quiet for a good chunk of my life and
what the visuals said to me when I first approached it is like an executive
saying "You know them social networks are popular, right? I want you to make a
social network site that appeals to everyone, so make it look like every other
startup website ever."

It doesn't look targeted at anyone in particular. Doesn't help that the text
on the page doesn't make it clear either. The hacker news headline says
"unusual people", the landing page headers says "atypical people", the first
bullet point says "you can chat about whatever you want" (so does every other
social network ever). I admit if I read more closely further down, it would be
clearer it was more social anxiety and mental illness targeted, but I had made
a judgement about as fast as 95%+ of other random users would when reaching
the website.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, cableshaft! Yes, it's not so clear about whom this community for. I'll
make it more clear on the landing page.

------
devinjflick
A few people mention an issue with the word unusual. While it actually
attracted my attention in a positive way, finding that the intent of the site
is to connect those with atypical mental health concerns was quite different
from what I was expecting. Maybe an "online community for atypical people"
would be better wording?

~~~
Gik
Thanks, devinjflick. Atypical is an enigmatic word though.

~~~
kupiakos
It's enigmatic, yes, but it seems to be the more common term amongst some
atypical groups (neurodiverse and queer/trans people are who I have the most
interaction with). There are some people who find unusual to be more
pejorative than atypical.

~~~
Gik
Yes, kupiakos, pejorative is not good, I'll change it now for atypical in a
few moments. Thanks for your input!

~~~
TotempaaltJ
I quite like "neurodiverse", if you intend to be that specific.

------
tacticaldev
I sincerely hope there are some measures taken for the safety of your users.
Inviting individuals with social and mental difficulties can, at times, can
turn into a dangerous situation. Please do your best to inform your users of
the dangers of "meeting" people online, and the risks associated.

~~~
Gik
Thanks! I'll think about it for sure

------
om3n
Just out of curiosity, who are your target users? What does it mean to be an
unusual person?

I'd suggest that you get someone to edit some of the content on your front
page. There are a lot of language/grammar cleanup opportunities, for example:

>> How to date someone if you so insecure and nervous when trying to approach
a person? Probably you have never even tried it yet. Here, at Holynetr you can
easily ask someone for a walk with you knowing that your partner having the
same social anxiety disorder just as you are or doesn’t mind to be with you
anyway.

~~~
lnsru
You probably feel if you are unusual enough. I learned to mask it in the
office or while going out. But it’s still inside me.

~~~
ianai
That’s everybody. Every person lives their lives as individuals and “is living
the hardest life they’ll ever live” (paraphrased from a forgotten source).

Not to diminish the sentiment, but to hopefully bridge the estrangement to
some commonality.

~~~
oraphalous
No - I meet lots of people who don't struggle with meeting people at all.

~~~
majewsky
False dichotomy. "Struggling with meeting people" is not synomyous with
"unusual". There may be unusual people that struggle with things that seem
completely natural to you.

~~~
Gik
Yes, but if you ended up in absolute solitude because of that you will become
a very unusual person with time, I know it from my experience

------
DoreenMichele
This is a really hard thing to do well. It's generally challenging to target a
group of people by their identity.

Yes, it gets done all the time. It also runs into a lot of issues. Sometimes,
people even sue for discrimination.

That doesn't mean it should never be done. I'm just saying this is a space
that really takes a lot of savvy and effort to do well. Expect to really need
to work at PR, positioning, messaging, moderation and similar.

It's generally better to try to attract people based on mutual interests.
_Support_ groups, where the idea is that we all have some personal burden in
common and this is where everyone will feel welcomed, tend to become very
negative spaces where everyone is free to kvetch all day but no one can offer
any constructive feedback lest they be accused of _victim blaming._

It's usually better to position it in a more goal-oriented fashion.

So, for example, a community for diabetics will probably be a sad sac
experience where everyone whines about how terrible their life is. But a
community for people making their own artificial pancreas to deal with
diabetes will probably be a whole other ballgame.

Think about what kind of social climate you want to foster. There's a lot of
bad examples out there of communities that, say, positioned themselves as
_free speech_ havens and quickly became notorious gathering spaces for
pedophiles and white supremacists.

This is not intended as a put down or discouragement. These are observations
from someone with a lot of experience pertinent to this problem space.

Best of luck.

------
jevgeni
"Jobs board for people with psychic problems."

Don't you mean "psychological"? Is it for people who are struggling with
depression or summoning Cthulhu?

------
nudpiedo
“If a person harassing you inside Holynetr he or she or a group of them will
be banned from the system.”

How will you prevent the abuse of this system? In other SN there are
ideologically motivated gangs censoring people just because of disagreements.

------
jaysonelliot
An online community is notoriously difficult to get off the ground unless
you've already got a built-in audience that's waiting for it. I'd focus your
efforts initially on outreach and engagement, and keeping the features of the
site as simple as possible until people are clamoring for them.

On another note, a number of commenters have remarked on the language issue.
Much respect to you for building a site in a language that's not your native
tongue, that's a lot of work! That said, just like I'd advise someone to work
with a professional designer if they needed it, or a skilled coder, I'd advise
you to have a professional writer create the copy on the site. Community is
all about communication, and if you're going for an English-speaking audience,
even the smallest nuance can have a big impact.

Good luck, looks like you've got a real passion for this.

------
coleifer
Suggestion: hire a copy-writer and get help with all the copy on the pages.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, coleifer for your interest, yes I must hire a copy-writer

------
brianpgordon
A few comments:

* The front-page copy "you can easily ask someone for a walk with you knowing that your partner having the same social anxiety disorder just as you" might be difficult to realize in practice with no particular geographic focus. There's not even any way to specify a location in your profile. If this is supposed to have a dating/hookup site kind of side to it, then location should be surfaced _everywhere_ including to the left of every forum post.

* Having a field in your profile for LinkedIn seems a bit much given the target subject matter of the site.

* The homepage should be your profile page or the groups page if you're already signed in

~~~
Gik
Thanks, brianpgordon, for your suggestions, I will absolutely consider them

------
meerita
> If a person harassing you inside Holynetr he or she or a group of them will
> be banned from the system.

How do you judge that? Isn't better an ignore or block feature than banning
people get offended?

~~~
Gik
Thanks for your interest in my project. There is a functionality when people
are not behave then other users can flag them and if it happens five times
they will be banned

~~~
heraclius
Presumably this could be abused by the sort of people you’re trying to
ban—most people wouldn’t do this sort of thing but bad faith reports are a
problem on lots of social media sites.

~~~
Gik
Thanks! I must realy think about it too

------
sleavey
> Jobs board for people with psychic problems. High employment opportunity

I think this has a different meaning to that intended! Did you mean
"psychological" problems?

~~~
Gik
Thanks, sleavey for good question. But sometimes very ill people can work
somewhere to, for example as a courier

~~~
sweeneyrod
Yes. But they were pointing out that mentally ill people have "psychological"
problems, not "psychic" ones (which implies some kind of magical mental
ability).

~~~
Gik
Yes,sweeneyrod, that's true, I agree

------
emptysongglass
I'm diagnosed borderline personality disorder and at least for people
suffering from BPD what they need is less of themselves. If you take a gander
at the subreddit for BPD-identifying people, it's a disaster, precisely
because those who struggle with BPD are so poorly equipped to help anyone else
let alone themselves.

The best thing I did for myself was to surround myself with the people who
both displayed the traits of mental health I desired in myself and were
understanding enough to forgive me when I "looped out". I've savagely fought
this thing long enough to no longer be at great risk of these displays of raw
emotion and decoupled thought patterns.

I'd argue communities like these cause stasis, or worse, slipping backward. If
you struggled with issues of identity and there were others around you
struggling with such issues, would you be any more likely to feel the
selective pressures to craft a stable one? No, of course not.

Can I drop a little of the Buddha here? Please forgive the liberal concision
I've applied to the original quote, it more or less grasps the gist: "what one
thinks upon, dwells upon, one becomes." When the suffering are caught up in
themselves, surrounded by their reflections, they're going to be further bent
toward it.

Last bit of the Buddha, promise: "And what is meant by admirable friendship?
There is the case where a lay person, in whatever town or village he may
dwell, spends time with householders or householders' sons, young or old, who
are advanced in virtue. He talks with them, engages them in discussions. He
emulates consummate conviction in those who are consummate in conviction,
consummate virtue in those who are consummate in virtue, consummate generosity
in those who are consummate in generosity, and consummate discernment in those
who are consummate in discernment. This is called admirable friendship."

~~~
MononokeMoon
I was diagnosed with BPD just 9 months ago, previously mis-diagnosed as bi-
polar. In my case, I lost the few good people that were around me before I was
diagnosed. Since being diagnosed and starting therapy, things have become much
clearer to me. For one I've realized how much of an asshole I must've come
across to my previous friends and family. Rather than noticing the good people
around me who probably would of been understanding, my attention was always
drawn to people who treated me like shit and who I knew were bad for me. Then
I'd suffer for it. If I had been diagnosed with my BPD much earlier and
checked myself, the few friends who walked out of my life may still be here. I
now find it very hard to get to know people who I'd like to surround myself
with as I live with constant guilt. It's easier for some than others. So yeah,
for people like me who the community is a good idea. I need to meet new people
and learn from other people's experiences.

~~~
emptysongglass
I may not agree with cultivating a community of the sick but what was
important for me was to see that becoming healthy _is_ possible. These
realizations you’re having are healthy and you will find a way to find a
refuge in yourself no one can take away from you.

An adjunct to therapy I found particularly helpful was to take up compassion
meditation (”metta”). You may consider asking your therapist if she agrees.

Much kindness to you.

~~~
MononokeMoon
I see what you mean. I have looked at forums for people with BPD and it made
me really nervous reading the horror stories- how 'there's no hope for someone
with BPD' and how we're 'incapable of empathy'. My therapist said BPD cannot
be cured but can be controlled. I'd love to see a community where only success
stories are shared to give people hope.

Thank you for suggesting metta meditation, I will definitely look into that. I
guess the realizations are healthy, I just wish I'd realized certain things
sooner. I carry guilt for hurting some people in my life without me even
realizing in the moment. I was self-absorbed in my own mind. If only time
machines existed and I could do things differently!

------
jascii
Is there a group for paranoid people? The first thing I think of is how, with
our societies stigmas around mental health, peoples life's could get ruined if
this site had a data leak. The second thing is how do you prevent groups
preying through your site on people when they are vulnerable and recruit them
into extremist ideologies and other cultish entities?

~~~
Gik
Thanks, jascii for putting that question! This is really problem but people
who have abilities using internet must be smart enough to not share vulnerable
information with anybody and registration on this site doesn't require any
personal information yet but in the future we must think about the issues of
course.

------
chachachoney
I get the impression your heart is in the right place, and you are genuinely
interested in helping people. I respect that you've taken the time to develop
a proof concept, and that you're asking for feedback.

>>Don’t worry, we’re not sharing any of your private information with anyboby
and not asking for it except for your Email address.

It's good that you're aware of privacy concerns that your users might have,
but you're going to have to do a lot more to gain your users trust, especially
given that the current site uses 3rd party tracking and you don't mention
anything about it.

In addition, nearly all of the additional features proposed by the site are
predicated on partnerships for services that are ripe for user data
exploitation. Providing them in a manner that is respectful of users data and
privacy is the real challenge in this space.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, chachachoney a lot for your feedback! Yes, privacy issues is the
concern here. I mentioned that the site collects some information about users
in the Privacy Policy page. Registration on the site not requires private data
except email address. The Google Analytics code collects information about
users' browsers, computers and their activity, nothing especially personal.

~~~
chachachoney
>>The Google Analytics code collects information about users' browsers,
computers and their activity, nothing especially personal.

That's more than enough to personally identify a user. Given the sensitive
nation of your site, it's one thing to ask users to trust your motives, it's
another one to expect them to trust google, etc...

------
noname120
I'd suggest you to moderate the creation of the groups. There are some uh...
dubious groups[1].

[1] [https://holynetr.com/groups/penis/](https://holynetr.com/groups/penis/)

~~~
tacticaldev
yeah, that was the first thing I saw when I logged in for the first time.

------
4ntonius8lock
One thing: If you say community for unusual people and then at the bottom have
this:

"We want to help people with mental illness and social phobia to become more
secure and connected, live a happier life."

I personally wouldn't sign up. Being weird isn't necessarily implying mental
illness and social phobia. And the fact that you seem to use it as a euphemism
doesn't sit well with me.

If I was looking for a site for people with mental health issues, I'd look for
it directly and wouldn't mind if the site I was on used plain, clear language.
Yes, some people will be offended. No, you can't please everyone.

Just my 2c for the creator of the site.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, 4ntonius8lock for your time! I thought so from the start about being
clear of whom this site for but then decided to present it in a more funy way.
I think I need reconsider many things here.

~~~
4ntonius8lock
Your doing great. You are getting a project off the ground. That's what
matters. Positive movement forward.

Congrats on being so proactive. :)

~~~
Gik
Thanks a lot!

------
nirui
Hey, do you consider to add a "Visitor" button beside the "Register" button on
the landing page? It maybe useful for people who want to look around before
deciding whether or not to continue to use the service.

Just my 0.2 cents.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, nirui. Yes, I must do that I think. Though there are two links already
for browsing the groups - in the footer and under hero image where is "Choose
your room" line

------
sudosteph
I know you're taking heat for it, but I kind of like the quirky wording.

I'm probably a part of your target audience, and I don't have any problem with
calling myself unusual. It feels a lot less loaded than "neurodiverse" or
something of that ilk. And it's true.

I think being able to recognize that you're unusual and that it's not
inherently bad to be unusual is a powerful thing for certain people.

I also like that this is a place besides reddit to talk about that stuff,
because I feel awkward using my main account there to talk on certain health-
related subreddits.

I'll probably sign up eventually. Best of luck.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, sudosteph very much for your kind words! You are very welcome!

------
throwanem
This is super sketchy! I wonder whom it's targeting, and for whose benefit.

~~~
Freak_NL
> This is super sketchy!

The broken English and the weird "holy" part of the name alone give me the
creeps. Not that I mind broken English as such (I'm not a native speaker
myself), but the site doesn't show anything that points to the origin of its
creator(s) (I'm guessing Eastern Europe or Northern Asia?) — it's all so
abstract and feels off somehow.

~~~
Gik
Hey, Freak_NL. Yes, I'm from Eastern Europe ))

------
crawfordcomeaux
I am unusual and looking for other unusual people. Specifically, I seek to
shed societal norms and teachings in order to get back in touch with a deeper
sense of what it's like to be human.

People with mental health problems are not unusual. Caring for them and
treating their issues as normal aspects of humanity is unusual.

I'm still going to create a group for hypersanity, but I just wanted to point
out when I got the activation email identifying the site as being for people
with "mental health problems," it seemed like the headline here may have been
a little misleading.

~~~
MononokeMoon
mmm.. bad wording by calling people with mental health issues 'unusual' I
agree. That's not going to make someone suffering feel better by being told
they're not "normal"....who is normal anyway? Everyone appears normal until
you get to know them.

------
rapfaria
Who says HN is not relevant anymore?

Thanks for this, made my morning.

------
fastbeef
Your goal is admirable, but please, please, PLEASE consult with a lawyer
before collecting any sort of health-related PII.

~~~
Gik
Thanks, i will surely consult with a lawyer before it

------
mathgeek
> We have chat rooms-groups for each of the most common mental illness
> subject-matters.

I’m not sure that is the best marketing line for a site for “unusual people.”
The only thing unusual about mental illness is how common it actually is.

Still, A for effort. Love the idea overall.

~~~
Gik
Thanks for kind words! I will think about changing the line.

~~~
mahesh_rm
I don't think you should.

------
msmerberry
Love the idea, agree the messaging could benefit from some tweaking.

ADHD, anxiety, and part of the big deal has been for me that I'm not unusual.
There are lots of me. Safe space is very alluring - also agree that internet
safety is KEY.

~~~
msmerberry
Also, holynet due to the connotation, in English, was about to make me run for
the hills.

------
the_seraphim
I like the idea, but the verbiage that you are using is not great, also there
are some grammatical errors that should be corrected (msg me if you want the
feedback)

~~~
Gik
Thanks, the_seraphim, for your comment! What lines of text and verbiage would
you have corrected and how? If you could specify it here it would be a great
help for me!

------
cameronbrown
The ability to build platforms like this is what makes the web special. Nice
work.

~~~
Gik
Thanks!

------
Gik
The most beautiful place on this site is the groups page by the way

~~~
haasted
Help for the lazy:
[https://holynetr.com/groups/](https://holynetr.com/groups/)

~~~
Gik
On my end it's ok loading

~~~
haasted
Did I imply it wasn't loading for me?

~~~
Gik
Sorry, I misunderstood

------
Geee
Every one is unusual in a different way.

------
jlv2
> Don’t worry, we’re not sharing any of your private information with anyboby
> and not asking for it except for your Email address.

Typos and bad grammar?

~~~
Gik
Yes, I have to practice English more but I'll fix it soon, I'll try my best

------
jes5199
what on earth

------
aflag
How do I know if I'm unusual?

~~~
Gik
It is if you know that for sure you know but I hope you are unusual in a good
way like a superman ))

~~~
aflag
I didn't understand that sentence.

------
diminoten
The online communities I participate in don't have landing pages, I'm in the
thick of it right from the get go.

~~~
Gik
Thanks!

------
peternicky
removed comment due to

~~~
Gik
Thanks, peternicky for your comment. Yes, I'm not very proficient in English
language. I must surely get some help with it. And the "unusual" word is very
doubtful too I agree.

------
andrevaillant
Hey Gik, congrats on this. IT's definitely something that you'll understand
how valuable it is as people come along and use it more and more.

I'm a product designer and If I can help you in some way, please reach me out.
In the meantime, I'll share here some of my thoughts on what's done so far.

Keep up

~~~
Gik
Thanks, andrevaillant. May be will need some help.

