
Hacker News Facebook Group - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_114326995294656
======
jacquesm
#startups irc.freenode.net

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m0th87
This should be posted as a separate article. I've browsed HN for some time
without knowing about this IRC channel.

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jacquesm
I should add it to the FAQ too.

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WesleyJohnson
Just a couple of quick tips and things to point out after spending a few
minutes chatting with everyone in the group.

At this time you either can't (or it's not apparent how to) opt out of chat
for a given group. You have to sign out of chat all-together.

You can opt out of email notifcations by clicking the "Edit Notifcations" on
the top right of the Group window.

If you comment on a post, you're automatically subscribed to that post and
begin recieving notifcations when others comment. You can also opt out of
these on a per-post basis by clicking the "unsubscribe" link under the title
of each post.

Hope that helps alleviate some of the noise so the group stays useful to
everyone.

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darinpantley
If you do not turn off the notifications, your inbox will look like mine:
<http://i.imgur.com/RKQ9y.png>

I was away from my computer for the past couple hours and came back to 154+
emails. Time to "Edit Notifications"...

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ericabiz
YES! Holy farking email spam! I just got back from a lunch meetup. Someone
else had added me and I had hundreds of emails.

In a related note, Facebook needs to let you edit notifications via the mobile
interface. I looked, and couldn't figure it out. I actually ended up pulling
out my Mifi at the end of the meetup and logging on to Facebook with my laptop
just so I could opt out. Wow.

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strick
Am I the only person who would rather this was a private group? (so non-
members can't see posts). Even if Jason just approved every join request I
think this would be better.

Example: your employer doesn't need to know that you are talking to an
interesting startup.

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city41
Although it's easier said than done, IMO your employer/coworkers really
shouldn't be friends with you on Facebook. That's what LinkedIn is for. I know
you can't control their friend requests and it would be odd to ignore them.
Thankfully people are starting to figure this out in my experience; at my
current job none of my coworkers (other than actual friends) have sent me
friend requests on Facebook.

With that said, the same reasoning also makes me question the value of a HN
Facebook group.

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mechanical_fish
Thanks. You've successfully talked me out of this, for today anyway.

People often ask how other social networks will ever compete with Facebook. To
me that's like asking how your house's living room will ever compete with the
theater at your local high school.

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tokenadult
Do you mind if I quote that line about the living room and the theater (with
or without attribution, as you wish) elsewhere in cyberspace?

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mechanical_fish
You may take it wherever it wants to go. And, though I'd potentially be
entertained if you attributed it, that is not required.

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mlinsey
I am reluctant to join because I'm in one group with around 40 people and it
makes my whole Facebook experience a bacon+toast hell, especially with the
group chat - can anyone figure out how to opt out of chat for a group without
going offline of chat altogether?

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RK
bacon+toast hell?

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gojomo
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacn>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_%28computing%29>

I first learned the names for these familiar social app behaviors from Adam
Rifkin's "Pandas and Lobsters" essay:

[http://ifindkarma.posterous.com/pandas-and-lobsters-why-
goog...](http://ifindkarma.posterous.com/pandas-and-lobsters-why-google-
cannot-build-s)

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middlegeek
What will happen in this group? How will it be useful? (Not meant in a snarky
way, I am curious.)

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andre3k1
Think of these new groups as listservs. A way to stay in touch with your group
or team.

Listservs + Yammer actually with the group chat feature.

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aufreak3
Won't use. My reason might sound silly though - I like that Hacker News looks
_different_ from a facebook feed page. Its sickening to have _everything_ look
the same. I think that prevents you from wearing different hats at different
times, which could water down engagement quality.

FB should at least let you select a different profile picture for every group
you're part of :P

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jasonlbaptiste
This is a shitshow.

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mikegreenberg
== Initial benefits

\- Instant collaboration. (No more HN Office Hours and the like.)

\- Live group updates (wall posts, news, (even chat, ha!))

== Initial problems

\- No way to connect HN handle/karma to FB

\- No social moderation

\- Bottleneck administration (No matter how much of a rockstar Jason is.)

\- Group chat doesn't support large group conversations well. (approx 6 lines
of chat displayed at a time)

Anyone else?

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jasonlbaptiste
I beg any facebook employees that read this to please implement a Confirm All
button. I've pressed confirm over 1,800 times today. It's like being on LOST.

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Sam_Odio
Thanks Jason. I'll forward your suggestion to the groups PM.

Disclamer: this might be by design. The proudct was intended for small groups
of people that actually know each other (families, soccer clubs, close
friends, etc).

~~~
waterlesscloud
Any software designer who thinks the product will be used as designed must be
a newbie. :-)

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jasonlbaptiste
This is an interesting way to see how groups scale with lots of people. Chat
box is cramped.

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jasonlbaptiste
this will probably hit 1,000 members in the next couple of hours. If you all
find it useful, I'll take the time to keep it alive/engaging.

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jasonlbaptiste
This could actually be a really interesting experiment. I have to still
approve though it's open :( :( and the amount of requests is insane. It's like
a video game clicking the accept button in real time.

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faramarz
maybe ask every person to post their names here as well to verify? tiring task
though, so maybe not.

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tdoggette
It's not like HN is restricted. Who would want in other than HNers?

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kvs
I think it is a good idea but I will wait for the storm to settle.

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dannyr
This might be an overkill but how about geo-specific HN groups aside from the
general one?

Bay Area Hacker News, San Diego Hacker News, etc.

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stevefink
I'd hate to miss the opportunity to meet/chat with someone brilliant because
of geo-fragmentation.

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cosgroveb
The signal to noise ratio is a bit low...

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Tichy
Honestly, I only joined to get a "Hacker News" tag on Facebook. Is that how
Facebook works? Meaning can other people now see that I am on Hacker News (or
rather, a member of the group)?

Also, maybe someone wants to send freelance work my way and contact me via
Facebook :-)

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gilesc
There is also a sub-group for HNers who are also students:
[http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_152776264761584...](http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_152776264761584&ap=1)

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kristiandupont
Interesting dynamic. I thought about creating a LinkedIn group, but I guess
this might have a bit more of a personal touch. On the other hand, a LinkedIn
group could possibly have been better for recruiting.

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e1ven
There have been 3-4 linkedin groups, they never go anywhere ;)

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codejoust
This will be interesting if it can be tied in with Facebook Connect -- taking
over the live website chat space. It's really annoying to _always_ have a new
message in chat, though.

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sahillavingia
Tip: don't comment on any of the posts, unless you want to endure tens and
tens of notifications (esp. if you have Desktop Notifications installed).

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goalieca
I thought facebook groups died years ago? This sort of brings us back to the
original purpose of facebook. Collaboration and networking!

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whimsy
See <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1765111> =)

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Infomus
Nice to put a face to peoples HN handles

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brk
Nice. Will be curious too see what secondary benefits this adds to HN and
FaceBook...

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mgrouchy
Depending on how this goes, this might actually make me use my Facebook
account.

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jasonlbaptiste
Well, this is a hell of a new way to stress test "social design" for scale.

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Mazy
"Your chat message wasn't sent because Hacker News is offline." nice

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ashishk
You should make it open. (or approve my request to join :)

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jasonlbaptiste
It is open, but I still need to approve :(

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alexsherrick
haha sorry jason... i just joined too!

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kristofferR
Nice, joining this turned on the new Facebook for me. :)

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jdp23
the gender ratio is really astonishing. there are probably 400 comments on the
main page and i am not sure i have seen any women there.

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jaxn
Holy crap this could be a time sink!

Proceeding with caution :)

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zkinion
shall i make a hacker news fan page?

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u48998
This is actually insanity.

Most of you are on FB and you are here as well. So why create another space to
converse? Is it because FB has a potential to do it better than anyone else?
I'd say yes and no. Yes because it has largest user base. No because they are
testing features and there are many other services which has done lot better
in organizing, facilitating group conversations.

Either case, the HN group and many other such popular groups showing up at FB,
only tells one thing: it is going to be a huge hit. How it gets adopted later,
like how Twitter Lists did, only time will tell.

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novum
HN also affords, for some, a degree of anonymity absent from Facebook.

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ld50
you should cede group admin rights to pg

