
Ask HN: We are looking to rethink discussion platforms. Your suggestions? - rrpadhy
We are working to re-think discussion platform.&lt;p&gt;What are the improvements you would like in Hacker News or Reddit, etc?
What is your fav discussion platform? Why?
======
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC
Don't use the Web, don't build a "platform", build a peer to peer system,
support threading, use local storage of both postings and read status
information, use a native interface for fast and efficient navigation.

Or in other words: Re-invent NNTP.

Yes, NNTP has its problems, too, and could possibly use some additional
features, but it's silly when you look at how easily you could/can follow huge
discussions using slrn, and how badly current online discussion technology
stacks up against that. It's all shinier now, but the usability is absolute
crap for the most part.

~~~
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC
I guess I should spell this out explicitly: Don't integrate data model and UI.
That's the most silly thing about the web nowadays: Every instance of the same
kind of content comes with a different UI, but without an API, even though it
is all computer-readable data in principle. That is completely braindead, as
far as the possibilities of information technology go. Wherever there is a
discussion offered, I should be able to add it to the discussion software of
my choice, so that (a) I have all the discussions in one place and with a
consistent UI, which then can reasonably be powerful, as it's reasonable to,
say, learn key bindings, for your one discussion client, as opposed to
learning keybindings for every web forum out there, and (b) if you don't like
the UI I am using, you can use a different UI that you like, and still
participate in the same discussion. And in any case, native software is just
so much more responsive than any of this web stuff.

~~~
rrpadhy
I have the exact same views.

In one of the discussion on building the structure, I was amazed to find that
people do not think in terms of API.

As for me, I have always thought of having 3 different layers/servers
independent of each other. Front-end, Back-end and Database

~~~
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC
It may be that we mean slightly different things here. I am not talking so
much about the software architecture, but about the fact that the API between
"front-end" and "back-end" should be the public interface. That does require a
certain software architecture, though, of course ...

~~~
madeofpalk
Just build your private API as a public API. That's what we've been doing and
so far its turning out great

~~~
rrpadhy
Yes ... But if the software arch does not decouple the front-end and back-end,
then there are essentially no APIs.

An API approach is the best approach. Later it can always be opened to public.

------
basch
Reinvent Slashdot's meta-moderation.
[http://slashdot.org/faq/metamod.shtml](http://slashdot.org/faq/metamod.shtml)

Don't treat users like their contributions are equal. Some users make better
decisions than others. Reward them.

I think the Slashdot FAQ should be required reading before developing a
comment system. There are a lot of lessons they learned ahead of the rest of
the internet, problems others still have not solved. Something history, doomed
to repeat.

[http://slashdot.org/faq/](http://slashdot.org/faq/)

~~~
rrpadhy
Thanks.

Community moderation is quite a nice concept. Slashdot has indeed implemented
it quite intelligently.

------
bakli
You should take a look at discourse:
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse](https://github.com/discourse/discourse).

They have rethought it and implemented it quite well.

~~~
rrpadhy
Yes, we like discourse to a great extent ...

however, one problem which we always face is following thru the comments on HN
or reddit .. once the comments cross 100 ... or even 50

Discourse does not solve that either ... Is that a problem for others?

~~~
xerophtye
Personally, i Hate reddit's UI. I am not sure why, but i just do.
Comparatively, 4chan is a breeze. Sure, it doesn't have the tree structure,
but it doesn't look DAUNTING. It's relatively simple. And it does allow you to
follow a chain of posts (forward and backward mentions). In fact, if you think
about it, 4chan actually supports GRAPH structure for comments instead of the
traditional tree, as the same comment maybe replying to multiple posts.

I may be contradicting myself here, but somehow i do like HN's UI too. It has
a tree, but pretty neat. Though the levels can be a little ambiguous at times.

So what solutions are you guys thinking of? Or is this just one of those "Hey!
let's make a discussion platform! I wonder what's wrong with the current
ones... let's ask!"

~~~
rrpadhy
Have not really liked 4chan, but I will give it a re-look now.

We are having a few things in mind. One of them being applying categories or
tags to comments, along with the nested comments.

We believe, each discussion essentially has multiple parallel threads running,
and each thread should have its own structure.

The other thought is about users able to post as anonymous, but with certain
restrictions.

~~~
xerophtye
For the anonymity thing, look at my other comment[1]

Tags/categories may seem like a fair idea, but what i don't like in UI's is
information overload. So keeping info on a discussion would be pretty cool,
but make sure i don't see it if i don't WANT to see it. it should be
available, but not "in-my-face".

Also, what do you think people will react to having to type tags or subjects
for their posts?

You know what would be super amazing? A discussion visualization/organizing
tool. That could perform an analysis on the comments and perhaps group them
together by relevance/chaining/sentiment. Would be cool if i open a 200+
comment page on HN or anywhere an immediately see a visual representation of
what's going on. What aspects are being discussed and in what sentiment. Like
someone posts a Product Landing page. I open the comments and see a lot of
discussion about "UI" or "security" or "usability" or "heath risk" or
"privacy" , each marked with +ve or -ve sentiments. Now THAT is something
worth working on.

EDIT: the tool could do something as simple as marking keywords and giving
posts a red or green BG with varying shades based on the sentiment...

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6933982](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6933982)

~~~
rrpadhy
Point taken.

We are already having thoughts on the automation of tagging, grouping or
categorization of comments. However, before we start working on it, we are
validating on how important or necessary this feature would be.

What if, we spend a few days making an awesome automation to do what you
mentioned, but no one really gives a s __t about it. :)

------
nexttimer
What's wrong with
[http://retroshare.sourceforge.net/](http://retroshare.sourceforge.net/) ?

It's encrypted, distributed, open-source. It has chat, messaging, file
sharing, forums, etc.

What more do you want? If anything, why not just write a plug-in for it or
otherwise contribute?

------
petervandijck
My favorite discussion platform must involve food. Something special happens
when people gather around food. And some type of structured moderation that
becomes culture.

~~~
rrpadhy
Food is an absolute must. Unfortunately, HN does not have that. :(

BTW, what do you generally like in food discussions? Is it good pics of food
dishes, or recipes or something else?

~~~
xerophtye
He meant ACTUAL FOOD :P as in physically gather around food and discuss while
eating.

~~~
petervandijck
Indeed. Trying to think outside of the box. Why not start a discussion startup
with real-life discussions?

------
rrpadhy
How important is meeting new people on a discussion platform?

How often do you like to follow/friend/private message interesting people you
may find on a particular discussion?

------
balakrishnan
My favorite discussion forum is WordPress, Tumbr. Effective UI, easy to
navigate buttons, Accessibility options, ease of app use on mobiles are the
features I look at.

------
rrpadhy
While going through this discussion, I realized HN does not have any form of
notification system.

How important is notification for an effective discussion platform?

~~~
xerophtye
HN notify is kind of an external plugin... But considering that i did apply to
means that yes, notification is important. But over-bombardment of
notifications can be annoying

~~~
rrpadhy
Yes. Another feature which is tough to design, such that it is not over
annoying and yet solves the purpose. :)

------
rrpadhy
What do you feel about anonymous user handle? Is it a must? Or discussion
platform should not have anonymous users, as it leads to trolling.

~~~
xerophtye
I like how HN handles that problem. Users are associated with an "account" so
their posts etc on THIS site are linked together. And it helps identify trolls
and throwaway accounts easy.

But it also gives you a sense of optional anonymity as your HN account doesn't
have to necessarily link with the rest of your web presence. No one can find
you in the real world just from you HN account if you don't want them too. And
still, the option to provide further information gives you the OPTION to
present your credentials and connect "who you are" with the HN account.

I find it really interesting how sometimes VERY simple features are solving
relatively complex problems

~~~
taylan
I think Quora handles this better than HN. It gives you the option to be
completely anonymous on a case by case basis, reap the benefits/upvotes even
when you are anonymous. Most people on HN/Reddit resort to throwaway accounts
when they want to be completely anonymous and not tarnish their username, even
though that username has no connection to a real world ID.

People/usernames are brands in online discussion, so the way we generally
weigh people's opinion is affected by those brands, which is kind of a
function of their comment history and any IRL connections. Say, if the
username is 'pg', even if it's a hit-and-run comment with not much thought put
into it, you view it differently.

~~~
rrpadhy
As said earlier, identities is quite important to many users. Quora has done
it quite well.

However, with the anonymous feature to ask question, I have seen a rapid
degradation of the quality of questions coming on Quora. I am not the only one
who has felt this way. We can find a lot of people complaining about the
quality of questions of late.

------
johnmurch
Take a look at [http://telesc.pe/](http://telesc.pe/) \- built with meteor,
pretty sweet!

------
zby
An idea:

A dialectic platform - when two users disagree someone should write a third
post that both agree with.

~~~
xerophtye
This seems like a good usecase for that "replies to multiple posts" feature i
was telling you about in my other comment (would't it be nice if a mention of
my other post was a click away? Unfortunately, the process for that is
comparatively cumbersome in HN and i am not gonna post the link just to annoy
you and make you realize the feature's importance)

4chan maybe a ton of bad things, but what it truly nails, is a simple-to-use
and effective UI.

(Legend has it that whenever you speak of 4chan, moot makes an appearance.
Wonder if it'll happen this time)

~~~
rrpadhy
Helpful points here.. \- Replies to multiple posts \- Easy linking to last
comment/post

As about moot, lets see if that happens?

------
nambuj
LinkedIn and Facebook Groups can re-think about having a better way of
engaging people!

~~~
rrpadhy
Absolutely.

The original idea for a better discussion platform came after using fb group
for 2.5 years and feeling the pain. We had started the Bangalore Startups
group
([https://www.facebook.com/groups/blrstartups/](https://www.facebook.com/groups/blrstartups/))...

Although we keep getting new users fairly well, control and structuring
discussions is completely missing..

------
michaelochurch
End to the passive-aggressive hellbans and service degradations (e.g. slowban,
rankban) for obviously non-spamming users.

Re-show comment karma in order to restore trust, in the wake of awareness of
rankbanning, since that will provide transparency in comment placement.

Hacker News still has a community advantage. (I'll take HN's irritating-- but
at least book-smart-- libertarian naifs over the actual idiots of most forums
any day). The moderation could use some work, though.

~~~
rrpadhy
Effective moderation is always a pain. The biggest curse of moderation is the
inability to keep everyone happy. However, it is a necessary evil, which can
not be avoided as well.

This point does give me an idea on how to handle the moderation a bit better
though. Let me polish the idea, before telling more about it.

