[zzzzz_]

Reddit is technology wise pretty simple - it's just one step up from a forum. So these guys have re-implemented a forum and added a stack of features that only a bunch of devs could come up with. Markdown support is mentioned twice at the top of the features list!

Anyway this is a site by actual guys that used to work at Reddit so you'd expect them to be pretty smart business orientated chaps right? Well they launch, pull a few strings and get to the the first page on HN ... then they immediately blunder by making you login to browse! Thankfully I was bored enough to do so and as expected it's just a barren 'seed user' populated scaled down version of reddit.

The biggest USP is real time and there's actually only me on there right now. Last story was posted 35 mins ago. I logged in not expecting my favorite reddits to be there, but for an exciting proof of concept. If I was in charge of this company, me and my entire team including the tea lady would be logged into at least 5 different accounts and we'd be creating a frenzy of real time activity so that AT LEAST we give people an glimpse of what we're trying to create.

Poorly executed - you'd really expect more from people with the resources to self finance a start up like this, the connections to drive users to the app and the experience of working for a top notch start up like Reddit for a number of years.

[epmaybe]

To be fair, "logging in" is just making a username and password. No Email is required. That's really not a huge deal to me, but maybe others disagree.

[hashkb]

It's a huge deal if you care about conversion. Anyone with web experience should know this.

[epmaybe]

Are you talking about converting people from Reddit to Voten? Maybe the point is that they want more people to actively contribute rather than just lurk? It could just be a different opinion on what a Reddit alternative could look like.

[dredmorbius]

"Online conversions" generally refers to the process of converting a visitor from some lesser-valued status to a higher-valued one. Unsubscribed visitor to subscribed visitor. Lurker to commenter. Commenter to contributor. Contributor to customer, etc.

Closely associated is the concept of a "conversion funnel", which measures the fall-off in participation as additional hurdles are imposed: registration, check-in, passwords, browser compatibility, extensions, screen resolution, etc., etc. The results can sometimes be counterintuitive.

For a sense of just how precipitous that fall-off can be, from an example I've got some strong familiarity with, there's this image showing total Google+ registered profiles, the number which were ever active, within the past year, and excluding YouTube activity (which was being included in totals). The net result was about an 0.3% active public participation rate.

https://d324imu86q1bqn.cloudfront.net/uploads/asset/attachme...

Study:

https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/naya9wqdemiovuvwvoyquq

(My work.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_marketing

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_funnel

[mentalpiracy]

Lurking encourages user participation in the long run. Sure, a few people will be early adopters and begin contributing with enthusiasm, but a larger chunk of users prefer to consume content passively before making the decision that contributing is worth it for them.

Turning away your potential audience with an immediate demand to register is a great way to make sure your content isn't read.

[type0]

> Lurking encourages user participation in the long run.

I bet most folks started to use HN after they lurked for a while. I think it's not uncommon to lurk for weeks or months first before one decides to join.

[jimmijazz]

I believe a large majority of reddit users are lurkers. I browsed the site almost daily for months before I felt the need to create an account so I could start commenting.

[mentalpiracy]

Same experience here. I steadfastly avoided Reddit for a while (no real reason, just didn't want to be assed with a new community, then caved and only followed two subreddits for updates on games I was playing.

Eventually the lurking converted me to a registered, commenting user, then finally a submitter as well.

[Deimorz]

> Anyway this is a site by actual guys that used to work at Reddit so you'd expect them to be pretty smart business orientated chaps right?

These aren't ex-reddit employees. The linked article calling them "former Redditors" is pretty misleading, I think it was just trying to say that they used to be users of the site.

[cholantesh]

How is it misleading? Redditor is a common term for "Reddit user".

[noway421]

True. Most of it is about the first impression. If it would have presented me with bustling activity and pictures poping up real time (which it is supposed to do judging on what the link says) that would be whole different expireince I would remember.

But so far the reddit tile would never go away from the speed dial.

[moonshinefe]

"pull a few strings and get to the the first page on HN"

<citation needed>

[emodendroket]

The Cuil of Web forums.

[orcdork]

This is actually the worst an internet comment can be - no real insight, judgemental, thinly veiled insults and accusations, excusing bad ethics for business sense, bad tempered and rude. What new platforms need, is less of this.

I have no real horse in the race and am generally sceptical about reddit alternatives as the refuge of whoever gets banned on reddit, but hey, feel free to shit over other people's efforts!

[zzzzz_]

Huh? Did you read my comment?

* They have a well funded + experienced team

* They are currently featured on the front page of HN

* The number #1 USP of their site is "Real Time".

So after forcing me to login to check out what it actually is, I find that there's actually no real time content. It's dead.

My insight is clear even if it is drenched in negativity. These guys should be doing better, even if they had no resources whatsoever, for the next 24h, the CEO, his girlfriend, their dog, the grandmother and every other person they know should be logged in creating the illusion of users.

I think even Paul Graham/YC advocates this method, it's how Reddit got started - so beggars belief that these chaps don't think they need to go to those lengths :/

[exergy]

He raised some very valid points though: requiring an account, no activity, no real benefit offered by real-time as things stand on the website.

Edit: To add my own - Doesn't work without Javascript, information density of both content and comments is far too low, and, flatly, Why? What benefit does it offer over Reddit? What role does it fill that Reddit isn't presently filling? Because for me, things that Reddit does terribly includes iffy moderation, witty snark being upvoted more than sensible comments, and their abysmal search. HN, for instance, is great with all of these things, so I'm on here a lot.