[jimkleiber]

> (I admit I'm suddenly intrigued by the possibility of a "live forum". It would be identical to a traditional web forum, but each post would generate its own instant message space.)

Guilded kinda has this, as they have different channels types, one of which is a forum channel. I actually love that feature and yet have noticed over the last half year or so, the Guilded team doesn't seem to be developing and fixing what seem to me to be dealbreakers. However, it has shown to me just how much I would appreciate something like Discord or Slack but with the ability to make forum-type posts. Maybe the next evolution of these apps will have this. I find myself lost in normal group chats on WhatsApp, Discord just seems to be even more of those linear chats with what I believe is a worse interface than WhatsApp and Telegram. Guilded's forum channel makes it much easier to pick and choose which part of the convo I'll follow.

[civilized]

It's very interesting to think about how the data structure and API of the app interacts with its social function. How you organize the messages, what ways you can reply to people, what options you give to who. It feels like we've only begun to explore the possibilities.

[jimkleiber]

Exactly, and just how much those little design/infrastructural decisions impacts how we interact with each other. For example, how does no notifications on HN impact the speed with which people reply? I know I read your comment on my phone and despise replying on my phone, so luckily checked HN on my computer later and am replying now. Little things like that, I'm grateful you pointed it out.

[civilized]

I know what you mean but I do a surprisingly large amount of mobile HN commenting anyway, lol.

[jimkleiber]

haha mad respect to you