Making Blogs Popular Again

[sebastianprada]

Wanting to tell you guys about the app I'm currently building!

For context: I'm someone that enjoys reading blogs, even more than watching TikTok videos, or YouTube videos. I write for fun on Medium, and on Substack.

The problem I'm trying to solve is the decreased popularity of blogs from readers, and writers, especially in younger generations.

I'm building a platform that has the social capabilities of Twitter, the recommendation engine of TikTok, and the goal of Medium/Substack.

The platform would let you create a TEXT newsletter which would notify your followers when you post a blog, and we would split advertisement revenue with writers (ad revenue model still unsure about, maybe we'll switch to monthly plan instead, still figuring out the costs).

The goal of this platform is to make it a pleasant experience for both readers, and writers. We'll do this by ensuring that readers are receiving content they want to see (recommendation engine). The content goes to you, not the other way around. For writers we're going to ensure that they're compensated properly for their hard work, and are given a great metrics dashboard to see exactly how much they're growing, what demographic, what region, etc. The platform would also offer AI assistance, and collaborations with other writers. Writers could use AI to help them finish their story, or help them come up with a story.

I'll be making a follow up post showcasing the design of the platform. Who would want to use something like this?

[scyzoryk_xyz]

You lost me at “recommendation engine”. I want to follow users and subject specific hashtags. I want control. I want privacy. Not greedy black box AI BS. Plenty free options for content exist today and I am perfectly happy barely paying for anything as is.

The problem you describe is not a problem. Think about drastically narrowing the scope. Find a couple users in some extremely underserved niché and study them instead of the developers here. Solve problems that come out from what they tell you/what you see.

[Gtex555]

Without some level of recommendation engine wouldn't you need to pre-emptively know the blogs you want to follow already in which case what is the point of the site. What you are saying applies to a social network like facebook but could never work for blogs or youtube where you actually want to be exposed to new and interesting content.

[scyzoryk_xyz]

Lost me as in I’m not interested personally in this as a user.

You know what sufficiently works for serving up new and interesting content? This site. And the community drives this, not “recommendation engines”.

And if there was a real problem to be solved here, there are plenty of people who would try to monetize it and automate it.

I guess my central point is that OP wants to go into typical Red Sea territory.

[muzani]

I'm probably the target market for this. I did like the idea of Medium, but the problem with most of these platforms - Medium, DEV, Hashnode is they become full of crap.

It's people posting things as a form of self-advertising. Some who actually put "blogger" on a resume. Many post tutorials to come up on a search on their chosen skill (or a search for their name). The tutorials are generally poorly well thought out and shallow. Like a lot of people post overcomplicated architectures, with the reasoning being "some famous guy or company used it".

So posting an article with these networks get you associated with that crap. I would like to see something with a proper quality filter. This isn't easy, I understand, which is why the big blogging platforms don't do it. I'm not looking for TikTok-style catchy/addictive recommendations; I'd like to see something the quality level of Steam.

I'm also iffy on AI-guided writing. I love AI-based writing and I pay for GitHub Copilot, but as a platform, that just encourages people to churn out low quality articles.

[sebastianprada]

Thanks for the feedback! The TikTok style recommendation system is more of an analogy to explain how the recommendation engine will show you content that you actually want to see. Medium, for example, hasn't done a great job at this. It's true that AI writing can encourage people to churn out low quality articles, would have to think harder on that one.

[suprjami]

> newsletter

> the purpose of Medium

No thanks, Medium and Substack are already bad enough.

[sebastianprada]

Medium yes, but I think Substack is doing pretty well? There's definitely room for improvement, so what do you think needs to improve?

[suprjami]

I won't visit either site on principle.

The idea of newsletters is stupid. I need to open them in email, which is not where I read news. We solved this problem ages ago, it's called RSS. Provide good full-content RSS feeds.

If you must persist with newsletters, don't put a full screen flyover nagging me to sign up for the author's newsletter as soon as I've visited the page. How am I supposed to know if I want the newsletter when I haven't had a chance to evaluate the content? At most, put a static non-JS signup box at the end of the post.

The idea of paid blogging is ridiculous. Web hosting is free these days. Nobody is writing blog posts for 40 hours a week and making a full-time income from it. There is no cost to blogging, so there should be no charge. Paid blogging is a non-business model.

There is also an attempt to "legitimise" bloggers with these sites. "I'm a professional blogger, follow me on Medium". No, you're just another person in tech like me. Your blog is no more or less important than mine. At best you're writing things you hope are useful. At worst, you've devolved into a "content creator" making "content" for the sake of it (or for subscriber begging) like so many vapid YouTubers.

These sites seem to imply their content is somehow "premium" or better than the rest of the internet. It isn't. There are many (free) blogs which are way better than every Medium or Substack. I see many poor quality posts on these sites which reduce the overall value of the site. The quality control necessary to make the site curated would negate the appeal of the platform.

I feel if someone has something worth saying, they'll probably spend the minimal effort setting up their own blog to say it, and build a legitimate subscriber base from quality, not from some paid or implied quality by having their blog on a certain domain.

[codingdave]

No - the whole point of running your own blog is that it is your own. Once you are part of a platform you are tied to their roadmap. As a blog author, it is not my goal for someone to build another Medium/Substack even if they are going to do a better job of it.

[achempion]

I’m building a startup in a similar space (link in profile).

The issue here is that you have to maintain server by yourself and it adds a lot of friction to the process.

You can own all your data, host on your own domain with custom design, but still have the convenience to focus on writing and not maintaining stuff.

There are ton of innovation happening like bearblog or write.as and I find these type of projects super exiting.

[Gtex555]

The only way to stop a blogging site from being filled with crap is to limit uploads to lets say 12 per account , but give extra upload credits to blogs that get views or read time (however you calculate that). That way someone who wants to spam without providing good content is limited to only 12 posts.

[luxpir]

I think it could work.

I'd question the ads and Medium business model following, but subscriptions and tipping from a credit pot you can buy would be a refreshing change.

Privacy aware, fast loading, nicely styled, yeah I can see that being appealing.

Most of Twitter et al just feel like wading through treacle atm.

[sebastianprada]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm definitely still considering if to go through the ad revenue route (see my reply to another comment). I hate ads like everyone else but I've come to understand that businesses that use ads as their revenue model need it to survive. However, perhaps going the subscription route could also work out, still figuring out the costs.

[PaulHoule]

Maybe. Lately I’ve been thinking ‘whatever happened to stumbleupon?’ and particularly how SU was a lot like TikTok but for web pages.

I am working on a demo of content-based filtering for RSS feeds, look up my profile and contact me about it!

[sebastianprada]

Sounds cool!

[lmedinas]

Would the App be somekind of an aggregator, i.e Planet Debian or something like Twitter or medium where people would write posts in the platform. If its the second option, no thanks!

[sebastianprada]

It would the second option. Can you share why you wouldn't want it?

[lmedinas]

Because i want to own my content and use it the way i want. To give me away free content and leave it at mercy from social media companies and frustrated CEOs we already have Twitter and others for that matter.

[kevincox]

Why is this an app? Delivering a great reading experience is very easy on the web. I don't want to install another app.

[sebastianprada]

People are on their phones more than any other device. I want the person to be able to read from their phone and having an app would be a more pleasant experience for the user.

However, I do think it is wiser to start off with a website first. So yes, it'll be a website first, and then transition into also being an app.

[muzani]

I would prefer an app for something like this. Browsers feel worse in some way. The difference is like between a 30 Hz monitor and 60 Hz. Pocket used to be great for this.

[stcroixx]

Not if there are ads.

[sebastianprada]

I was thinking of having a freemium model. The AI assistance will be only available for up to 3 posts and then after that writers need to pay X amount of $ per month. This would also include the removal of ads for these who pay the monthly plans.

I chose to go the ad revenue route because of profitability. At the end of the day, businesses need money, and ad revenue can help us in the long-run with all the costs.