[todd3834]

I don’t think this should be downvoted. It’s a valid point and potential lesson for anyone thinking about reviving or doing something similar.

While this might not be the only issue I wouldn’t doubt that the name might prevent a larger audience.

[losvedir]

Why? I think it's a fine name, better than most, because it's a normal English word that says exactly what it does / what it's for. You're not just saying that because the word happens to end in "butt" are you? Or am I missing something?

[oli-g]

> You're not just saying that because the word happens to end in "butt" are you?

They're saying precisely that and they're 100% right, and it seems you're missing a lot of things.

It's a social network. Its only value is in it having people using it and coming back.

Just try and imagine any person in your IRL circles (who's not on HN) actually using a social network with butt in its name. I seriously can't believe you see no issue there whatsoever. A teenager. A young artist. A YouTuber. "Follow me on TikTok, Instagram, Scuttlebutt and Poopypants". I dare you to find a creator willing to say these words.

Or if you just hang out with smart, like-minded tech-savvy middle-ages people who see past these things, then great, we have a new "social network" for smart, like-minded tech-savvy middle-aged people.

[jdougan]

> we have a new "social network" for smart, like-minded tech-savvy middle-aged people.

Sounds great to me. The hard part is keeping the scammers away. If a ridiculous name can do that, I'm up for it.

[tjpnz]

"Follow me on Twitter to see my Wii reviews."

People will get used to it.

[losvedir]

I mean, I wouldn't expect problems if the thing were called "Buttercup" would you? Or what about "Button"? "Saturday" (which has "turd" in it)? Are there problems with a Harpoon ("poon") IPA?

Clearly the presence of a sequence of four silly letters isn't in and of itself disqualifying. Native speakers often won't even register the juvenile bit inside it.

My only surprise here is that "scuttlebutt" doesn't work that way for other native speakers. It must be just my dialect or circles then, because it's an ordinary word for me which subsumes the "butt" within it (like I'm certain "button" does for you). But I guess it's not universally like that and the word is odd or rare enough that it doesn't do the same for others.

[corobo]

The butt is more noticeable because it's at the end of the word as a standalone syllable.

With your examples the butt sounds are mixed in so they don't stand out as much.

[filoleg]

> I think it's a fine name, better than most, because it's a normal English word that says exactly what it does / what it's for

Just because the name says exactly what the product does and what it's for, that doesn't automatically mean it is good. In fact, imo it is bad in a lot of cases.

Do you think Instagram would have gotten as popular if it was named FlexGallery, or if Nextdoor was named SpreadRumorsActVaguelyRacistForum, or if Twitter/X was named PopularityContestShortMessagesAndBadNewsSourceSpaceWithSomePorn?

I personally would say "no" to all of those, and it isn't just because the names get unnecessarily long and ugly. McDonalds would never rename itself to Cheap Passable Fast Food Restaurant.

[simonw]

Some things really can buck the trend - ChatGPT is a _terrible_ name but provided so much obvious utility that it managed to reach a large consumer market despite that.

[ziddoap]

ChatGPT and Scuttlebutt are both bad names, sure, but in completely distinct ways.

[rzzzt]

FlexGallery could work... the rest are Java class names.

[filoleg]

Actually agreed about FlexGallery, now that I am thinking about it.

As for the rest, they just miss [...]Factory and [...]Controller prefixes, and then they truly would become typical Java classes.

[jrm4]

"Normal English Word" feels like a stretch. At least in the US, pretty obscure and kind of archaic sounding?

[ziddoap]

>it's a normal English word

I mean, it's an English word, for sure. I have never once in my many years heard someone actually say it seriously. Maybe a handful of times when someone was purposefully trying to be quirky.

[kstrauser]

Weird. Maybe it's a regional thing. I've only heard it through the midwest and the west coast.

Also, all the freaking time when I was in the US Navy.

[samatman]

The guy who started the project is a sailor, so that tracks.

[nine_k]

A name that makes many of your friends smile ironically is not a name that would induce a network effect, except maybe in marginal communities ("bitards").

A name must not be even remotely silly, else it will be laughed out of the (already crowded) room.