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Ask HN: What Happened to Indie Hackers?

22 points by triceratop ↗ HN
I was a huge fan back in its heyday but in recent years the site has become a complete disaster. Discussions are dead, nobody that actually makes money posts there, and the newsletter seems like its written by a 16 year old "maker." I could go on and on. I don't get what happened. Am I the only one who feels this way? Did csallen exit?

8 comments

[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 34.3 ms ] thread
codegeek
I did notice that recently there are a lot of "I m building in public" type folks. Also no real interviews since January 2021.
username90
Is there a problem with "I'm building in public" people? Or do you mean they have nothing interesting and just announce they are building X taking up space?
codegeek
I may sound elite but yea, most of them are wantrapreneur types and worst, selling their product/service in the name of being an indiehacker. Nothing wrong with hustling but I don't see much of quality anymore.
ezekg
I actually deleted my IH account awhile back because of this. It turned into... something else. As far as alternatives -- https://www.starterstory.com has some good interviews though not really tech-focused. And I also came across https://console.dev/qa a couple weeks back and it gives me heydey IH vibes, but not everything is a business.
readonthegoapp
I don't know what it was like back in the day

Other than I tried a time or two and had people shit on my ideas so I bailed

Soft I know

But I've been back for a few months and generally enjoying it and finding it almost semi-useful

Forums generally do seem dead-ish

I would prefer to pay $20/mo -- at least -- to have truly engaged people.

But not sure if charging a small fee would help or hurt.

silb
The site became noisy by indie hackers creating products for other indie hackers and using the site for promoting their products.

There's also a community focus on less hackerish topics as paid newsletters and content products.

Also, the whole site is a bit sluggish, which may lead to less engagement in the discussions.

ezekg
It essentially became Product Hunt 2.0 instead of focusing on its own niche.