HN Explorer

Show HN: Starlo – Microblogging for the Modern Era (starlo.me)

2 points by thejarren ↗ HN
Hey HN, today we’re announcing Starlo. It’s essentially a shopify for social profiles. It’s a tool that’s built to solve for the lack of independent publishing options for content creators (of all types). It’s a self-labeled social profile, one in which the creator is the hero, not the platform. We’re taking a social-first approaching at independent publishing, with current support for short/long-form text posts, images, vertical/horizontal videos, short/long audio.

I’ve been creating content online for over a decade and I’m tired of pivoting to new platforms just to communicate my ideas. Writers and podcasters have many options for independent publishing, but creators of short-form content have no real alternatives outside of developing their own platforms, or by using existing high-maintenance social networks.

We’re launching in early access today, and will be rolling out features such as monetization options, custom domain names, content presentation options, a mobile app, and more over the next year.

I’d love to get your take on what we’re building, and I’m convinced Starlo will solve for many issues related to micro-blogging, independent publishing, and dependence on large social networks. If you want to see what it’s like so far, here’s my profile: starlo.me/jarrenrocks

Also we’re currently bootstrapped. Investors feel free to say hi jarren@starlo.me

2 comments

[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 17.2 ms ] thread
Jemaclus
I love the idea of social media alternatives in general, but one of the big hurdles with any social network is discoverability. It's one thing to publish my thoughts on a site like this, but if nobody sees it (and I can't find other like-minded individuals), then I might as well just be shouting into the void.

A lot of people hate the For You section of Twitter, but one thing it does (or did) exceptionally well was expand your social circle just a little bit by showing you people and tweets that you may want to interact with even if you aren't following directly. Similarly, TikTok's For You page allows for a ton of discovery.

Any thoughts on discoverability with respect to microblogging on Starlo?

thejarren
We've had a lot of conversations about discoverability, and at least early on it's not something we're prioritizing (outside of the occasional feature of creators on our landing page or something). We're still considering options.

Starlo would be a great fit for a creator with an existing audience, or for someone working to build an audience outside of a social network, but we still think there's a lot of value in terms of discoverability on existing platforms.

Users could approach it how they'd like, but I personally would consider Starlo my "home" and social platforms my "outreach". If TikTok is banned, or Twitter is unstable, Starlo (like any sort of blog platform) is a stable home for your content long term.