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Ask HN: Would this easy 'blogging' network be of interest to you?

7 points by willdamas ↗ HN
I'm looking to address a pain point that I have come up against often - having thoughts that would make great blog posts but no time or motivation to go through the hassle of having a full blown blog.

I've outlined what I have created here: http://idea.kickofflabs.com/

If you are interested please sign up there or drop me an email at damaswill@gmail.com. It would be great to hear from you.

12 comments

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kaolinite
I'm pretty sure that's what Tumblr was made for.
willdamas
Perhaps I didn't explain it as well as I could have done (or I don't fully understand Tumblr) but this would be more of an opportunity for people to put out a single post, without needing the full on "their own tumblr". I'm thinking especially people like me (and much of HN I imagine) who don't have the time to put in in maintaining a blog. With Tumblr and Posterous, you never really own the canvas either - I am looking at something whereby you can choose whether you have ads or not or you can pay etc.

Thank you though for your thoughts - it really helps.

ciarog
I think it's a good idea. The problem with Tumblr is that you're encouraged to theme your blog, e.g. fitness, hunger games or whatever, so you end up having to make different blogs for each topic you're into because people that follow you aren't going to want to see workout logs mixed in with hunger games gifs.

It is a nifty idea to just be able to toss down some random idea on to a blog with no other pressure. With tumblr there is the pressure of having to blog regularly, queue up posts to publish every hour and keep to a theme etc.

willdamas
Thanks ciarog, you said it much more clearly than me!
YuriNiyazov
Posterous did this, but tumblr won the mindshare, and posterous was acquihired by Twitter.
kjhughes
At one end, people have their own blogs. (And Blogger, WordPress.com, and Tumblr are simple enough that large numbers of non-technical folk use them regularly.) At the other end, many people are happy to lurk without writing anything.

In the middle, people post comments on others' blogs or on meta sites such as HN.

I can't be sure, but from what you've said so far, I'm not seeing much unaddressed pain in the space.

swGooF
I would be interested if the posts where categorized. For example, I have an idea for one post on video games. I write the post, and send it off, and it gets posted to the video games section of the site. Then people interested in video games could find it. Maybe the next day, I have a good idea for a food blog post.
michaelpinto
Suggestion: Don't look for suggestions here with an essay, instead you should prototype your idea and then get feedback. The problem with your essay is that it's abstract and too easy to say something like "what about Tumblr" so in this case the devil is in the details...
willdamas
Thank you - I guess that's the push I need to take that step.
hmgauna
I find this interesting enough. I've been myself involved in those kind of ideas... but never got to anything.

As other said, there is a big expression space in the web, with room and options for everyone. But the fact is that, as you, many don't like the idea of starting a blog, or just want to be part of something bigger than what they are able to build. Anyways, figuring out exactly where in the map you will fit is very important.

Others forgot to mention old fashioned forums, that also allow people to post thing, open threads, etc. I imagine your product as something in between a forum + posterous easiness + blog network. What could help it a lot is thinking in a specific subject or niche, because that will make the sum of all posts something interesting to dive in (as HN is for some subjects and not others).

And of course, as michaelpinto said: go build a prototype as soon as you can.