Prototyping a Media-Focused Reddit Alternative
Posted by liebn0r@reddit | RedditAlternatives | View on Reddit | 13 comments
Hi! So I've been working on building an art platform for the last two years, and I'm considering pivoting it into a reddit alternative with an added focus on visual media.
As such, every community would have 3 main tabs:
- Feed - this would include all posts in a vertical feed view, like reddit does, including text posts and media posts
- Gallery - this would only include media posts in a gallery view, so no text posts, and possibly with a community option to only include original content
- Chat - every community would have a live chat as well. The idea being that the chat tab would be a place to hang out, and text posts in the feed view would be a better format for long-form discussions
Below is a prototype I started (gallery view shown), using my progress with the existing art platform as a basis. On the left is a sidebar with quick access to site functions and communities that can slide out to view more details.
Thoughts, suggestions?
YourNewGoddess666@reddit
Is the option of having it default to feed instead of gallery available?
is it only for mobile? it is okay if it is only on mobile... but it would be cool if there was a site i could visit on my computer.
i really like this idea... my only suggestion is if there isn't an option for changing default opening screen; have one.
liebn0r@reddit (OP)
Feed would be the default view yes, and the app would remember whatever your last view was.
There would be a desktop website as well for sure!
How do you mean? Like setting your "home page" to a specific community or something like that?
YourNewGoddess666@reddit
via the option; i mean; the page you first see when you would type in the site to the browser.
the option would be to pick between featured, latest, or followed. (personally; i'd like to see followed when i open the site; due to a lot of social media experiences with various trauma inducing things.)
knowing that a site will be available sold me already; and the option of starting various discussion things is amazing too.
Another question is via the chat is there an option of turning it off or at least the notification sounds or indicator... (i have mild ocd when seeing unfinished notifications; and chats tend to have a lot of conversations...) Discord has this notification thing on the various servers; and it gets taxing on trying to keep up with it... which then i inevitably leave the server.
I am just a rare case here... you already have me sold on this... and i would like to join... as the concept of it all is promising.
liebn0r@reddit (OP)
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, the site/app would remember the last tab you were on for each community, so if you were on "Followed" it would stay on that until you change it.
I know what you mean with the Discord notifications/pings. We probably just won't have "@everyone" pings at all, so you'd probably only get pings for direct mentions to you specifically.
Thanks for the feedback!
YourNewGoddess666@reddit
just signed up for the site. UwU
(i shall delete my responses here in a day or so.)
Stright_16@reddit
Does it support activitypub?
ewofij@reddit
good luck
Far-Remove-4663@reddit
Hosting is expensive, please take this into account. How much disk would you have to get to host images, videos etc? have you taken this into account?
liebn0r@reddit (OP)
Yep! Some services cost more than others, namely cloud services. I've built my own scalable infrastructure for hosting and serving media on bare metal servers and B2.
MaleficentFig7578@reddit
it's not reddit if it's focused on visual media
liebn0r@reddit (OP)
Just to clarify the Feed tab would be the default view, the gallery view would be an added bonus that would lend itself well to media-focused communities.
barrygateaux@reddit
Why do you need to be a Reddit alternative? What you're proposing sounds perfect for a small art focused community. Making it into an 'everything' site for tens of millions of people would destroy that.
The main problem with Reddit is its size and scope. This attracts bots and it all rapidly spins out of control. Replicating that will result in the same shit show we see now.
With a small platform you get a better community, less problems, and higher quality posts. I just find it weird that we all see the current Reddit model is flawed, yet people keep trying to replicate it.
liebn0r@reddit (OP)
These are my main arguments:
With respect to the art platform, a lot of artists believe that an "art platform" is doomed to fail because it will only be used by artists, therefore isn't good for helping artists promote their work outside of the artist demographic. Social media platforms with good discovery, however, can better help artists grow their audience.
Corporate internet enshittification. I'm striving to build something independent that re-captures some of the magic of the earlier internet and isn't obligated to maximize profit for an investor class that has little to do with the people who actually use the site.