I can code (front end and backend), and I can study topics, learn them, and make them easy to understand for other people.
The problem, however, is that I'm 17. I know that this project probably won't get off the ground simply because of that fact, but I'd love to hear any tips / opinions people have about it. Thanks.
I can't find this. So I am considering building it.
Orrr in a few weeks if you go at it alone.
One could shake up the industry with something that leverages blog software. Another could write an amazing piece of news-displaying technology and not make a dent.
What will make the difference in whether or not you shake up the news industry is the type of content you create and how you create it, not the software that runs the site.
My advice to you is to get the easiest possible writing platform (that means WordPress) running, and then spend your time writing and putting out those "short, sweet facts." Try and find other people to do this as well.
Then get as many people as you can to read the site and see what they think of it.
However I do think that the idea of use aggregation leaking in to the site, Reddit Style, could be a good resource. However that probably wouldn't be a main feature of the site, but likely a sub-section of the site completely separated from the actual content.
The kind of information I'm interested in publishing is non-biased facts. I doubt a news site could function purely on this, but if I could design one I would put a lot of emphasis on bullet points.
If news-dot-coms actually labeled and isolated the facts that they published, this wouldn't be a problem. It also wouldn't be a challenge.
That said, I'd love to offer advice/guidance on a more specific level if you'd like to chat.
What kind of coding (languages, systems, projects) have you done so far?
I have done PHP / MySQL, and learned Django before jumping ship to Ruby on Rails. I'm now exclusively Rails, but also have toyed with C# in the past.
As for projects, I have many ideas in my arsenal but as of now only one is being actively developed; however it isn't giving me the kind of passion I had when I came up with the idea about a year ago.
I'd say build as much of what you've got in mind as you can. Encourage people to look at it even when it's very rough -- don't disappear for months making something slick/complete. Adjust. Continue.
You may also want to put contact details or a personal web page in your profile here.
I know how to do the site, front and back. I know how to host. I know where to host. I was simply looking for feedback on those questions as well as some general feedback on the idea.
And I will do. I'm a long time lurker, and this is my first post.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100526/0142359581.shtml
Might be relevant to your concept, which I'd also be interested in discussing further if only there were contact info in your profile.
Thanks for the link, though.
Hope this helps :)