Ask HN: Non-Reddit place to discuss hobby related interests? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Non-Reddit place to discuss hobby related interests?

10 pointscgb2237 comments

I'm getting really tired of all the fluff on Reddit.

I've tried honestly to remove all non-relevant subreddits etc from my feed.

Even on the subreddits specific to my niche interests or hobbies, most of the top posts are cheeky jokes that dont really apply to the hobby or are a regurgitated popular opinion on the site.

I just want a place where the time I spend doesn't feel like its wasted or that I get sucked into it for hours with no memory of why I originally came there.

Is there another site/IRC/Chat/Channel/Any-other-medium that has a good collection of hobbyists for things like fermenting foods, coding, network security, sports science, Combat Sports, or other niche interests?

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I’m currently working on just this. The concept allows you to search a combination of Wikipedia terms to find people at that intersection. Eg. Blockchain/JavaScript, Fermentation/Kombucha, Aquaponics/Blueberries, Electric Bicycle/Solar, etc.

Currently it’s set up much like HN, with ability to submit things at an intersection for others to find.

I’m also considering creating a game world map based off the entirety of Wikipedia. Then once you find a niche intersection you can drop into the world at the corresponding coordinates and chat with people nearby (searching the same or similar niches).

At the moment

I haven't browsed the Brass Goggles forums since ~2009, but lives up to my nostalgia. Plenty of ideas for crafts / building steampunk stuff. http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php

One particular project I remember discovering through here was an epic keyboard: https://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard-shtml/

There are plenty of independent communities that exist. In my opinion Facebook has hurt a lot of these group, but if you look they still exist. Similarly there are plenty of independent Discord and IRC servers depending on the hobby. I have a feeling that any aggregator will just end up lowering the quality of posts in the end.

As an example, here is a unicycling discussion board that has been active for 20+ year and was a newsgroup prior: https://unicyclist.com/

There is a similar yet, different community of unicyclists on a Discord server (I won't link, but it's easy to find). And Facebook Groups has a few more communities. There is some overlap between them all.

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but if you have a specific hobby or interest, I'm almost certain a community exists and is likely a few searches away.

*Fun fact, Gilby created TinyURL in order to shorten links in the unicycling newsgroup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Gilbertson

There are some survivors out there from the era of the internet before Facebook and Reddit came along and wiped out a lot of the interesting discussion boards and special interest sites.

The recently renamed GearSpace [1] is a good place to discuss most things related to music gear, recording and production techniques, the music business and related topics.

Weight Weenies [2] is a location to talk about cycling, although mostly high-end with a fixation on reducing weight and the latest in expensive gear. The site has had some uptime issues lately, which isn't a great sign.

There must be some other gems still out there. I am looking forward to some other responses.

[1] https://gearspace.com/board/

[2] https://weightweenies.starbike.com

Similar current thread with more examples: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28394321

There was a karaoke forum I joined over a decade ago to figure out how to build my own pro setup. I checked a year or two back and it was still going strong.

Liberia still kickin it. RIP freenode.

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