Show HN: I created Twitpic, now I've launched Glue | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: I created Twitpic, now I've launched Glue

8 pointsnoaheverett2 comments

Hello, HN. I'm a long-time lurker here and this is my first Show HN (be gentle).

I created Glue which is best described as "Twitter meets Tumblr meets Medium" which is longer than just saying another Twitter alternative but IMO not 100% accurate. I launched Glue in mid '21 and have been slowly iterating on it since.

Glue lets you share text, photos, video, audio, code snippets, quotes or break out into a long-form blog post. Posts on Glue are called "Drops".

Glue in action:

- My profile: https://glue.im/noah

- Audio: https://glue.im/shpigford/30482820740681729

- Code snippet: https://glue.im/noah/99641696463097857

- Blog Drop https://glue.im/glue/share-quotes-and-code-snippets

- Quote: https://glue.im/noah/241292351245389825

What makes it different from others?

- Trying to keep the UI simple and clean

- Use your own domain (ex: https://blog.ark.fm)

- Clean urls for long-form blog Drops (see above)

- Working on an API model that works for us and developers long-term

Glue doesn't have mobile apps yet, I think that's the biggest missing piece at the moment.

Feedback appreciated

Noah, sorry you're seeing lack of response here. The UI is nice, but I think the hardest problem is network effects and handling of scale. I was wondering, can't you bring your experience and input to one of the existing efforts like BlueSky, or Mastodon clients, and so on, so people see everyone is gathering around one of the solutions and can feel confident moving themselves?

In the current situation, more fragmentation only makes Twitter stronger.

I do appreciate the response and feedback. You are right, the network effect is the hardest challenge to a social platform. A way to bootstrap is to treat Glue as a "blog" or a personal website where one can post content in a stand-alone manner, while hosting it under their own domain so it feels like a personal website. I haven't really done any marketing to this effect, but I probably should.

Regarding distributed protocols: I am interested/watching those, especially the domain based handles, to see if there is a way to integrate as Glue already supports custom domains. Short answer: Yes, I'm watching to see if there are ways that fit Glue's use-case to tap into those protocols.

Glue is one app in an ecosystem of apps I'm working on under Ark (https://ark.fm): Pingly: email / calendar / team chat, Glue: social networking / blogging and a third in progress. I haven't really said what Ark is going to be as what connects all these apps is still in works and honestly is evolving as I go :)

Thank you again for your comment, cheers

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