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rvense

I'm actually part of a site like this, just a thing a friend of a friend made:

- You can write and edit one post at a time.

- This post, in whatever form it has then, gets published at 8 in the morning.

- You can only see posts for today. All old content gets deleted.

- No comments or feedback is possible.

- Only symmetric relationships are possible: you can add someone, but they won't see your posts and you won't see their posts until they add you back.

- All "friend" discovery is out of band. There are no recommendations, no boosting/retweeting, nothing.

This is obviously not a mass medium, but its reductionism gives it some interesting properties that have made me consider what a good social network would be. One post a day is a fantastic idea.

(I don't know if they intend for it to be named in public, so I'll refrain.)

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With a few differences this is a well established type of site in Japan.

I've mentioned it before, but my wife posts about our life there. People can follow you, but there is no feedback aside from you seeing how many people read your post and how many followers you have. There are no recommendations; you have to organically check out the people who read your article to see if you like their writing (if they have any), or add people from an out of band source. Content is as ephemeral as you make it. It's very common for people to only leave a post up for a day or two, but it's up to the author.

If you are interested it's called ameba (www.ameba.co.jp). It's not the only one like this, just the one my wife uses.

The correct URL is https://www.ameba.jp/

Thanks; I don’t really use it and was on the go when I commented that!

I’m on a site built by a friend and you can only post on Mondays, and then you see every one else’s post only if you posted on Monday.

I wonder how many micro communities like this exist, mostly under the radar.

As a “never post, but catch up on my feed every month or two” type user the lack of an archive makes this product useless but I realize it’s not for me and wouldn’t complain just saying it’s stated as low touch but kind of requires daily use.

Agreed. I actually don’t think removing old content is strictly necessary for a pleasant experience. Looking at friends’ or even my old posts on conventional social media is one of the more enjoyable/less toxic experiences.

In fact, on the topic of posting less, I know first-hand that the introduction of the ephemeral “story” format in conventional social media was done precisely in order to reduce friction in getting people to post more.

I agree, in fact I think the ephemeral approach incentivizes unwanted behavior. i.e. to me social media needs to become less addictive. If you force someone into a habit that they have to check every day lest they miss something, you get a FOMO-driven reinforcement of habit and/or even addiction.

It sounds quite minimal and pleasant. I hope the project develops into something available more broadly.

OK, but how are you supposed to meet anyone new this way?

You aren't.

Sounds like a early classic blog?

Possibly, although I don't know any classic blogs that deleted their posts after a day or two. That makes a pretty massive difference in how it's used. For example, I wouldn't put much effort into a post that will only be around for a day or two.

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