Show HN: PicDigest - Send social photos to people who aren't on social networks | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: PicDigest - Send social photos to people who aren't on social networks

picdigest.com

It's not perfect, but I wanted to get this out and in front of people sooner than later. Helpful critiques are VERY welcome.

Open articleView on HN

Reminds me of a comment I saw on here the other day:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4722671

    > Facebook is going to forge a new path to irrelevance, not 
    > take the same path as MySpace. People will stop using 
    > Facebook because (1) they outgrow it, (2) they get tired of 
    > it, or (3) it lost its usefulness.

    > I don't believe another app will take its place. Rather, I 
    > think an existing app/platform is already Facebook's 
    > biggest competitor. And it's one you've been using for 30 
    > years. Email.

This really rang true to me and I think this project is further early evidence of the way we're headed.

Edit: Just realised that the comment I've quoted is actually by the creator of this project!

Haha! Coincidence?!

Are you at all concerned about possible aggressive future ToS changes? Seems like this project provides a way for people to enjoy one of the benefits of these social network services without paying the "price" of creating an account full of juicy demographic data that contributes to their advertising value proposition.

I love the idea though. I'd love for there to be a way to enjoy the ease of sharing that social network services provide without the horrible privacy problems. And I'm convinced that email has been the solution all along. Social networking websites wouldn't even exist if the email UI paradigm had evolved with user needs instead of stagnating around subject lines, rich text and so on. One day Google+ and GMail will be the same thing, I swear.

The possibility of a ToS change is there, but that's a necessary risk. Right now, I'm in the clear.

The next major iteration of PicDigest will bypass the traditional social layer altogether, giving you a way to connect your loved ones directly to a forthcoming super-awesome camera app. Fully private (or as private as email can be).

Great question!

This service doesn't work without Facebook/Instagram though...I think thats an important distinction because a hub/central provider will be needed. For photos it'd be hard to replace facebook (considering it owns insta too)

Correct. Right now you need Facebook or Instagram (also, kinda, Facebook). It's a traction thing.

I'm already working on an app that will bypass social networks altogether and connect you directly with your recipients without the need to post pictures anywhere.

But don't we already have that? It's called email!

This is quite off topic, but related to "Facebook Photos".

There used to be an option in my sidebar on Facebook called "photos", clicking it would show all the photos my friends had uploaded. It was the news feed but for photos! However 2 days ago it disappeared, this is my sidebar now: http://i.imgur.com/Vvte9.png

The only option I have now is "photos", which is my own photos. Did Facebook kill the photo feed for everyone or did it just disappear for me?

I've seen that feed come and go quite a few times over the recent months. They're probably testing and/or working on something new. It is highly frustrating when the feed disappears.

Good job. Nice clean design on the site & email.

I made something in a similar vein a while back, although it wasn't linked to any social network: http://www.sendasaurus.com if you're curious. Basically you manually upload the photos and then it automatically sends them one at a time, once a day.

I think you're right to focus on the simplicity and mind-free aspect of the service. It might be worth reflecting this in your pricing too, eg have an option to pay $20 for an entire year. I definitely find it nicer to spend a lump like that and not have to think about it, than to see a monthly dribble of small amounts.

$20/year is the other payment option when you upgrade. It's just easier to say $2/month in marketing copy than "$2/month or $20/year".

EDIT: Sendsaurus is cool.

Love it. A much better idea than getting my wife's parents on Facebook just to see pics.

My inspiration for PicDigest: the hassle of getting my mom and dad and grand mom (et al) on Instagram and showing them how it works...just so they can see all the pics I post of my new son.

your grand mom is on email? neat.

This would also be cool with Dropbox. I know people have shared albums with new pics added every-so-often.

And a printed option (someday) would be nice too. Something like the recipient can one-click to get a printed version sent to their house (and I pay).

But very cool anyway.

Dropbox will definitely be an added option in the future. Along with Flickr, Photobucket, Google+, etc.

And photo printing for your recipients will be added before the oh-so-important photo printing holidays (Christmas and Hanukah).

Thanks for the ideas!

You might want to partner up with picplum [1] for the photo-printing part. They already have an API [2].

[1] https://www.picplum.com/

[2] https://www.picplum.com/developer

Great Idea! I could send photos this way to my parents. good job!

Glad you like it! And thank you very much. The "send photos to parents" is definitely a top use-case so far.

This is a great use case. My sister-in-law gave her mom her Facebook account login so she can see pictures of the grandkids without having to sign up for a Facebook account.

This would be so much better.

Oh yikes. Giving someone else your login, even a trusted family member, sounds rickety. Yes, let her know that PicDigest exists. :)

couldn't you just email them the photos and bypass another process altogether? We're just coming full circle. email photos to friends, facebook post, now back to email photos to friends because facebook's not adding any value.

Email is the endgame. Right now, the natural flow for millions is to post photos to Instagram or Facebook. PicDigest fits that flow without any other steps.

The next major iteration of PicDigest will bypass both posting to social networks AND the step of sending photos by email. It'll change the world!!! [insert evil laugh]

Surely unrelated to Eytan Levit's idea,[1] but very funny that these arose on HN at the same time! (although clearly Eytan's post is now specifically about his idea)

[1]seen at http://www.eytanlevit.com/post/34639708833/operation-hogwart...

Nice!

One possible flaw here is that it only sends public images. I don't post pics (the exact pics I want to send) of my daughter publicly.

Isn't there a way to tag the photo as ok to send?

My aim for PicDigest senders (me and you) is that, once you sign up, it's a mind-free service. You never have to mess with it or think about it again.

Something like Instagram hashtags or tags in Facebook would make it a mind-full service, meaning you have to think about it. Although that means it might not be for everyone, I do think the people that it fits will love it all the more.

Thanks for pointing that out, though! :)

Product / Market fit for some of my friends (whom I sent it to)

Basically, young parents with kids and [grand]parents who aren't going to join FB. Perfect fit.

Right on! :)

Love the idea. Great to share with non-techy families!

Thank you very much!

Google Plus already does this, and its free. You can share any image/post with anyone via email, and you can make circles for batch send.

Awesome! Just proof that it's a needed service/feature.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com