Key Takeaways
The problem is that Facebook Groups decimated online forums. Those used to be great for thematic communities but became deserts and I think that whenever someone introduces something they did, whether paid or not, is now treated as spam or something one should pay for instead of discuss it(imagine how much technical talk could be had about a project you made) because the volume of messages became so low that any type of self promotion gets a lot of exposure(imagine that a forum gets 10 new posts per week, your post would then be shown for a quite some time until it would fall off the lists of recent posts) and search bots have time to index it.
FB Groups on the other hand became monetised, despite it breaking FB rules. So any link you post is instantly deleted, and you'll likely be banned, unless you pay for it to the administrator beforehand. It took these admins years to build these groups so they will not risk letting anyone use it to self promote without paying.
It's a total shitshow out there. Don't think it's just you. It's not. The internet just really sucks nowadays.
Because most places don't want you to post self promotion and leave, that's spammy.
> I’m not trying to promote anything here.
You are, that seems to be your only intention. Your first 2 posts (out of 3) were about promoting your site and now your third post is complaining about unsuccessfully promoting your site.
You promoted your site and then left.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
> Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.
So imagine you read HN for a while, but never register a nym because you don't really like to do social media. Then, you are inspired to do a project and think the community would enjoy it, and get hit with hostility.
I suspect sometimes that's a trend that plays out, not saying it's the case in this particular instance.
Some feedback, more mean than usual, but I hope it helps:
When I arrive to ypur site, I get a lot of text in Korean and no explanation. Add some explanation and add an option to filter only post in English [or perhaps 1) Everything 2) English 3) Korean 4) Others.] It's very difficult to get traction here if the site is not in English (or at least is easy to switch.). [Hi from Argentina! Remember to add Spanish if you get enough users from here.]
Is it possible to create a new post? Did I create a new one https://rankiwiki.com/archives/6109 ? Did I create a new one! I didn't want to create one. Luckily it wrote something silly and not mean. Anyway, why does it have no options? Do you have some filter or moderation?
Can I upvote without login in? Is it possible to make some anonymous pools? (yes, they will be full of multiple votes and other nasty things, but it's easy to get anonymous users, at least block double votes using cookies, that is easy to bypass for advanced users.)
Why I can't see the comments?
In your last post you say "Designed for small groups where the ranking is a starting point for discussion, not a final verdict.". How is that implemented in the site? I guess online polls are not binding. Are some polls closed to a few "friends" accounts?
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My recommendation is to get a friend or something similar, and ask them to use the site without a detailed explanation. Something like "Just create/vote a pool about fruits."
You sit back like 1 meter behind your friend, shut up and cross your hands on your back. Zero helping. Watch how they interact with the site and where they get stuck. After some time give help, so your friend doesn't get angry. Thanks your friend, and go to fix where they get stuck.
Now find another friend ... fix where they get stuck.
Now find another friend ... fix where they get stuck.
You’re right about the language issue and the lack of upfront explanation, that’s on me. The accidental post creation is especially painful to hear, but useful.
I like your suggestion about silent user testing. I’ve mostly tested it myself, which probably explains a lot.
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