IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

How we lost communication to entertainment

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Social Media Shifted from Communication to Ad-Driven Entertainment

Platforms like Facebook started for connecting people but pivoted to ads and content for profit. "Facebook started as a way to connect with family and friends... On the other hand that's not enough for a business so Facebook mashes that up with brands/businesses" - PaulHoule. "We lost communication to advertising" - scotty79.

2. Advertising as Root Cause of Platform Toxicity

Ads demand endless engagement, turning networks into "antisocial media." "Dump advertising into the ocean. The motivation for maximizing engagement on social media is to maximize ad impressions for revenue" - ThrowawayR2. "The singular purpose of social media has always been advertising" - spwa4.

3. Addiction, AI Slop, and Erosion of Humanity

Endless, algorithm-fueled content exploits dopamine, risking societal collapse. "Addictive digital media may actually be more dangerous... because it is cheap, always available, endless, and physically harmless" - api. "We're in the process of sacrificing our collective humanity for corporate profit" - GolfPopper.

🚀 Project Ideas

Fediverse Universal Reader

Summary

  • A cross-protocol client app that aggregates feeds from ActivityPub services (Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube) and displays all content types (text, images, videos) without filtering, solving interoperability issues where apps like Pixelfed hide non-image posts.
  • Core value: Restores full communication across fediverse by providing a single inbox for genuine interaction, not siloed entertainment.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Fediverse users frustrated with platform silos (e.g., "Pixelfed is not letting the user know there is even a message" - karel-3d).
Core Feature Unified timeline fetching all post types via ActivityPub/Nostr/Bluesky, with customizable filters and full-text search.
Tech Stack Rust (for backend federation), Tauri (desktop/mobile UI), SQLite (local caching).
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium (basic free, $5/mo pro for multi-account sync).

Notes

  • HN users lament fediverse fragmentation ("decentralised software is hard... each actor can just do whatever they want" - karel-3d); this enables "email 2.0" dreams.
  • High utility for multi-account users ("people have multiple fediverse accounts, to limit context" - TheServitor); sparks fedi dev discussions.

CleanSearch Aggregator

Summary

  • Browser extension and CLI tool that proxies searches across DuckDuckGo, Kagi, and Perplexity, stripping AI summaries/overviews, ads, popups, and trackers for factual results only.
  • Core value: Revives fast, simple search without "spinning up an LLM every time" or data mining exhaustion, delivering "results... better, and faster 10 years ago" (cons0le).

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Users tired of AI-ified, ad-riddled search ("searching for a spinach salad recipe... helped train the system that made brexit possible" - cons0le).
Core Feature One-click AI/ad opt-out, cached plain results, "-noai" auto-append, recipe/library-like clean views.
Tech Stack JavaScript (extension), Node.js (CLI), Puppeteer (rendering), local vector DB for caching.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: $3/mo premium (unlimited caching, custom engines).

Notes

  • Directly quotes HN pains ("I'd love to... opt out of AI features... Sometimes I just want to 'use' a computer" - cons0le); aligns with anti-ad sentiment ("Ban targeted advertising").
  • Practical for daily use; fosters debates on search enshittification and open alternatives.

CategoryLink Hub

Summary

  • Community-curated directory reviving Yahoo-style browse-by-category for websites/blogs/forums, with HN-like voting, no algorithms, and RSS integration to combat AI slop and feed fatigue.
  • Core value: Provides a human-maintained "curated list of links by category to browse" (AnimalMuppet), surfacing quality human content over endless scrolls.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Nostalgic web users seeking non-algorithmic discovery ("Sometimes I wish I still had a curated list... Does anybody know...?" - AnimalMuppet).
Core Feature Hierarchical categories, upvote/downvote curation, embedded RSS previews, anti-spam moderation.
Tech Stack Next.js (frontend), Supabase (DB/auth), Redis (voting).
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN crowd loves anti-algorithm tools ("HN doesn't serve ads... yet it's compelling" - SoftTalker); quotes desire for "old web" structure.
  • Utility for discovering fedi/RSS gems; potential for viral HN threads on revival projects.

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