Ask HN: Why don't "geeks" use Geeklist? I have been trying to use Geeklist for a while. It's a great tool for geeks to connect and share stuff with each other but the only problem is there are no real geeks using it. Or the one's who do have accounts are not very active. Its kinda sad since it would be cool to have a more "social" place to connect with hackers (especially for newbies like myself). Is it because hackers/geeks are inherently unsocial? |
I do not need 'badges', 'gamification', 'likes', 'high fives', 'regeeks', or any of the other bullshit that sites like Geeklist offer.
Also, Geeklist doesn't appear to have any actual information on it (see, for example, http://geekli.st/rekatz/links/15535). An entire page wasted on pictures of the submitter, social buttons, statistics, etc.
Actually connecting with other people like me I do via meetups.
"A place for geeks to share what they've done, who they did it with and connect with great companies and communities"
Okay - so I'm trying to work out the arc of a user's involvement based on the above statement. If all a "geek" ever does is trivial coding/work, then I could see them being an active member. "Today I wrote a loop!" and tomorrow's post is, "Today I solved a bug". That sort of involvement is pretty much how a beginner programming person would interact with a community, right? For guys like you and me, we work on problems that take months or years. So let's say I join, and I make an intro post: "Here's what I've done." Now what?
I'd ask the OP: what does "connect with hackers" mean to you? You've asked/mentioned it multiple times but I'm not quite clear what it means to you. Given the tagline of that site and my having made an intro post, I don't see where it goes.
Are there "great companies" trolling the site looking for "guys like me" to hire? I don't need that. Or are there "great companies" hiding in the background who desperately want to buy my services? Are there "great communities" on the site? That's what the tagline implies. And I don't get that - is Geeklist one community or multiple ones? There's just nothing on the home page that makes me want to join. To see anything at all, it appears I have to login with Facebook/etc.
I can understand them wanting to grow their network, but the damn thing won't let me unsubscribe because I can't log in (forgot password).
I've noticed quite a few sites hiding unsubscribe buttons behind a login wall lately. It's slimy, and not what I would expect from a site aimed at geeks.
Clarifying that to submit a valid opt-out request, a recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her email address and opt-out preferences, or take any other steps other than sending a reply email message or visiting a single page on an Internet website.
On Hacker News, Slashdot, Dribble, etc. I immediately see how great it is. No log-ins to start, just geeky goodness.
Put the shiny stuff up front and move the about us in the back and you probably will attract more of us ADHD techie types.
In my opinion even a platform with only REST API would be more tempting for geeks rather than geeklist.