pillowfort?

[sealie]

Hi flist,

I just came across this thing social media platform called Pillowfort. It's currently in closed beta

Any one else clocked this, have an opinion?

https://www.pillowfort.io/

from the info pages (https://www.pillowfort.io/about):

The founders of Pillowfort want to create a site that takes the best features from popular blogging platforms and discards the bad. We are aiming for a site that is user-friendly, community-friendly, efficient, and fun. We aim to give users more privacy and more control over their content, while offering better ways to hold conversations. (Such as threaded comments!)

We want Pillowfort to be everything we love about online communities. Build your home here!

Comments

[ratcreature]

I've been trying it since the last beta invite wave but as it is now I don't see how it can gain enough momentum. While it combines Tumblr and LJ/DW features, it does not offer anything game changing as far as features go, and as far as I can see they have no strategy to attract massively popular exclusive content or anything to draw people either.

I wouldn't mind if it caught on more, but I'm a sceptic.

Right now there are still many beta kind annoyances, that they plan to change eventually, like you don't get email notifications of comments made in response to you. But there are also design choices that intentionally differ from Tumblr that make certain fannish practices not work there. Like, that reblogs with any additions are deleted if the original post is deleted (but currently implemented in a somewhat inconsistent and confusing way depending on edits and comment settings which is also a problem), see this discussion post for example https://pillowfort.io/posts/37581

[sealie]

there's quite a few familiar names in that comment stream.

I see what you mean about the issues. I miss LJ in the olden days, it's a pity that DW doesn't seem to have filled the gap.

[ratcreature]

I still miss mailing lists, which were the first online fandom platform I imprinted on... I really resented the whole shift to blogging and then LJ for quite a while.

I think the lack of media support really hamstrung DW. And Tumblr offered a niche for participation by curating content via reblogs rather than just new production. I mean, I don't do reblogs but they do open up a space to gain followers without having to perform all the time.

[sholio]

I have an account on there, but it just doesn't have enough users yet to produce a viable online community, and it's moving so slowly that I can't see how it's ever going to (though they could always surprise me!). If I want a rather small social media platform where I can talk to people, DW/LJ has everything I like about Pillowfort, comparatively more people, and an interface I find much easier to use and more fun. And then Tumblr is where I go for a big active fandom community and the possibility of connecting to new people in fandom. Pillowfort just doesn't have anything those places don't. Maybe if it got bigger, it would.

[sealie]

to be honest, the only thing that would seriously excite me would be an AO3-esque offshoot focussed on fandom/fanfic content*. In fact pretty much what LJ was in its heyday, and what DW could be (but it's quieter).



**with a: if you like this fic, you'll probably like this fic community.

[ratcreature]

I often go through the AO3 bookmarks of authors I like to find new things, to get something like that social network feature, but too many don't seem to bookmark a lot on AO3.

[sealie]

Ah, senfic you were a special place.

On Ao3 If I really like a fic, i'll check out the bookmarks if there's a reviewer who adds commentary, I'll check out their other bookmarks.

[saphirablue]

I wanted to check them out but then I've seen some of their Kickstarter reward stickers and, nope, on a personal level.