Ask HN: How would you design an alternative Twitter
If you want to design an alternative Twitter then my advice would be to not start with the tech. There seems to be plenty of stuff out there than you can bolt together to get things started, and which comes with options for scaling <i>if you subsequently need it</i>.<p>Some thoughts:<p>- Start with thinking about how you&#x27;re going to maintain engagement without pushing people into algorithmically-generated echo chambers, or into attack&#x2F;defence behaviour that will just turn your New Twitter into the same cesspit as Old Twitter.<p>- Also think about how you&#x27;re going to moderate content -  because you&#x27;re going to have to do it whether you like it or not, and its going to have to be at various scales from post-level to policy-level. There&#x27;s a very good argument to be made that Legacy Twitter&#x27;s product <i>is</i> content moderation [1], not software. Human nature being what it is, you may find that eventually it&#x27;s your product too.<p>- Also, consider how you are going to deal with state-level and semi-state-level actors who will attempt to infiltrate your platform to use it as an amplifier.<p>The tech platform will help with the above, of course, but above all I think you need to consciously design the thing that you&#x27;re building. That thing isn&#x27;t a software platform or a social network or a community. It&#x27;s something else. Figure that out first.<p>And if you want to build something that makes the world better (as opposed to worse, as in Old Twitter), you might consider how people can use your new platform to <i>get stuff done</i> in the world, rather than just shouting and meme-ing. I wish I knew how to do that though.<p>If you do build something like Twitter then please try to build it so that it doesn&#x27;t cause harm.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theverge.com&#x2F;2022&#x2F;10&#x2F;28&#x2F;23428132&#x2F;elon-musk-twitter-acquisition-problems-speech-moderation" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theverge.com&#x2F;2022&#x2F;10&#x2F;28&#x2F;23428132&#x2F;elon-musk-twitt...</a>