There’s always room for one more, right?
Brian Krogsgard has launched a new link blog called Post Status that does, well, what you think it might do: Provide links to content.
How innovative is this new initiative? Like the thousands of other sites out there really isn’t anything special. In fact, let’s be honest – even what we’re doing here isn’t innovative either (so we’re in the same boat my friend). What may be special is the fact that Sir Krogsalot (what we call him internally) is curating it.
If you trust Brian (and he’s a pretty trustworthy guy) to provide you content then you should sign up and subscribe.
Unfortunately I’ve seen too many of these types of personal projects come and go so if history proves to be true then this might last for a bit of time but eventually it fades because it appears to be nothing more (as it stands today) than a collection of links to content that Brian would have tweeted or shared in other ways with the ability to comment.
I’m not trying to come off as being a negative Nancy but rather sharing what many people have already voiced (and experienced). I mean, how many link piles have you encountered in your internet lifespan? Yes, me too. A lot. And most of them aren’t from a trusted source!
And so, as I mentioned, there have already been some great responses though as well as great questions about it’s uniqueness and play mentioning other sites that appear to already do this:
@krogsgard so, I applaud the initiative, but why should I expend energy on poststat.us instead of e.g. a wordpress sub-reddit?
— Travis Northcutt (@tnorthcutt) January 21, 2013
Sure, sub-Reddit here isn’t entirely curated by one person, so there is a distinct difference, but there will be some obvious overlap.
After having blogged for more than a decade and seeing every implementation of this under the sun I have only one thing to share with my friend Brian: To ensure that it’s a success you must simply not quit.
I have no idea how Brian hopes to build it up, increase a following, monetize it (if he even cares about that, perhaps not), and make it grow, but I am personally familiar with starting a ton of stuff and not completing half of it. It’s the constant problem of an entrepreneur!
Rock it out and we’ll be watching!
I don’t think this post is an accurate representation of what Brian is doing with poststat.us.
You say “it appears to be nothing more (as it stands today) than a collection of links to content that Brian would have tweeted or shared in other ways with the ability to comment.” but in reality, anyone can submit a link to the site, and, while Brian acknowledges that the home page is currently hand-picked, it’s influenced by which posts get votes/comments from the community.
It’s pretty disappointing to see a post like this about a brand new project started by a great member of the WP community. In my opinion this is pretty negative and disrespectful of what Brian is trying to do.
Travis,
I think you took my tone too far into the negative. I was encouraging in the post throughout and I am 100% behind the initiative.
On the flip-side of the coin Travis, it’s disappointing to feel like you can’t have an honest opinion (my own personal opinion) about a project without being canned as “unsupportive” and “disrespectful”. Review my post about WPCandy recently and you’ll see we’re all about supporting new and existing initiatives.
We can have an opinion and still be supportive, which, I reiterate very strongly, I’m in favor and support of Brian. It’s the reason we blogged and posted about it in the first place.
Perhaps I did read too much into your post with regard to negative tone.
I still think you inaccurately portrayed what the site is (see my quote). Agree/disagree?
Perhaps. But I think most people would agree that your public question on Twitter is generally interpreted as:
“X exists already. Why should I bother with Y?”
… which can be interpreted as negative (even though you “applauded” the initiative). See Chris Wallace’s comment about back-handed-ness…?
But, I could be way off. Such is the internet.
Dang, I’m bummed you heard it that way. Honest, supportive critique is such a difficult thing to get across online, but it’s worth fighting for!
Part of the WP Daily Manifesto is collaboration over competition. If we remove critique from the conversation, we can never reap the spoils of true collaboration.
Collaboration without critique is dead.
Emotion runs high on the internet…! It’s hard to have any new baby criticized. I mean, we’ve been slammed a few times already for what we’re doing here… doesn’t mean that we’ll stop – makes us want to dig in harder and do even better work.
I dig the simplicity great job Sir Krogsalot!
Thanks, Jared! That’s nice to hear, coming from the master of simplicity in design
I appreciate it. It was a goal, and I’m still working on keeping these as simple as possible.
I found this article and the honest opinion that came with it refreshing. I did not see it as a bashfest. It was simply the author’s take on the site. Whenever you launch a product or project you’re sticking your self out there for critique. It not all rainbows and unicorns.
I agree Krogsgrad is a great guy and well respected in the community, but only time will tell if http://poststat.us/ will become the hacker news for WordPress.
I think most people who have ever tried launching a new product “get this.” If you’re not ready to face the internet (that forsaken wasteland) then you really shouldn’t launch at all.
I understand the emotion of a new launch and not wanting it bad-mouthed to any degree, but, only the ignorant believe that 100% of the internet will fall in love with it without anything negative to say!
And these says nothing about “innovation” – most innovative products that we love today were hated and spit on just yesterday.
As you put it best… it’s not all rainbows and unicorns!
Just being honest, I don’t really understand the point of the post if not to be hyper critical of the concept. If it was meant as an “announcement” of this new site, then let it be simply that. Explain what the site is and who runs it.
Instantly jumping on it in a critical way and then saying “oh, but we’re only trying to build you up” sends mixed messages. “You’re probably going to fail but KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.” Huh?
I’m all for constructive feedback and honesty, but I don’t think back-handed compliments are the best way to express that.
Chris,
We are providing a place for community to voice their opinions in an honest and open manner. If you’d like to be critical, by all means. If you want to support it, by all means.
Thanks for the honest review, John.
I have a lot of ideas for what Post Status can be. But in the end, it will be what the audience makes it. If the social layer doesn’t succeed, it may end up being a link blog only. If the social layer grows, it will be more of a social place first, and my voice will be less.
I’m willing to tinker with ideas. When I start automating features by vote calculations / comments / views / clicks / etc (which I didn’t launch with because it’s very tricky) I’ll probably showcase the popular page different than the featured page, and ask for feedback as to which people like better, which should be the home page, etc.
So, it’s an experiment. But it’s an experiment in terms of what it will evolve to be, not so much in whether it will exist. I have a personal interest in collecting content there, so I can keep it and go back to it, etc. So we’ll see over a longer term if others find it valuable too. Initially, it seems some people like it.
You are taking the same type of risks and tinkering in similar ways here. And as someone that’s contributed for two years to a news blog before, I can offer some opinions on such an experiment as well, with some dire warnings to boot
But like you’ve applauded my effort at Post Status, I applaud yours here!
Well said. We’ll take all the help and critique we can get!