zlacker

I've always been hopeful that lobste.rs would take off, but sadly the steps they took to ensure good participation has kept it from growing. I mean, it still gets new articles, and there are a very few items that aren't on HN (or showed up sooner), but most posts have very little discussion. Looking at the homepage, and the majority of links have 0 comments.

That said, it's got a few features that people have pitched as the solution for HN (tags being one of them).

>>shuzch+(OP)
lobste.rs is invite only, isn't it? Do you think that's been their main problem, or are there others?

I ask because a forum project is on the back burner for me and this kind of thing is relevant to my interests.

>>shuzch+(OP)
The biggest issue with lobste.rs is that they hide some of the tag filtering features behind the invite-only membership. I can understand restricting the commenting and submission, but I have no desire to chase after an invitation just to get the tag filtering features.

I also think their invite-only membership policy puts them on a different community-growth curve than an HN, Reddit, Metafilter. I used to scan through the lobste.rs headlines, but i've switched back to a mixture of subreddits, because I can actually contribute more there.

>>krapp+I
Not only is it invite only but your own membership can be revoked if the people you invited cause problems (they keep track of the user tree https://lobste.rs/u, so your actions could also reflect badly on the person you got an invite from). The true reason could be something else (or many factors), but I suspect this is one decision that has kept the pool of users extremely small (1.1k isn't much for a social graph).

>>shuzch+L3
Huh. So basically it's like the mafia. You vouch for the wrong guy you get whacked.

I can see how that might stifle discussion.

Although... temporary guest accounts with joint karma might be an interesting idea.

>>jared3+F3
Perhaps your issue with the tag filtering is from an older version? When I look at lobste.rs in an incognito window, it appears I can set tag filters even without an account (they claim "Since you are not logged in, your filters will be stored in a long-lasting browser cookie."). That said, it'd be awesome if they allowed access to that feature through a url you could bookmark.

>>shuzch+uw1
The feature was added after I posted that comment. They are watching!

https://lobste.rs/s/wnqz13/tag_filtering_now_available_to_lo...

https://github.com/jcs/lobsters/commit/249dd85ec3e0d36f6d87d...