Ask HN: What should I do with meet.hn?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

An experimental site, meet.hn, aims to help Hacker News readers find each other locally for small or 1‑on‑1 meetups, but is running into classic community‑building challenges: few organizers, sparse maps outside tech hubs, and uncertainty about how people actually want to connect. Contributors propose everything from lightweight “I’m at this café for 2 hours” presence signals and automated email introductions to city chat groups, browser extensions that mark meet.hn users on HN pages, and even a recurring “Meet HN” thread on Hacker News itself. Privacy concerns, reluctance to link real identities to HN accounts, and differing preferences for in‑person vs. virtual or topic‑based meetups emerge as key constraints on how far the idea can realistically scale.

Perceived Purpose and Value

  • Original intent emphasized small groups or 1‑1 meetups, especially while traveling, rather than big events.
  • Some find 1‑1 meetings hardest to initiate without a concrete “reason”; others enjoy meeting interesting people for its own sake.
  • Several see meet.hn as most useful as a lightweight way to find nearby HN readers or locals when visiting a new city.

Bootstrapping Users and Visibility

  • Classic chicken‑and‑egg: many cities show only one or a few users, so people hesitate to engage.
  • Suggestions: periodic “Meet HN” threads on HN (similar to “Who’s Hiring”), quarterly reminder posts, or a dedicated /meet route to list local meetups.
  • Ideas to auto‑match or nudge nearby users: random pair emails, flash meetups (“coding at café X for 4 hours”), or email notifications for events within a radius.

Meetup Formats and Community Building

  • Experiences from 2600, LUGs, etc.: success depends on consistent date/place, reliable organizers, clear communication, and visible proof that events keep happening.
  • Many stress the need for local “hosts” or stewards; most people will attend but not organize.
  • Format ideas: weekly hangs, structured “what are you working on?” sessions, lightning talks, PechaKucha/Nerd Nite‑style talks, or virtual topic‑based meetups that may later lead to IRL.
  • Warnings about no‑shows; charging a small fee (possibly refunded to attendees) may improve commitment.

Contact, Privacy, and Identity

  • Pain point: many profiles only list GitHub or lack clear contact info, making outreach awkward.
  • Proposals: opt‑in email chains, simple built‑in forums/boards per city/country, or direct‑message tools tied to HN usernames.
  • Strong concerns about linking real‑world identity to HN handles, especially for those with controversial opinions or OPSEC worries; some want separate meet.hn identities.

Technical and UX Feedback

  • Requests: multiple locations per user, better city clustering (e.g., whole metro areas), an API, support for ActivityPub/ATProto.
  • Bug/UX issues: location resolution changes broke older city URLs; some users can’t get added due to unclear profile‑text instructions.
  • Suggestions for integrations: browser extension to show a meet.hn badge next to HN usernames, or an HN “proxy” site doing the same.

Skepticism and Limitations

  • Some view it as a solution searching for a problem, given existing meetups and the introverted nature of many HN readers.
  • Others argue the core idea is sound and that simply keeping the site running, clarifying its value, and lightly reminding HN periodically might be enough.