Hacker News but for independent blogs

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

A new site called Bubbles aims to recreate a Hacker News–style front page for independent, largely non‑technical blogs, using curated sources, RSS, and Fediverse logins for voting and comments. Commenters praise the concept, simplicity, and “small web” feel, but debate design choices like forcing links to open in new tabs, reliance on social login instead of email, the handling of AI content, and what qualifies as an “independent” or acceptable blog. The mix of niche, highly personal writing and polarizing posts highlights both the appeal and challenges of curating humane, diverse content without sliding into spam, monoculture, or opaque algorithmic feeds.

Overall Reaction and Concept

  • Many commenters find Bubbles refreshing, “lovely,” and reminiscent of the early web and curated blog aggregators.
  • It’s seen as an HN-style, community-ranked front page specifically for indie/personal blogs and non-tech content.
  • Others argue the title is slightly misleading: it’s not “HN topics but indie sources,” but a broader, general-interest blog feed.

Tech Stack and Operations

  • Developer states it’s written in Go, using SQLite, running on a Hetzner box, built from scratch (not an HN/lobste.rs re-skin).
  • Not open source yet; “maybe someday.”
  • Some curiosity about scaling, anti-brigading mechanisms, and “Top” ranking, but details are largely unclear.

Content Sourcing and Criteria

  • Blogs are curated; criteria are in the FAQ and include: independent/personal, no ads/paywalls/self-marketing, moderate posting pace (≈≤1–2 posts/day).
  • A high-frequency blog submission was explicitly rejected on that basis.
  • Platform-hosted blogs (e.g., Substack) can be included if they meet the non-monetization criteria.
  • Suggestions can be sent via email; sign-in is only required for voting/hiding, not for suggesting blogs.

Authentication, Identity, and Social Media

  • Current login is via Fediverse (Mastodon-compatible). Some appreciate this; others want email or Apple sign-in and avoid social media.
  • Long discussion about single-sign-on vs. compartmentalized identities, with strong privacy and anti-megacorp sentiments.
  • Some distinguish between “social media” and “social web”; others see them as effectively the same.

UI/UX and Features

  • Big debate over links opening in new tabs vs same tab. Many argue for respecting browser defaults and user choice.
  • Developer commits to switch default to same-tab, like HN, after traffic calms, and is open to user preferences.
  • RSS is available for main feed and “Briefings”; list views can be filtered by minimum votes with corresponding RSS.
  • Briefings, with daily summaries and excerpts, are widely praised; excerpts and read-time for list views are planned (some prefer word count).
  • Search is reported as not working; “Top” and its time window are unclear; users want time-scoped top (week/month/year).

Content Tone, Politics, and “Small Web” Navel-Gazing

  • Several users are turned off by politically charged posts (e.g., “wellness as white supremacist dog whistle”), calling them over-the-top or racist; others defend them as cultural critique of narrow beauty/fitness ideals.
  • Some complain that much “small web” content is about blogging/the small web itself; others say that self-referential meta-discussion is historically normal for emerging communities.
  • There’s concern that indie aggregators will naturally collect “weird” or highly ideological content; some see that as part of the appeal.

Comparisons and Alternatives

  • Compared to Digg/Metafilter (link-first), Planet Mozilla (author-first), Kagi Small Web, Minifeed, and niche aggregators like engineered.at and Rap Dash.
  • Another project with AI-only ranking is mentioned; many in the thread express preference for transparent, human-driven voting over opaque algorithmic/AI feeds.
  • Some request an “AI” category and per-blog mute/hide to manage the growing volume of AI-related and outsourced content.