Validate Idea – Build infinite communities around the internet

Question

Hello everyone, I'm Edric. I'm a developer and tech enthusiast.During my time browsing, I came across many helpful resources such as classic startup articles, insightful blogs, and impactful videos. And guess what? I&rsquo;m not alone. Thousands like me are seeking wisdom too.Websites are like tribes, where like-minded people gather. Think about forums such as IndieHackers, HackerNews, and ProductHunt&hellip;In today's world, having an engaged audience is vital. Building communities around individuals, products, or passions is the trend.That's when it hit me: Why don't we connect directly with millions on the sites we love?That's why we made Builder - a browser extension that allows you to dive into communities right from the sites you're browsing. Instantly hang out, create topics, and collaborate with everyone on the websites you visit.Each website domain operates as a community, with child pages having a chat room where visitors can discuss topics related to each page's content.Our extension (Beta): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/buidler-one-extension-any/omhbdacaeafhladkifficmjmpeaijlfcLearn more on our website: https://buidler.app/Just install the extension, and people don't need to download any additional apps or learn how to use a new app. Improve accessibility for everyone.The extension functions autonomously from the website, and as such, it is not subject to control or review by any individual. Decisions are made by the community.And let's talk use cases, shall we?- Tech Enthusiasts: Geek out with tech enthusiasts on news sites, and forums- E-Commerce Shoppers: Chat with shoppers, get product recommendations, and share experiences while browsing online stores.- Education Sites: Work with classmates, discuss assignments, and get help from friends directly on the website.- Trading Platforms: Traders can chat and monitor markets all in one place with Trading Platforms like TradingView.- Personal Blogs: Dive into discussions with your favorite bloggers, and other readers right on the articles.If you own a website, would you like to convert your visitors into members? With our plugin, you can increase user engagement, strengthen loyalty, attract new visitors, and foster community growth.Our vision is to create a messaging layer for websites that enables free communication and fosters online communities around the internet.Please try using it and give us any feedback/suggestions you have!Thank you!

h2odragon · Accepted Answer

So a commenting service like disqus, but requiring a browser extension?
> not subject to control or review by any individual.
If my anti-fans decide to use your extension to coordinate attacks against my site; I'll be helpless to do anything about it? How about you, will your company be taking responsibility for these "communities" or will you be allowing free speech and self governance? What if they "go bad"?
What do you do when the someone in the Federal government asks you to "de-emphasize" discussions and viewpoints? Tell them the system can't do that?

elamje · Answer

There is something here. Other commenters are comparing to Disqus and Reddit, but I actually think the surface area here is potentially larger.
Imagine subreddits for every domain on the web, automatically. r/news.ycombinator.com, r/, etc. Reddit kind of does this today, but only for sites with enough fans ~on reddit~. It's the last 2 words in that sentence that are important. Disqus's surface area is limited by site admins that set it up, Reddits surface area is limited by having a critical mass of reddit users for a particular site. This is sort of different.
I don't think browser extension is your best distribution strategy. Largely I would go for a completely open thing closer to reddit r/ structure, but keep using the browser extension as a way to make interacting with that community a little easier for users. User adoption and critical mass is kind of the main way this is interesting, so you have to find communities online around content that has super fans, but doesn't have forums, etc. already up. Or you have to get those forums and subreddits to move to your thing which is a challenge.
Here are a couple of ideas: - YouTubers, when people are watching a YouTube video by a certain YouTuber, have your extension build community around the YouTuber's channel rather than the video (which is the limit of YouTube comments today) - Find blogs with huge audiences, where the blogger only has a premium, paid community. You can be the open community for all of the fans that won't pay for the premium community

solardev · Answer

While well intentioned, I think this is basically a harder to use reddit (or Disqus, as the other poster mentioned).
Browser extension means you exclude most mobile users, which is half or more of an average website's audience.
People generally talk about topics, not domains, like "best air fryer" and not "Amazon.com" (which is too big a discussion) or airfryers.com (which is probably some spam site). The mapping between topics and domains is not simple.
Your free speech ideals are going to run into massive spam, porn, abuse, trolling, and propaganda issues within a few days. Without extensive moderation your comments will be worthless within a few weeks.
There is no discoverability and search. No way to find what other people are talking about unless you happen to have the extension and go to a specific website.
You'll be hated by website owners because they have no say or control over this additional metalayer, no way to integrate it into their layout, respond to comments, delete certain ones, etc.
I would love to be proven wrong though :/

KomoD · Answer

Is it "Builder" or "Buidler"Also I can't even look at the extension page unless I give my ID card or card details to google