Show HN: I built an active community of trans people online
128 comments
·January 23, 2025wjbolles
If you've created a service with that many users, that could be a target for malicious actors, and also hosts NSFW content, you may want to look over this article and protect yourself by forming an LLC.
t4t
The biggest piece of feedback I think I have gotten from posting here is that the nsfw content is a bit shocking which I get. Sorry about that.
My guess is that if you just scrolled twitter or whatever by new exclusively unfiltered you wouldn’t have that different an experience.
On the one hand I do think there is something interesting about the rawness of this network but also some sort of smart nsfw filtering is clearly needed, and I've been in the bubble of making this long enough to have become a bit desensitized.
I will get that shipped within the week!
mmooss
Several US states now require age verification for adult content (I don't know how that is defined). A case challenging such laws is being considered by the US Supreme Court, but most experts believe the court will allow the age verification.
That may mean users identifying themselves, which seems dangerous. (It should not at all be dangerous, but it is.) All you need is some phobic government official to sue or investigate you, for any reason they can come up with, and demand all your records as part of their lawsuit/investigation.
Perhaps there's a way to do age verification while minimizing privacy risks? For example, verify their age, give them their credentials, then delete the PII? I don't know if that would suffice if your age verification practices were challenged.
(Talk to an expert.)
Atotalnoob
You probably shouldn’t show NSFW to non-logged in users.
Otherwise you could run afoul of various laws, since technically minors can access it
t4t
I will add a tagging system and hide nsfw posts from non-logged-in non-opted-in users this weekend.
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quesera
Serious question: Is my browser blocking image content or something?
Or is there general consensus that plain body-font sized text is also an NSFW concern?
Atotalnoob
I didn’t see any non-text content, but I didn’t spend that much time looking.
NSFW text is a thing, there are porn sites that house explicit text for zoophilia, pedophilia, incest, rape, etc. I’m not saying this site has anything extreme or out there, but there are likely laws governing what text can be shown, it’s simpler to just require login, since that will also help protect you against COPPA and other restrictions for minors that are non NSFW related.
I’m all for free speech, but there are laws governing how certain text is handled
aliasxneo
It's probably hard to reach a consensus when every workplace is different. However, sexually explicit text would be inappropriate at most places I've worked.
cynicalsecurity
[flagged]
dang
Please don't post in the flamewar style to HN. We've had to ask you this more than once before.
Atotalnoob
I’m talking about NSFW posts, not a blanket statement about trans people.
I would urge you to reread my post.
whalesalad
honestly I think people just need to grow up. so many people get outraged and cry "this should be NSFW!" when it is literally just a naked human body. we are so prudish in our society.
aliasxneo
Not everyone share that view, and that’s OK.
jl6
The app seems to be marked 17+ on the App Store, which means it may have “Infrequent/mild sexual content”.
The very first entry on the recent posts list is:
“tell us about your cum!”
I think you need to make a choice between being strictly adults-only and strictly SFW-only. If you allow under 18s and show them that kind of content, there will be headlines.
fkyoureadthedoc
Reddit seems to do fine with mixed content. Just need to have good controls for it in app imo.
anaisbetts
Cool app, I'll give it a try. Thanks for sharing, and I definitely appreciate feeling the need for an alternative to Lex (which is sad! they took VC money then had to hypergrowth or die, my prediction is that it will be the latter tbh).
If they would've kept super lean and focused on a sustainable business model, they could've been a pretty big success
xrd
As someone who isn't familiar with the norms of this community, the first few posts were somewhat surprising. I mean to say, they were overtly sexual and public. I have many trans friends and gay friends so I'm not saying I've never heard terminology like that, but it was usually in a closed conversation. I wonder if those are spam comments? It would be interesting to hear how you plan to guard against people who will probably see this as a good place to hunt for vulnerable people. I'm interested because I thought this might be a good place to help find ways to support my friends in an awful time. But I am not sure I would want to participate in the community just given the first few posts I saw.
t4t
I don’t think the thirst posts are trolls, but I do know what you mean. One of my top priorities this next month is adding NSFW filtering to the app to allow people to toggle that sort of content on and off.
segasaturn
I'm glad that you're making it a toggle and not banning it outright. This is my biggest gripe with BlueSky at the moment.
raincole
Isn't BlueSky doing the exact thing you want: making it a toggle?
mbStavola
I'm not sure what you mean?
On Bluesky they just apply a label and users are free to toggle it as show/warn/hide. At least, this is what I've personally experienced using the site.
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buro9
Beware if you have UK users, you should read the new law in the UK called the online safety act.
Your site has young trans people, sexual content, and would also be a target for grooming from chasers. The risks, for you, are very high.
tasuki
> The risks, for you, are very high.
Is the creator in the UK? Or do they visit regularly? It wasn't mentioned in the original post.
buro9
The law has ridiculous overreach, that's true. And we haven't seen what international enforcement of it looks like yet. But to deal with the facts as they are now, the law states that it applies if you have UK users, and that the personal liability for officers of the company can be up to £18M... The overreach continues because it also covers "harmful but not illegal" content.
The app publishing didn't exclude the UK, it probably should.
nemomarx
non content related feedback
I like how minimalist the UI is, but I might want a little bit of padding on the sides? I feel like HN does that part pretty well even though it's a little more decorated than this.
Also it wasn't obvious to me that the website is sort of a "preview" of the front page and the app is the main platform, i'll have to check that part out too.
t4t
Thank you for the feedback. As a design decision I did want to completely forego landing pages and upsells, both the sites and the app just "drop you in". I could probably make it a bit more clear without losing the minimalism of the page though that the real experience is in the app, not on the site.
The site serves mostly to allow people to share public posts and profiles from the app.
DoctorOW
As a trans woman I gave it a go. I find the interface a little confusing and unappealing but the featureset for profiles is actually what I'd be looking for.
01HNNWZ0MV43FF
Mobile app only and no source code? I appreciate the effort but I'll stick with Mastodon for now.
ninalanyon
The low contrast in the app makes it distractingly uncomfortable to read.
offeringcons
Such an interesting and so minimal! Gonna check it out after work. Nice job!
A year ago I surveyed the internet and noticed there was only one popular space for trans and gender-non-conforming people to meet; Lex.
Lex is not well liked by its users. Its software feels heavy and it is full of cash grabs and anti-patterns. It was recently acquired and is sure to only become more hostile to its users as it turns towards profit generation.
With this in mind I built t4t, an alternative specially designed for not only queer people, but specifically trans people.
It is an extremely lightweight service. I built it with my most ideal stack: Flutter, Svelte, Supabase, Posthog.
It has grown in the last year to about 4,000 monthly active users. I think it could grow way beyond that this year.