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Comment by antonkm | Hacker News Reader

I support online groups, however I'd prefer staying anonymous which simply isn't possible without faking your account on FB.

Reddit provides similar functionality and let's you stay anon. There's subreddits for pretty much any situation: alcohol abuse, drug abuse, kids growing up with narcissistic parents, spouses living in sexless relationships, etc etc. I did some research into the topic after reading this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/01...

Just Google your specific situation and Reddit will probably have a support sub.

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Reddit is usually a crapshoot of quality.

Maybe someone will have something for Y Combinator (et al) soon, that's more of a targeted platform for these types of things. Reddit and Facebook both suck at this.

If there isn't a community on Reddit for something, what are the odds people are going to flock to a new platform? The quality issue is because these groups are generally peer-organized and some groups have better organizers. But like, what is technology going to do to make a better Reddit for people with depression, transgender people, people whose partners have cheated on them and people with incredibly rare medical conditions? Those are disparate groups that only have the common thread of needing a support group as far as I can tell.

If a platform is promoted by physician groups or by insurers, it may take off. That would be far better than some of the utter crap on Reddit. A lot is happening in the medical space, with companies like Oscar and appointment scheduling apps. This is just waiting to spring open.

From what I found when I was reading up on it the different support subs seemed to be really good at modding. What are your reasons for claiming this?

Looking at companies like Reddit and Facebook in general. Do you really want that vast amount of targeted info in their hands? They can't be trusted. I'd trust a company more adapt with HIPAA and have valid PII measures in place.

Although not nearly as specific or targeted, Stack Exchange runs a number of sites (interpersonal relationships, parenting, workplace) that usually have much higher quality questions and answers due to their strong moderation. I agree that there’s a void to be filled between Reddit and SE in terms of amount (and quality) of moderation, but both options are much less intrusive than Facebook and allow you to remain anonymous.

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