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Comment by Solvency | Hacker News Reader

Everyone here is focused on the tech and I'm here wondering how I'm supposed to convince my friends and family to join me on something called Scuttlebutt.

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The name was the part I liked best! "Scuttlebutt" is a naval term for a water keg, and it became slang for conversation around the watering hole. In other words, it was gossip around the water cooler from before we had water coolers.

...and this is why 99% of niche developer attempts don't flourish into the next big social network. Might as well call it "Codswallop", which is also a valid historical slang that is equally completely ridiculous for mass appeal.

Yeah, yahoo and google is very meaningful on the other hand.

They are short, memorable and don’t have “butt” in the name.

I currently have halibut baking in the oven with garlic butter, and butternut squash soup.

I love a good dumb butt joke, but not everything with the substring butt in it is automatically funny or reminiscent of butts.

Correct, it has to be at the end to be funny.

Halibut is already a terrible name for a social network but if it wasn't it may indeed be a little bit bumular

(although in my accent at least you don't really end in a butt, it's more a "bit", maybe you could get away with it)

But you are also not trying to convince people to try yet another social media concept named “butternut”.

It was never meant to. It was founded by a guy who lived on his boat and wanted something for his friends. It became a hotbed for experimenting with P2P social networks, for a time.

You honestly saying you've never heard of the term scuttlebutt? Like "what's the latest gossip/scuttlebutt".

I've never associated this term with being nerdy or niche.

...and this is why 99% of developers will defend for-profit companies stealing data, enabling mass genocides and foregoing all privacy: because everything must become the next big XXX.

Yes, an actual literal 'gossip protocol' named Scuttlebutt. Unpardonable. /s

Scuttlebutt is a brilliant name for a social network. It's right up there in the "why didn't I think of that" territory.

Someone at last, thank you!!

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