Show HN: TownSquare, a tiny presence layer for websites

(townsquare.cauenapier.com)

45 points | by cauenapier 13 hours ago

11 comments

  • patcon 7 minutes ago
    I've been playing with presence too...! I def am thinking about using it more for real-time motion communication (which is largely missing from web) rather than text (which is very overrepresented, and where most moderation comes in).

    I was toying with the idea of making a little crowd representation sticky at the bottom, like watching a screen together :)

    Regardless, I love concepts like this. Thanks!

  • lambdaone 35 minutes ago
    I just took a look at the page's own 'town square'. At the moment, it's largely full of people saying offensive things for the sake of it.
    • dools 8 minutes ago
      So it’s a twitter plugin?
  • oraziorillo 29 minutes ago
    I love the idea! The next step is to add role play games in town squares.
  • monkeymeister 1 hour ago
    Neat idea! It's simple but very effective - and I really enjoy the detail of the benches and the tree. Very nice.

    I wouldn't add it to any of my sites due to the unmoderated nature of it - seeing some fairly unsavory things in your demo - but that's just a little tweak, I'm sure!

    • sourcegrift 1 hour ago
      If your website attracts such elements perhaps there's a reason?
    • wahnfrieden 34 minutes ago
      openai has a free moderation endpoint. no reason to not use it.
  • loloquwowndueo 1 hour ago
    > NOTE: This project has been mostly vibe-coded

    I deeply appreciate the honesty here. I’ll pass based on the vibecodedness of it but perhaps it won’t be a dealbreaker for others.

    • lolptdr 38 minutes ago
      Is it the philosophical reason you refuse to engage or is it because you don’t trust the security of this project?
      • brody_hamer 28 minutes ago
        Easy come, easy go. I find most vibe coded projects are abandonware.

        Also, in this context, security.

  • vitorbaptistaa 1 hour ago
    This is amazing! Congratulations on the launch. Repository link somewhere?
  • mkl 38 minutes ago
    Not really a square if it's 1D - everyone ends up on top of each other.
  • lellow 50 minutes ago
    haha nice project! I stayed there for a couple of minutes and had such a good time!
  • cyanydeez 1 hour ago
    would make more sense with webrtc.
  • sourcegrift 1 hour ago
    First saw this on lobste.rs . Great idea, perhaps allow for a little customisation? I'd like minimal animation, just a counter of present people and a green dot that vibrates when someone is typing. Clicking either opens a chat box with last 20 minutes.
  • melvinczyk 1 hour ago
    I like the idea of this like a town square for websites. Nice job