Its a very big ask and I will be open to some way of rewarding people for this, but if theres any way we can start to spread this site/app around as a collective I would be absolutely over the moon.
I am going to fix some of the current issues and create a discord over the weekend so we can get a bit of community going with app-updates & feature requests. (Discord invite link will be placed in the settings menu)
But, with anything, this concept only works if we can get enough people using it
Also thoughts won't be biased based on 'influencer' followings
It is quite easy for your posts to be drowned out on sites like Lemmy & Reddit (depending on the community) in this app, the thoughts shown to you (although not a lot at the moment due to being very new) are completely random, everyone has the same chances of being visible
There is a "login as guest" option that uses no personal data
With all due respect, I said 'at this point in time' & also acknowledged that the mention of any IP tracking received negative feedback, so I will avoid all IP tracking and be transparent about that... With node express apps, the IP is inherintly included in any request made to the API server, however can be masked via VPN. The only reason I was considering it was to stop bots in the case that I gave back to the community. But In the case where no IP tracking is preferred I need alternatives to stop bots & cheaters (especially if I'm giving away cash back to the active users)
Update: I realize I missed your point, so I apologise and I see now you mean more about monetization. I would love to not monetized the app, but I need a way to pay for the domains & server, so i need to think of alternatives in that regard. I appreciate the feedback no matter how critical, it helps shape what this app should be๐
The votes are clear, i will avoid all ip tracking and be as transparent as possible about that
I really do believe in this app regardless and the safe space it can bring to anyone whilst being moderated by everyone (a post that recieves a set threshold flags is automatically removed). So any feedback, good or bad, i am extremely grateful for
I previously considered tracking IP addresses in turn for giving ad-revenue back to the community, however due to negative response, if the app were to be monetized in a way that also gives back to the active users I would need an alternative way to stop bots & cheaters that are inherent to anything with real currency value without using any personal data.
UPDATE:
I will avoid all IP tracking and be completely transparent about that. However, if it is desired to give back to the active users, I will need an alternative to stop the bots & cheaters, they are inherent to anything that Involves real currency value.
Also regardless to the comments below, there is a login as guest option that uses no personal data
It was an idea but it was the first time I made the site public so it was more getting feedback than anything.
But from that feedback, i added the login as guest option as an alternative.
The only reason I was going to use Ip tracking was for stopping bots, but I will no longer implement any ip tracking/logging and i will also not implement any ads either based off of the feedback I received.