Forrst: A social network for designers and developers [invites]
Designers and web developers are hard to come by these days, but I've been using a new website that is full of them. Imagine a Facebook-style site built for talented UX designers and programmers, where they can share interesting links, pictures, or code snippets with each other.
Forrst does just that. I had a chance to interview Kyle Bragger, Forrst's founder. The responses are below:
How did Forrst get started?
Forrst got started because I wanted to share development related things with other developers and didn't know where to do that. Tumblr and Twitter, while great platforms, were too general purpose and I didn't feel like it was the right place to share purely dev and design related stuff. I also didn't know anywhere I could go hang out and talk shop with other devs.
Forrst is about the community, so it's kinda hard to get an invite. How do you decide on whether or not someone gets an invite?
Every developer and designer who apply will eventually be able to join the community. My goal in keeping things private and invite only is twofold: first, I aim to foster a space where people are not afraid to share what they think might not be their best work, in the interest of gaining valuable feedback and constructive criticism.
I think when things are public, there is more reticence to share and say what's really on someone's mind. Secondly, by only letting in a handful of people every day, new users are able to get their bearings and start to feel at home with the community. I think letting in a ton of people all at once would destroy that.
What is your favorite part of building a startup?
For me, I love the hands-on stuff: writing code, solving problems, talking to people. I love that stuff.
The best part though, is probably getting to listen to users and immediately being able to react to their feedback, iterate, and push a solution that day. No bureaucracy involved.
Explain how a Ranger works.
Rangers are our way of highlighting folks that are awesome at tracking down content in specific areas. For example, if you post a bunch of python related posts, and they get a lot of love from other members, you'll likely unlock Ranger status for Python. While you're a Ranger (it's possible to lose it as well), any python posts you contribute will have a special badge. It's a neat way to reward people for finding and sharing awesome content.
Are there any upcoming features that you are working on?
Yes, a few. One is a big refresh for code posts. Right now, they're not as functional or good-looking as I'd like, so I'm heads down focusing on making them better. They definitely could use some love.
Also rolling out next week are Post Replies. A ton of people have been posting multiple iterations of code and design stuff, but until now there was no easy way to logically link two related posts together; Post Replies is a way to do exactly that. You're able to reply to your own posts, but also to others' posts as well.
If you want an invite, send me an email or tweet with a link to some of your work.