Making the Internet Feel Like a Place Again

Evan Carroll · Side Project Society · October

The problem

The internet stopped being somewhere you go

  • Feeds, not rooms
  • Everyone's on their phone, nobody's talking
  • Presence got replaced by notifications

The idea

An immersive 2D world built around conversation

Walk up to someone. Talk. Play a game. Watch something together.

Browser-based. No downloads. Works on a phone.

What it is

Chat, presence, and live video

Avatars

Customizable 2D looks

Real-time chat

Presence and typing indicators

Video

YouTube and live streams, together

Audio

YouTube and SoundCloud

Classic games

Chess, checkers, reversi, alquerque

Mobile friendly

Any device with a browser

The technology

What makes it possible

  • Rust end to end: Axum on the server, Leptos on the client (WebAssembly)
  • PostgreSQL as the source of truth
  • TODO: real-time transport (WebSocket / WebRTC?)
  • TODO: live video pipeline
  • TODO: avatar rendering and asset pipeline

The market

Where I think it fits

Business

Coffee shops and bars: a digital icebreaker for regulars

Organizations

Clubs, classes, groups with local and remote members

Creators

A place to hang out between streams

Lessons learned

Lessons

What worked

  • TODO
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Lessons

Mistakes

  • TODO
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Lessons

Unexpected challenges

  • TODO
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Today

Where the project is

  • Product site live, 27 languages
  • Privacy-first, simple sign up
  • TODO: users, realms, uptime

Next

Where it's headed

  • TODO: roadmap item
  • TODO: roadmap item
  • TODO: roadmap item

Still figuring out

Open problems

  • TODO: moderation and safety
  • TODO: cold start / critical mass
  • TODO: monetization

Come hang out

Questions? Let's talk, in real life or in a realm.

chattyness.com

TODO: confirm URL, add QR code (external SVG)