i may build it to put it in my portfolio to get a job, but what makes ppl use it ?

What about just an IRC channel?

Put an email in your profile and anyone who wants to chat can reach out

I love the idea, then I think about it a bit more and the value I see on HN is that almost all information is accessible. Would not want a discord like experience.

I get we also want a human connection, but if you really need a human, maybe let’s have HN meetups. It takes more efforts ao people will do it less, but it means conversations will continue to happen here, publicly.