So, I built a place with true anonymity by design, not just a hidden username.
The key technical choices:
No Social Graph: No profiles, no follows, no connection between posts.
Unlinkable Aliases: Every post gets a fresh, random name. Comment threads use a different names.
No Plain-Text Emails: Auth uses a non-reversible HMAC of your email. We can't email you, even if we wanted to.
Hard Delete: One-click account wipe. No backups, no retention.
The goal is to create a place for the kind of conversations that happen at 2:00 AM, not in a board meeting. It's post-first (no account needed) and built for safety, not engagement.
I launched this quietly and within the first hour, three founders posted about the loneliness of misunderstanding, the fear of failure, and the struggle of balancing work with life. It confirmed the need.
I'd love the HN community's thoughts on the approach—both the product and the architecture.
rrr_oh_man•5mo ago
audaciousdelulu•5mo ago
Regarding the voice: These are all real experiences — many of them mine. I started by sharing my own experiences to make the first users feel less alone. Now real users are posting, too. Because they feel less alone in their journey. Thanks for the close read.