henryboldi

Joined 12 years ago

Karma

389

Submissions

Member since

Mar 3

creator of https://github.com/henryboldi/felony

View on Hacker News

Recent submissions

Comment · 7 years ago

Hey! So I’ve been working on a news app, that like the others curates to your interests, but instead of emojis uses adjectives which are based on criteria. The idea is to filter out sensationalism engendered by the emoticon (and frankly addictive) rating system. Gem tends to recommend articles from the likes of NYT, The Atlantic, Nature, and Nautilus. Please check it out, and let me know your thoughts: https://exploregem.com

Comment · 7 years ago

Hey I'm one of the founders of Gem. Let me quickly explain the impetus for making this!

A little story: It’s 6 AM and I find myself compulsively scrolling through public outrage videos and dog photos. I’m scrolling through my twitter feed, finding punchy sentences on the latest trend and tragedy. I feel like my thoughts are becoming limited to what I can fit in 140 characters, and anxious comparing myself to other’s carefully tailored personas. With the feed’s algorithms working in opaque ways and beholden to maximizing advertising revenue, I found it difficult to find thoughtful articles on my interests. Unwilling to wait for the platforms to suddenly become altruistic, I decided to make an alternative. A healthier option to disseminate articles and essays that promote understanding, nuance, insight, and focus.

Here's two key features that make Gem stand out:

- Adjectives - Rating with adjectives help us better understand your taste. We scan the article to determine the adjectives you’d naturally use. These adjectives are derived from criteria like objectivity, importance, and convincingness. Above all, this keeps out sensationalism and improves quality.

- Control - For every feed we have settings which let you filter by type (e.g. tutorials, opinions, and news) or adjust the influence of factors like your viewing history and popularity.

Thanks so much for checking out Gem. We look forward to hearing your feedback! ️