TownSquare
Web and SaaS
website embed widget
SHOW HN2026
278points
168comments
#165of 4,366 in 2026
Top 4%of 2026 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
24 positive, 20 neutral or asking, 7 mixed, 22 critical, out of 73 comments about the project. Thread score +0.10.
Idea: 11 for, 5 againstExecution: 0 for, 6 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 5 againstDesign: 3 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 3 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun, calm atmosphere and charming design
From 3 comments
Neat idea! It's simple but very effective - and I really enjoy the detail of the benches and the tree. Very nice. I wouldn't add it to any of my sites due to the unmoderated…
monkeymeister on HNI love the atmosphere with the benches and the tree
aweiher on HNI enjoyed the design.
zhxiaoliang on HN
Good idea for adding presence to websites
From 2 comments
I like the idea of this like a town square for websites. Nice job
melvinczyk on HNThis is actually really cool. We’ve needed this concept everywhere in technology. Something like this would have prevented the isolation and loneliness technology and the…
iJohnDoe on HN
Objections
Spam and offensive messages flood the channel
From 3 comments
Oh how fun. Sadly I went there and someone has botted it with “dick and balls” constantly being spammed by multiple people. But that’s to be expected when something gets…
justeoghan on HNNeat idea, but there seems to be zero defense against spammer scum. One jerk with a bot script seems able to make it totally useless for everyone else there.
blooalien on HNrather interesting, except the spamming of the inappropriate messages.
tonyrice on HN
Performance problems and disconnects on mobile and under load
From 3 comments
> A problem repeatedly occurred on https://cauenapier.com/ People are flooding the channel with messages, causing the widget to use too many resources on ios; and the website is…
thih9 on HNReally cool but should limit # of people shown when there are too many. Currently it gets really laggy
ArcaneMoose on HNLove the idea. Could use some filters and stale (sleeping) clients could get removed quicker. Also, it seemed to be disconnecting quite often, maybe a hug of death thing.
simondanerd on HN
Lacks moderation defaults
From 2 comments
Neat idea, but there seems to be zero defense against spammer scum. One jerk with a bot script seems able to make it totally useless for everyone else there.
blooalien on HNOh what the heck? That's super cool! Awesome idea. Possible future enhancement: some basic day/night (or even weather?) design elements that match the timezone of the person…
amatecha on HN
Requests
Stronger moderation, filters and blocking
From 3 comments
This is really cool. Is there anyway to keep some people off my small part of the webverse? Having read some of the comments, I'd happily use if there was a way to blast…
TheAtomic on HNthis is a very clever concept. I'll keep it in mind for the future - when my app site has persistent amount of visitors. Are there some rules/settings for stop words to prevent…
ameon on HNI'm interested in trying a moderation scheme that puts the power in the receiving client, with opinionated defaults. Let the client filter for itself, mute users for itself, and…
furyofantares on HN
Limit number of visible people
From 1 comment
Really cool but should limit # of people shown when there are too many. Currently it gets really laggy
ArcaneMoose on HN
Rename the project
From 1 comment
A couple comments - Internal link to blog gives 403 https://townsquare.cauenapier.com/blog/ Townsquare is probably not the best name - there are tons of things already with that…
ghtbircshotbe on HN
Questions
Is there a repository?
From 1 comment
This is amazing! Congratulations on the launch. Repository link somewhere?
vitorbaptistaa on HN
Are there stop-word settings?
From 1 comment
this is a very clever concept. I'll keep it in mind for the future - when my app site has persistent amount of visitors. Are there some rules/settings for stop words to prevent…
ameon on HN
Alternatives named
Cursor Party
From 1 comment
Matt Webb made a version of this (and wrote about it) a while back—Cursor Party: https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party I contemplated implementing it on my site…
figbert on HN
Third Voice
From 1 comment
There was a thing from the 90s kind of like this called Third Voice. It was a cool idea, but I remember there being a lot of backlash from brands.…
afpx on HN