Craftsky is a social platform for textile crafters on the open web. Here's why I'm building it.
Personal beliefs
I strongly believe in data sovereignty/ownership. Everyone has the right to own their data and decide how it's used. For too long it has been the norm for it to be held hostage by large corporations for them to do with as they like. So to be able to contribute to the open web really appeals to me.
Personal griefs
A big 🖕to big tech. Companies like Meta, Google, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) have little interest in your well-being [insert any number of studies about how social media is negatively affecting mental health like this one]. I have felt first-hand the detrimental effects of short form and algorithmic content. If I can even reduce their stranglehold on society by 0.1% I'll be all the happier for it.
Opportunity
The obvious one is that I think there is a real opportunity here. I see and hear how Instagram has stunted the sewing community. How there isn't that feel of community anymore and it's hard to connect. Yvette (my wife and Stash Hub co-founder) often talks about the start of her sewing journey in 2019 and how she made some long-lasting friendships. As a serial "solutions engineer" I can't help but see a problem and want to do something about it.
Fun challenge
I enjoy a challenge and learning new technologies and skills (that's how I started Stash Hub). I also feel like building a social platform is the "let's open our own bar" for programmers. So here I am soaking in as much fun as I can.
This is a call to anyone reading that's into sewing, quilting, crochet or knitting to head on over to https://craftsky.social and join the wait-list. If this post really lit a fire then please contribute to the direction of the platform by commenting on the public spec doc or submitting a PR.