Hey folks,

I wanted to say thank you all for being early, active users of Branch. It's so, so cool for our team to see you experiment with the product. It makes the long nights worth it :)

We know we have a long way to go (and a LOT to build) but we appreciate you bearing with us. Our number one priority to make Branch better for YOU, though we have limited resources.

With that in mind, what's the most glaring problem that you've faced when starting branches? (i.e. who to talk to, what to talk about, etc.) And what would get in the way of you starting branches every day?

Feel free to share one thing per post and I'll branch each off for more in-depth discussion.

Thanks again, and feel free to ping me anytime: josh@branch.com

- josh

Annnnnnndddd my first sentence highlights why we need Quick Edit! :)

*Quick edit!*

@joshm And keep an eye out for a way that a linear thread can have direct replies like this. A format will appear: build to it, if you can.

Being able to change (or skip) the public at-mention.

1. I would love to have the ability to connect with people so that I can monitor their Branch output separate from following them on Twitter or subscribing to specific threads.
2. In turn, I would love to be able to have a landing page where people could find my Branches.
3. Introducing the ability to tag and/or place Branches into categories and then implementing that into the discovery/featured set would make that easier as well.
4. You could try the old prompting feature to give people a suggested topic or topics to Branch about from an editorial point of view also.

Random thoughts!

As the creator of a branch branch.com — after I closed it, I decided to start a second one at branch.com

I'd love to be able to add an update to a closed branch.

1. Because I don't personally know anyone on here, when i compose a branch I don't have anyone to tack on to it. With that in mind I'd like for these type of branches to get more exposure so that people could see the and be able to join in them. So far, I just went into a similar themed branch and included a link to my branch along with my thoughts.

2. Agree with Hahn that there should be a way to subscribe to an individual so that you see all the branches he creates

3.Maybe make it a little easier to spot within a branch when someone has branched out from a reply within the primary branch. Maybe when you first click on a link to a branch, when you land there you predominantly see the branch you initially wanted to view

...running down the middle with any branches to reply's within the primary branch "branching" out graphically.. smaller and connected to the reply from which it stemmed. When you click on the branch to a reply, it shifts focus on the screen and makes the replied branch the larger branch running down the middle.. Lol if that makes any sense to you id be shocked, but i can see it in my head lol.

I think it's interesting that the service is called "branch" but so few users are still using the branch option (I've tried to branch off of my main "Which Websites do you compulsively visit daily" (branch.com) but it looks like the majority of people either don't get notifications or want to continue to comment on the main thread - not sure how to encourage actual branching but I'd be curious to see :)

Agree with Nation that it'd be nice to follow some active Branch'rs and their threads/responses.

Also i understand that by requiring everyone to be invited before they can post, you are (hopefully) eliminating trolls, but it also slows down the growth of the branch. Maybe I have an idea that i want to add to a branch, but the person responsible for allowing me access doesn't get around to it for a couple days and i forget it. Defeats the purpose.

I'd suggest either hiring someone to diligently monitor and ban trolls from the site, or institute a voting system where everyone participating in the branch can have a person removed from the branch if a majority votes so... and then perhaps give a person 3 strikes before permaban. Trolls are the bane of every forum, so they have to be dealt with.

Great job so far, Josh. A few ideas:
1) Make the branches public, and a page where all the branches can be found. This way, people can discuss it, without having to first be invited. Of course, there’s the option to have a “private” branch where people who want in, should be invited first.

This would solve the problem of having to add people (who to talk to) to a branch. It’s not that I haven’t got friends, but I find it kind of awkward to tag people everytime (kind of bugging them). Especially if I am to use branch daily. Also, a public page would encourage me to engage more with other people/other topics as well…

2) Like others have noted before me, have a public profile where all my branches can be found. Also, sorting them would be nice (maybe featuring some).

3) This might be a bit far-fetched, don’t know if it fits in your philosophy, but make it like a micro-blogging platform. Allow me to have a profile and post stuff (not only links, but text, upload photos/videos). Also, I’d eliminate the 750 characters limit when composing a branch/post but keep it for replies.

Cheers!

@Alex - in terms of #3 that feels a bit as if it is deviating from what seems to be the purpose. I'd love to have some sort of profile and ability to connect to follow branches and make branch connections — but I think they should rethink how profiles have worked to date. Also, I'd recommend upping the limit for initial branches, maybe, but not making it unlimited as the limits make people more thoughtful and force you to usefully distill your thoughts.

Alrighty, thanks so much for the feedback everyone! I went ahead and branched a bunch of your points, so check 'em out!

(this actually made me realize we need a better way of inviting people you're already talking to, instead of tweeting at them again)

Thanks again and keep in touch!