[oli-g]

> You're not just saying that because the word happens to end in "butt" are you?

They're saying precisely that and they're 100% right, and it seems you're missing a lot of things.

It's a social network. Its only value is in it having people using it and coming back.

Just try and imagine any person in your IRL circles (who's not on HN) actually using a social network with butt in its name. I seriously can't believe you see no issue there whatsoever. A teenager. A young artist. A YouTuber. "Follow me on TikTok, Instagram, Scuttlebutt and Poopypants". I dare you to find a creator willing to say these words.

Or if you just hang out with smart, like-minded tech-savvy middle-ages people who see past these things, then great, we have a new "social network" for smart, like-minded tech-savvy middle-aged people.

[jdougan]

> we have a new "social network" for smart, like-minded tech-savvy middle-aged people.

Sounds great to me. The hard part is keeping the scammers away. If a ridiculous name can do that, I'm up for it.

[tjpnz]

"Follow me on Twitter to see my Wii reviews."

People will get used to it.

[losvedir]

I mean, I wouldn't expect problems if the thing were called "Buttercup" would you? Or what about "Button"? "Saturday" (which has "turd" in it)? Are there problems with a Harpoon ("poon") IPA?

Clearly the presence of a sequence of four silly letters isn't in and of itself disqualifying. Native speakers often won't even register the juvenile bit inside it.

My only surprise here is that "scuttlebutt" doesn't work that way for other native speakers. It must be just my dialect or circles then, because it's an ordinary word for me which subsumes the "butt" within it (like I'm certain "button" does for you). But I guess it's not universally like that and the word is odd or rare enough that it doesn't do the same for others.

[corobo]

The butt is more noticeable because it's at the end of the word as a standalone syllable.

With your examples the butt sounds are mixed in so they don't stand out as much.