4 ms·

real name policy and only letting in elite uni students Are we really going to describe these things as "innovations"?

• danieltillett 11y ago
  Well if you are the first to introduce something then I think it is fair to say you are being innovative. They were both critically important to the success of Facebook so I think we have to give credit where credit is due.
  • vezzy-fnord 11y ago
    A real name policy cannot possibly be an innovation, or if it were it predates all modern technology. FWIW, Usenet culture was overwhelmingly based on people communicating under their real names. Ergo, not the first to do so. The second - initially limiting your userbase to an exclusive demographic, is but a restriction or marketing maneuver at best, and again hardly the first to do such a thing. You have to be intensely desperate to list these two trivialities as innovations.
    • danieltillett 11y ago
      The application of an old idea to a new domain is what most innovation is. The real name policy had an important effect on the early Facebook in discouraging trolling. This made it a far more friendly environment for most users. I am a strong believer in the importance of using real names online - after all I am using my real name here even though I do not have to. I personally think that limiting the early user base to elite universities was the more important innovation for Facebook’s success. It allowed them to control their growth while creating an “aspirational” platform that could be scaled out later. I am surprised that more companies haven’t tried the same approach - it would be hard to do now, but the value in targeting this community is still there.
    • thrownaway2424 11y ago
      That must have been a different usenet than the one I was using, which was full of people like you with names like Farty McTwatwaffle.