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I think we are beyond the point where services can lead with being a social network and succeed. Every service that supports multi-user interaction is a network

by beager 9y ago

I think we are beyond the point where services can lead with being a social network and succeed. Every service that supports multi-user interaction is a network, and every network that supports personal expression in its interactions is a social network. A service that is, as this is billed, just a social network, with no clear defining feature or problem it’s solving, is vapid and akin to the dotcom bubble. I’m finding that “social networks” should be a consequence of a product that solves a real problem, not that product’s raison d’etre. And furthermore, given the data collection/privacy zeitgeist of late, I’m of the belief that a social network developing within your service is a liability.

igravious 9y ago
Hear hear. While I agree with your main points I would object to your objection that someone can't launch a social network in and of itself. But I do think if you're going to launch a social network you're going to have to tell me how to differentiate your product from all the other products out there. From reading the comments here I think a new social network needs to say the following up front: - closed or open source? - centralised or decentralised? federated or not? - up-front fee, subscription service or paid for by advertising? - privacy policy, what is it? share with 3rd party? - is there an API? how granular is it? - what about sharing and following? - what specific niche are you aiming at or are you going for a general audience? - is your product aiming to be a platform? - how are you different from the incumbents? - mobile or web or native or some combination of the above? - in short, let me know your angle, and give me reasons to try you out Frankly, for me, the fact that you started another social network and let it die would discourage me from trying your new effort. And stuff like `stay beautiful' strikes me as saccharine and inauthentic though maybe I've become too cynical, clearly I'm not within the target audience.
scrupulusalbion 9y ago
>I’m finding that “social networks” should be a consequence of a product that solves a real problem, not that product’s raison d’etre. Facebook mainly solves one problem: How do I keep in communication with the many people I know IRL? This is a real problem for many people, especialy when you have friends/family all over the country/world. Any would-be strict competitor with Facebook will have to deal with a bootstrapping problem: How do you get enough people who know each other IRL to sign up and use the website? Relaxing any one aspect of that, I think, will make success much easier: * Enough people: You could have a niche focus (car forum) or a niche community (forum for one Eve Corp). * Know eath other IRL: You could have an anonymous forum (4chan) or a pseudonymous forum (Reddit). * Sign-up: Twitter, YouTube, and most forums don't require signups to view user-provided content. 4chan doesn't even require login to post.

by beager 9y ago

igravious 9y ago

Hear hear. While I agree with your main points I would object to your objection that someone can't launch a social network in and of itself. But I do think if you're going to launch a social network you're going to have to tell me how to differentiate your product from all the other products out there. From reading the comments here I think a new social network needs to say the following up front: - closed or open source? - centralised or decentralised? federated or not? - up-front fee, subscription service or paid for by advertising? - privacy policy, what is it? share with 3rd party? - is there an API? how granular is it? - what about sharing and following? - what specific niche are you aiming at or are you going for a general audience? - is your product aiming to be a platform? - how are you different from the incumbents? - mobile or web or native or some combination of the above? - in short, let me know your angle, and give me reasons to try you out Frankly, for me, the fact that you started another social network and let it die would discourage me from trying your new effort. And stuff like `stay beautiful' strikes me as saccharine and inauthentic though maybe I've become too cynical, clearly I'm not within the target audience.

scrupulusalbion 9y ago

>I’m finding that “social networks” should be a consequence of a product that solves a real problem, not that product’s raison d’etre. Facebook mainly solves one problem: How do I keep in communication with the many people I know IRL? This is a real problem for many people, especialy when you have friends/family all over the country/world. Any would-be strict competitor with Facebook will have to deal with a bootstrapping problem: How do you get enough people who know each other IRL to sign up and use the website? Relaxing any one aspect of that, I think, will make success much easier: * Enough people: You could have a niche focus (car forum) or a niche community (forum for one Eve Corp). * Know eath other IRL: You could have an anonymous forum (4chan) or a pseudonymous forum (Reddit). * Sign-up: Twitter, YouTube, and most forums don't require signups to view user-provided content. 4chan doesn't even require login to post.