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I'm assuming you work at Ello, which makes it surprising that you didn't mention the LGBTQ community which seemed (and still seems) to be the driving force behi

I'm assuming you work at Ello, which makes it surprising that you didn't mention the LGBTQ community which seemed (and still seems) to be the driving force behind most user adoption after the initial first wave of users. This coincided with the backlash against G+ for forcing users to use their real names/photos, which was a touchy subject in a lot of queer communities. Beyond that, there was a rather large social media "landgrab" when Ello first hit mainstream circles where popular social media personalities claimed both accounts with their usual pseudonyms and also the pseudonyms of friends and rivals (as both jokes and pranks). Both sources of growth don't seem sustainable, has there been any organic community growth from within Ello from either one of those groups? That would be a much stronger indicator of future success to me than a comparison with 2004 Facebook.

dredmorbius 11y ago
I'm assuming you work at Ello No, I don't. Just one of the early (Sept., 2014) adopters. The analysis I'm presenting of Ello activity, as my earlier G+ analysis, is based entirely on publicly visible characteristics and my inferences based on them. I did join Ello during the genderqueer rush, though that's not a community I identify with. My comments at the time were along the lines of "artists and drag queens is as good a foundation community as any". Influence of the group as a whole seems to have leveled off a bit, though Ello's currently celebrating Pride, with a post on that topic from Paul Budnitz today: https://ello.co/budnitz/post/mnwJqqER_ieTA6qe4YzV8w https://ello.co/budnitz/post/mnwJqqER_ieTA6qe4YzV8w And yes, a lot of notables grabbed their Ello seats, a few spoof accounts were set up (the Zuckerberg one may still be active). I don't have any access to user numbers and haven't looked into building those, though the Ello crew have talked of growth and a few notable spurts. As I've noted elsewhere in this thread, I've seen both a lot of attrition of early accounts and new arrivals. I noted the same trend on G+ (and did a major housecleaning at one point of long-dead profiles from my circles there). The FB comparison has far more to do with what that group represented than how large it was. Dynamics of online community growth (and decline) are fascinating -- I've been watching online communities develop, grow, and decline for nearly 30 years. Harvard students (or grads) are an attractive social cohort, it's an easy base to grow if you play your cards right. That was FB's strength. Now it's the overall size of the social graph, but they're vulnerable to defections and evaporative cooling effects given that, by definition, most members aren't high-social-status: http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-evaporative-cooling-effect/ http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-... Colleges and creatives make good seeds, though they're not perfect. Balancing out traits within communities helps a lot -- e.g., geeks can be level-headed and realistic, but may lack enthusiasm or interpersonal engagement other groups can bring (I generally identify geek myself). Finding and cultivating the righ mix is an art, but it can be exceptionally powerful.
- kolev 11y ago
  People are not gonna leave Facebook anytime soon, sorry. I am very open-minded and I won't either - I can only imagine the more conservative or those who don't know about alternatives. It took many years for people to switch from email to Facebook - I'm sure most of them won't "invest" time in anything else. The "social network" is where your friends are and most of mine are on Facebook, so, I have no choice pretty much.

dredmorbius 11y ago

I'm assuming you work at Ello No, I don't. Just one of the early (Sept., 2014) adopters. The analysis I'm presenting of Ello activity, as my earlier G+ analysis, is based entirely on publicly visible characteristics and my inferences based on them. I did join Ello during the genderqueer rush, though that's not a community I identify with. My comments at the time were along the lines of "artists and drag queens is as good a foundation community as any". Influence of the group as a whole seems to have leveled off a bit, though Ello's currently celebrating Pride, with a post on that topic from Paul Budnitz today: https://ello.co/budnitz/post/mnwJqqER_ieTA6qe4YzV8w https://ello.co/budnitz/post/mnwJqqER_ieTA6qe4YzV8w And yes, a lot of notables grabbed their Ello seats, a few spoof accounts were set up (the Zuckerberg one may still be active). I don't have any access to user numbers and haven't looked into building those, though the Ello crew have talked of growth and a few notable spurts. As I've noted elsewhere in this thread, I've seen both a lot of attrition of early accounts and new arrivals. I noted the same trend on G+ (and did a major housecleaning at one point of long-dead profiles from my circles there). The FB comparison has far more to do with what that group represented than how large it was. Dynamics of online community growth (and decline) are fascinating -- I've been watching online communities develop, grow, and decline for nearly 30 years. Harvard students (or grads) are an attractive social cohort, it's an easy base to grow if you play your cards right. That was FB's strength. Now it's the overall size of the social graph, but they're vulnerable to defections and evaporative cooling effects given that, by definition, most members aren't high-social-status: http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-evaporative-cooling-effect/ http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-... Colleges and creatives make good seeds, though they're not perfect. Balancing out traits within communities helps a lot -- e.g., geeks can be level-headed and realistic, but may lack enthusiasm or interpersonal engagement other groups can bring (I generally identify geek myself). Finding and cultivating the righ mix is an art, but it can be exceptionally powerful.

kolev 11y ago
People are not gonna leave Facebook anytime soon, sorry. I am very open-minded and I won't either - I can only imagine the more conservative or those who don't know about alternatives. It took many years for people to switch from email to Facebook - I'm sure most of them won't "invest" time in anything else. The "social network" is where your friends are and most of mine are on Facebook, so, I have no choice pretty much.