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Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

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Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#231

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

My friends and I are currently building a donation platform for summer camp counselor alumni, church groups, etc. Basically small monthly reoccurring donations ($3-$20). We’ve been playing with the idea of having a social network aspect where to join you pick an organization to donate to and that’s your subscription for using the social network at large

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#232
post #222

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

>Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. Didn't WhatsApp used to be $1 a year before Facebook bought them and it was a very successful pricing model? $1 a year for a website is very feasible for both parties assuming it's some Western society.

They used to say that at Signup, first year free, then again waive $1 every year in India.

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#233

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

I've been working on exactly this! https://get.thread-app.com/

It's a side project of mine at the moment, so it's quite basic, but I'd love it if you checked it out.

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#234

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

I would say you also need Groups. But I love the idea.

I've been hacking at a basic version of ad-free, subscription based group messaging, coordination, event planning, etc - check it out! https://get.thread-app.com/

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#235
post #222

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

>Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. Didn't WhatsApp used to be $1 a year before Facebook bought them and it was a very successful pricing model? $1 a year for a website is very feasible for both parties assuming it's some Western society.

Facebook pulls an average revenue of $70/year on each American user, so $1/mo is leaving a lot of money on the table by their standard

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#236
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the announcement on Twitter it is free, just donation-based: - https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales/status/1192160194693718017 - https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales/status/1192635476726947840

Sorry, my understanding is that there is a waiting list unless you're willing to pay. Even still, I don't ever think a donation-based social network will be able to outcompete a free (but totally selling your data) social network.

Competing by what measure? If quantity is your measure, of course you can never beat free, and I'm sure Jimmy Wales knows this too, having founded the free Encyclopedia.

People won't pay for a platform unless they're using it, so you can be sure that of the users that are paying, they're likely to be engaged.

I don't know about you, but social networks tend to suck when the users aren't even logging in. I don't need a billion users or even a million on a given platform to necessarily find reasonably good interactions on it.

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#237

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

> What else do you need for a 'social network?'

Mass adoption. The user base is the valuable aspect, everything else can be easily recreated.

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#239
post #81

It's a nice idea but my social life doesn't revolve around news, it revolves around things I like to do and my friends and family, so this doesn't interest me. I also think social + news will just lead to you getting stuck in a bubble of news content your social group agrees with.

Exactly! If I could have a Facebook minus any news, that would be awesome.

Re: Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival

#240
post #231

Previously someone mentioned the idea of a $1/mo. social network. I think if someone were to make facebook in it's first ~2 years and keep it very basic it we would be good to go. The only features you need are: a profile picture, a wall, chat, and events. In other words - a photo of yourself, a way of publicly messaging, a way of privately messaging, and a way to coordinate social events. What else do you need for a…

My friends and I are currently building a donation platform for summer camp counselor alumni, church groups, etc. Basically small monthly reoccurring donations ($3-$20). We’ve been playing with the idea of having a social network aspect where to join you pick an organization to donate to and that’s your subscription for using the social network at large

$20/month?!? Forever?!?
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