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Stop trying to make social networks succeed

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Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#71

Post by EA-3167 »

xeromal wrote: post #66
mattbuilds wrote: post #19

I think the VC world's obsession with growth has tainted how we (me included) view things, especially stuff like social media. There is a fixation with growing and doing it rapidly that I believe is harmful. I don't know when this switch flipped, but I've felt it gradually building up over time. Things can just be what they are, grow naturally and then die naturally. I suspect that injecting cash and attempting to ac…

This is a huge tangent, but I've started harboring similar feelings for video games. Go read comments for the latest game and 90% of the comments will be about item drops, skins, loot drops, whatever. It's absolutely mind boggling because all those things IMO suck the fun out of the game which it to kill something, kill someone, or explore some world.

The key is to just pass on those sorts of games, because there are still plenty of others that don't play with the customer that way.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#72

Post by xeromal »

EA-3167 wrote: post #71
xeromal wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a huge tangent, but I've started harboring similar feelings for video games. Go read comments for the latest game and 90% of the comments will be about item drops, skins, loot drops, whatever. It's absolutely mind boggling because all those things IMO suck the fun out of the game which it to kill something, kill someone, or explore some world.

The key is to just pass on those sorts of games, because there are still plenty of others that don't play with the customer that way.

I'm actually arguing against the gamer in this case. For the most part, I enjoy those games because I don't work myself up over loot drops, skins, etc.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#73

Post by emadabdulrahim »

xeromal wrote: post #66
mattbuilds wrote: post #19

I think the VC world's obsession with growth has tainted how we (me included) view things, especially stuff like social media. There is a fixation with growing and doing it rapidly that I believe is harmful. I don't know when this switch flipped, but I've felt it gradually building up over time. Things can just be what they are, grow naturally and then die naturally. I suspect that injecting cash and attempting to ac…

This is a huge tangent, but I've started harboring similar feelings for video games. Go read comments for the latest game and 90% of the comments will be about item drops, skins, loot drops, whatever. It's absolutely mind boggling because all those things IMO suck the fun out of the game which it to kill something, kill someone, or explore some world.

The mobile gaming era pioneered the approach where game design is fundamentally driven by the game's monetization mechanics.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#74

Post by rcarr »

I really want someone to make BoringBook - it's free until a billion people have signed up and then after that it costs $1 a year. It gives you a page you can post to and customise like myspace, an encrypted messaging client, local group pages and business pages. There are no ads, other than whatever businesses post on their pages. There are three feeds: your immediate network (which is the default), your local network (things from other people and businesses in your town) and the global feed. All of the feeds are capped at 100 posts to prevent infinite scrolling with the feeds refreshed every hour. Nothing else. It will never make more than 8 billion dollars a year (which is what would happen if everyone on the planet signed up). BoringBook - the social media utility company.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#75

Post by JohnFen »

flyinghamster wrote: post #57
vinyl7 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has really made me pessimistic about tech and products in general. There's the free and great stage, then the market is captured, then enshittification, then death. I don't get excited about new products or new tech because I know the cycle. Hype then bust. New thing comes out and I'm just meh about it, because it'll bust soon enough so it's not worth getting invested in it. Or new version will come out next year…

> then death ...or a perpetual zombie state as a "brand" that has absolutely nothing to do with its original owner. Trusted names from my youth (GE, Westinghouse, Frigidaire, Maytag, Zenith, etc.) mean nothing these days. Packard Bell has been resurrected twice now.

I count that as being the same as death. The name may live on, but the company is long gone and the name is meaningless.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#76

Post by JohnFen »

xeromal wrote: post #66
mattbuilds wrote: post #19

I think the VC world's obsession with growth has tainted how we (me included) view things, especially stuff like social media. There is a fixation with growing and doing it rapidly that I believe is harmful. I don't know when this switch flipped, but I've felt it gradually building up over time. Things can just be what they are, grow naturally and then die naturally. I suspect that injecting cash and attempting to ac…

This is a huge tangent, but I've started harboring similar feelings for video games. Go read comments for the latest game and 90% of the comments will be about item drops, skins, loot drops, whatever. It's absolutely mind boggling because all those things IMO suck the fun out of the game which it to kill something, kill someone, or explore some world.

This is one of the major reasons why I stopped playing most games entirely. When the fun has been monetized out of them, what's the point?

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#77

Post by xeromal »

emadabdulrahim wrote: post #73
xeromal wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a huge tangent, but I've started harboring similar feelings for video games. Go read comments for the latest game and 90% of the comments will be about item drops, skins, loot drops, whatever. It's absolutely mind boggling because all those things IMO suck the fun out of the game which it to kill something, kill someone, or explore some world.

The mobile gaming era pioneered the approach where game design is fundamentally driven by the game's monetization mechanics.

It's mind boggling how many people enjoy that though. You're right. Clash of Clans et all really changed the gaming dynamic.

Just as an example, Halo Infinite came out and it had warts, but also had a good fundamentals for gameplay. Good speed and weapons. Every single comment was about armor cores and skins. I just didn't get it.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#78

Post by mattbuilds »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #63
mattbuilds wrote: post #19

I think the VC world's obsession with growth has tainted how we (me included) view things, especially stuff like social media. There is a fixation with growing and doing it rapidly that I believe is harmful. I don't know when this switch flipped, but I've felt it gradually building up over time. Things can just be what they are, grow naturally and then die naturally. I suspect that injecting cash and attempting to ac…

While this is true and I think most VCs are idiots, there is a natural phenomenon of the internet which allows for exponential growth and which means that startup = growth is a very real thing. What VCs and a lot of startups try and do is fake the actual utility of a product through forced marketing and Glamour.

Yea I actually think it's similar to something that happens with my 2 year-old. He thinks putting shoes on means we go outside. So when he wants to go outside, rather than saying "outside", he goes and gets his shoes.

The internet' scale allows great products to grow exponentially. A bunch of great software, sites, and tools took off and grew at a rapid rate. But we took the wrong lesson from this and thought "rapid growth=great product". So VCs have put growth above everything else, and are hoping they can figure out a product after, like a 2 year-old thinking that putting on his shoes will mean he gets to go outside.

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#79

Post by xeromal »

JohnFen wrote: post #76
xeromal wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a huge tangent, but I've started harboring similar feelings for video games. Go read comments for the latest game and 90% of the comments will be about item drops, skins, loot drops, whatever. It's absolutely mind boggling because all those things IMO suck the fun out of the game which it to kill something, kill someone, or explore some world.

This is one of the major reasons why I stopped playing most games entirely. When the fun has been monetized out of them, what's the point?

I mostly play single player games these days because they've been spared. I played a Plague's tale a few weeks ago. Really strange premise but a lot of fun!

Re: Stop trying to make social networks succeed

#80

Post by JohnFen »

sneak wrote: post #50
mattbuilds wrote: post #19

I think the VC world's obsession with growth has tainted how we (me included) view things, especially stuff like social media. There is a fixation with growing and doing it rapidly that I believe is harmful. I don't know when this switch flipped, but I've felt it gradually building up over time. Things can just be what they are, grow naturally and then die naturally. I suspect that injecting cash and attempting to ac…

Public social media is one to many publishing. Mass publishing is more useful and valuable the more people you can publish to at once. It has nothing to do with VC. "Don't pick fights with people who buy ink by the barrel" long predates vulture capitalists.

> Mass publishing is more useful and valuable the more people you can publish to at once.

Absolutely, but that was happening long before the likes of Facebook, Twitter, etc., came around to monetize it and convince people that they are the only ways to do it. They're cultural parasites.

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