In economics, a network effect (also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale) is the phenomenon by which the value or utility a user derives from a good or service depends on the number of users of compatible products. Network effects are typically positive feedback systems, resulting in users deriving more and more value from a product as more users join the same network.
The value of Twitter and Substack isn’t the HTML or the CSS, it’s the social circle behind it. That’s why Facebook, founded as a Harvard social media site, outpaced Friendster and MySpace. That’s why half your current crop of comedians and media pundits came out of the Ivy League. That’s why The Federalist Society exists.
Like, by all means, make a new BlueSky or Mastodon or Lemmy whatever. Thank you. But “What if we had a new Facebook, for annoying marketing dweebs?” it’s how we got LinkedIn. And a thousand other knock offs of LinkedIn.
So, keep that in mind.
Add to that section 1201.
Facebook grew because it was able to make migrating away from Myspace easy. Facebook supplied a tool called SpaceLift that logged into MySpace on your behalf and moved messages back and forth for you. It meant that you didn’t have to leave Myspace behind when you started using Facebook.
If you tried that today, Facebook would send their legion of lawyers to crush you using section 1201.
I have as much power as the Pope, I just don’t have as many people who believe it
- George Carlin
Power, popularity and authority is always based on how many people you can convince to follow your movement. If you have enough people who believe it, I can become Master of the Universe!
Power lies where men believe it lies
— George Martin
The other day I saw someone posting about wanting to bring webrings back.
Unfortunately, it’s really hard to get people to care about things. “This site is convenient and your friends are here” trumps “and it’s run by nazi sympathizers” for most people, somehow.
I remember webrings. We stopped using them for a reason. It’s not a solution for diving into specific details of a topic.
Neither is the AI slop that Google is putting at the top of the page, but for different reasons.
Webrings were the youtube recommendations by people who actually knew, not deep diving. Wikipedia is the diving board for deep diving.
Dark web social media here we come
We built this city on coooock aaaand trooooolls.
We have always lived in slums and holes in the wall. We will have to accommodate ourselves for a time. For, you must not forget, that we can also build. It is we who built these palaces and cities, here in Spain and in America and everywhere. We, the workers. We can build others to take their place. And better ones. We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing in this minute.
Buenaventura Durruti
Like Nepalese construction workers. They could have the most impressive cities but they don’t.
Cities are built by markets, not people.
First name choice was “The internet”
Second name choice was “The pornography machine”
They have forgotten our provenance and purpose. There is no pornography sullying out social media. There is social media sullying our pornography.
I miss the old days of people making niche websites for their hobbies, their own blogs, and message boards.
So many people think of the Internet as Google, Meta, Netflix, or <favorite social network here>. That makes me sad.
I don’t see a way back to a less commercialized internet, but little pockets of goodness like Lemmy make me happy.
You’d think that with QR codes every-fucking-where these days, that we could easily swing back to everyone having their own website. Back in the bad old days, it was hell on wheels to share URLs with folks. Now? There’s nothing stopping us.
Just gonna drop this here https://neocities.org/
The land wasn’t barren though.
It was inhabited by GOPHERs and TELNETs and FTPs and BBSes.
Is he talking about metaphorical cities, or Geocities?
Built the city from pure HTML so must be talking about domains as empty lands
Cities start from villages.
That’s what we’ve got here now.
can I be the feces smearing barrel sleeper
Only if you eat your vegetables
We built this geocity
We built this Geocity on rock and code!
It’s good more people are realizing, buts substack’s owners have been openly pro-facist for at least a year
Loads of early tech leaders who were all free-love back in the day became strangely capitalist once they realised how ludicrously rich they could get.
san francisco in a nutshell
What is substack? I only heard of it everytime they got involved with nazis
A blog publishing site.
Like WordPress?
Like WordPress.com (i.e., without the self-hosted option that is WordPress.org), if there was also waaay less ability to customise your blog’s theme. It’s designed to look and feel much more like a single blog that has many contributors. Maybe think Twitter or Facebook, but using blog posts instead of Tweets and photos as the main medium.
It’s also famous for the fact that its owners refuse to ban literal Nazis.
Oh no did substack do a bad thing?
Continued doing bad things, more like. They seem to like supporting nazis from what I can tell.
Bring back Geocities!
Come and join my webring on Neocities.
Sign the guest book.
Scream at my aggressive CSS.
Scream at my aggressive CSS.
LOL!!! What’s the address?
