"As long as the platforms monetize anything without a clear feedback loop between network value and profit, we’d get the same lousy outcomes... The only way to change that dynamic, and restore truth in social media, is with a network-centric business model that aligns platform profits with network value."
As always, Mike, I appreciate the way you map out these problem spaces and articulate what needs to be done.
While I agree with you that network-centric business models are needed, most of us are stuck in industrial-age patterns despite our best intentions to move toward network-centric models... because even when we consciously set out to monetize creative work and mutualize the returns in ways that benefit networks, for example, we still have to operate within the economic and social structures as they actually are.
Swimming against the tide requires a lot of energy and effort, and there's no guarantee you'll ever get where you want to go.
Anyway, I think it'll soon be time for me to re-read your book and whitepaper, and this just gives me another good excuse. :)
When writing this post I had a few emerging social networks in mind: Farcaster, Bluesky, and Nostr.
These networks are still working on their business models and don't quite have a path to sustainability yet.
This post was partly intended to manage user expectations on how the business model would affect experience on these networks, but also (with the limited visibility that I have) to try to nudge the platforms in a direction that is more aligned with the interests of users and with socially desirable outcomes (like better sensemaking on the platforms).
More broadly though, I'm hoping to establish a theoretical framework that can help us understand how incentives are shaped in the digital realm, and help us more in a direction where we design systems - both big and small - with better aligned incentives.
"As long as the platforms monetize anything without a clear feedback loop between network value and profit, we’d get the same lousy outcomes... The only way to change that dynamic, and restore truth in social media, is with a network-centric business model that aligns platform profits with network value."
As always, Mike, I appreciate the way you map out these problem spaces and articulate what needs to be done.
While I agree with you that network-centric business models are needed, most of us are stuck in industrial-age patterns despite our best intentions to move toward network-centric models... because even when we consciously set out to monetize creative work and mutualize the returns in ways that benefit networks, for example, we still have to operate within the economic and social structures as they actually are.
Swimming against the tide requires a lot of energy and effort, and there's no guarantee you'll ever get where you want to go.
Anyway, I think it'll soon be time for me to re-read your book and whitepaper, and this just gives me another good excuse. :)
When writing this post I had a few emerging social networks in mind: Farcaster, Bluesky, and Nostr.
These networks are still working on their business models and don't quite have a path to sustainability yet.
This post was partly intended to manage user expectations on how the business model would affect experience on these networks, but also (with the limited visibility that I have) to try to nudge the platforms in a direction that is more aligned with the interests of users and with socially desirable outcomes (like better sensemaking on the platforms).
More broadly though, I'm hoping to establish a theoretical framework that can help us understand how incentives are shaped in the digital realm, and help us more in a direction where we design systems - both big and small - with better aligned incentives.