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On Mon, 21 Sep 2026, Jeroen Belleman wrote:
You can't compare the present-day Facebook rabble with the
early Usenet users. They aren't in the same league at all.
Please excuse me shameless share:=20
https://biznology.com/2014/06/successful-snss-modeled-college-campus/
Successful SNS=E2=80=99s should be modeled on the college campus (2014) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^=20
The future of Social Network Services (SNS) can be discovered on High=20
School and College campuses. I believe that topic-specific =E2=80=9Cvertica= l=E2=80=9D=20
SNS=E2=80=99s are very important, but I also think that the model needs to = be=20
University-like =E2=80=93 a modularized SNS. There needs to be a campus =E2= =80=9Cbrand=E2=80=9D=20
(or University) within which the topic-specific =E2=80=9Cclubs,=E2=80=9D = =E2=80=9Chouses,=E2=80=9D=20
=E2=80=9Cfraternities,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9Cdorms,=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cinter= est groups=E2=80=9D can interact =E2=80=93 somewhere=20
where crossovers, cross-fertilization, and aggregation are encouraged =E2= =80=93=20
no, needs =E2=80=93 to happen. I hate SNS sites like cardomain.com =E2=80=
=93 a site=20
devoted to your favorite cars =E2=80=93 because I am not JUST a car guy.
I am a car guy for sure but I am also interested in motorcycling, rowing,=
=20
training, running, in biking, in Thomas Pynchon, and in talk radio =E2=80= =93=20
CarDoimain might be successful in the short term, but in the long-term,=20
the real power would come from creating a open, creative, resource-rich=20 platform/campus/university/high school and maybe create a school of=20 engineering, a liberal arts school, a law school, a dining hall, and so=20 forth, but then allow the SNS to find itself.
Facebook, Google+, reddit, and even Twitter does a beautiful job of doing=
=20
this, incidentally, allowing both the big tent generalist socialization=20
and connection while also really being able to break into departments,=20 clubs, and little hidy-holes where you can enjoy an ad hoc get together=20
with friends and co-conspirators.
To allow the SNS and its members to find their own voice, their own=20 interests, and their own passions =E2=80=93 which may well be very differen=
t from=20
what is first assumed by the creator. Google gets this, though not yet=20 within the construct of the SNS=E2=80=99s. What Google did do successfully = was to=20
buy USENET =E2=80=93 the original newsgroups =E2=80=93 and then build an su= perstructure on=20
top of that =E2=80=93 make it modern, sustainable, durable, and more readab= le.
Google returned USENET to relevance in a world that considered newsgroups=
=20
and IRC to be dead or dying. Each and every one of communities on USENET=20
is amazingly vertical, but they could all back up and back out to the=20
larger USENET community =E2=80=93 to the equivalent of the =E2=80=9Cwelcome=
new students=E2=80=9D=20
meetings and gatherings colleges offer to entering Freshmen.
Communities that are too vertical tend to shoe horn the =E2=80=9Cgeneral to= pics=E2=80=9D=20
conversations into hidden =E2=80=9Coff topic=E2=80=9D eddies. That is just = the opposite of=20
what should be done. The conversation should be general,=20
cross-pollinating, and then move, after a conversation starts, into=20
another room.
Start with an amazing platform, collect users, listen and watch them to=20
see how they=E2=80=99re playing with the software application objects, widg= ets,=20
and tools (are they playing with the toy or the box?), and then build for=
=20
the users base, withholding judgment. reddit is a case study for this:=20
start small, grow organically, and allow your members to find themselves.
The developers of reddit realized that after initial vertical growth based=
=20
on the general members of Digg, kuro5hin, and Slashdot (techie, geeky,=20 teens, boys), reddit would suffer from the same sort of vulnerabilities=20
that Digg suffered when it didn=E2=80=99t evolve and grow and broaden itsel=
f past=20
=E2=80=9CNews for nerds. Stuff that matters.=E2=80=9D
People love talking about Linux, but when happens when the Dow drops or=20
the elections come? Where will the conversation happen? Where is the=20 =E2=80=9Ckitchen=E2=80=9D at the party where every eventually goes to just = talk about=20
general interest stuff? Unless there are opportunities to express and=20
share so-called =E2=80=9Coff-topic=E2=80=9D conversation right there, withi=
n the community=20
in which members are already committed, with members to whom they=E2=80=99r= e=20
already committed, then they are bound to go elsewhere.
Starting small and allowing the community to design itself is much=20
different than starting big and losing one=E2=80=99s focus. Other mistakes = happen=20
when community builders make assumptions as to what participants, members,=
=20
and lurkers want. Another mistake is putting a wall up around the=20
community so that non-members cannot get a full feeling for the community=
=20
from without.
The best SNS=E2=80=99s, virtual worlds, and online communities are honeypot=
s. By=20
honeypot, I am not suggesting, =E2=80=9Ca server that is configured to dete=
ct an=20
intruder by mirroring a real production system. It appears as an ordinary=
=20
server doing work, but all the data and transactions are phony. Located=20 either in or outside the firewall, the honeypot is used to learn about an=
=20
intruder=E2=80=99s techniques as well as determine vulnerabilities in the r= eal=20
system.=E2=80=9D Although I am, sort of. The best SNS needs to be appealing= ,=20
attractive, sweet, and compelling. Community-builders and SNS ASP=20
developers need to be willing learn about member techniques, interests,=20 processes, and needs, as well as determine =E2=80=9Cvulnerabilities=E2=80=
=9D in the SNS=20
platform that may repel, turn off, or limit the evolution and growth of=20
the community.
To channel Chauncey Gardener for a second, one must do whatever one must=20
to make sure that the earth in the garden is moist and well fed, one must=
=20
seed well and completely, one must keep the garden in sun and water, one=20 must encourage the garden to grow as it will for only in its growth will=20
the garden be successful, and then, after rigorous growth, pruning and=20 weeding must be done, only in order to allow the garden to be healthy, not=
=20
to turn the garden into topiary. Okay, I am done.
reddit allows all of these things. reddit is perfectly useful and=20
compelling even as an alien, but it is way more fun and interesting when=20 you=E2=80=99re a citizen, that=E2=80=99s for sure. An SNS community needs t=
o be as=20
attractive as possible because exclusivity is no longer essential or even=
=20
valuable. What is valuable is =E2=80=9Cuseful,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9Cinterestin= g,=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cauthentic.=E2=80=9D=20
They also have to have community buy-in and the best enjoy a certain=20 fanatical devotion. Just like the best Universities and Colleges.
And reddit allowed its member to tell it when it was time to evolve past=20 tech and geek news. reddit did not limit its scope or define itself too=20 tightly with being =E2=80=9Cgear for geeks=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Cnews for ne= rds.=E2=80=9D That would have=20
ultimately been the death of reddit.
What the best Universities (such as Yale) understand is that it is not the=
=20
student who is blessed and honored by being accepted by a top college=20
(Yale College) but rather it is the college that should be blessed and=20 honored (and should be grateful) that such a quality student is accepting=
=20
its offers and actually attending =E2=80=93 choosing =E2=80=93 their partic= ular school:=20
Yale instead of Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Dartmouth,=20 Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley, etc=E2=80=A6
Harvard, too, is aware that although in the short-term Harvard makes the=20 Harvard Man, over the long term, it is Harvard Men who made Harvard and=20 continue to make Harvard. =E2=80=9CWho have you graduated recently?=E2=80=
=9D Unless the=20
quality and character of its students and alumni remain top-drawer,=20
Harvard is not guaranteed its position as =E2=80=9Ctop three=E2=80=9D in US=
A Today=20
alongside Princeton and Yale. No matter how grand its endowment.
So, Harvard and Yale spoil their students rotten! My friends who attended=
=20
Harvard or Yale college swoon over those 4 years like I swoon over my=20
first love.
Likewise, SNS=E2=80=99s, virtual worlds, and virtual communities need to re= alize=20
that at any one point, their brand is only as good as the collective that=
=20
is manifest in the users, the members, the lurkers, the stewards, and the=
=20
alumni of the property.
This isn=E2=80=99t only true in SNS=E2=80=99s. The same thing can be said o=
f the most=20
successful message boards and online communities. The most important=20 distinction, I think, is that all of these =E2=80=9Crooms=E2=80=9D and all =
of these=20
=E2=80=9Cclubs=E2=80=9D and all of these spaces where (and are) defined and=
created by the=20
communities themselves. Sui generis. And this sort of ownership =E2=80=93 = =E2=80=9Cfor us=20
by us,=E2=80=9D as the slogan goes over as Howard Rheingold=E2=80=99s Brain= storms=20
community =E2=80=93 should never be underestimated.
The Well has Howard Rheingold as a member and alumnus, for example, and=20
the credibility of all that he has made and done; over time, more and more=
=20
virtual communities, virtual worlds, and SNS will be known for their=20
members as well: who studies, who studied, and who wants to join.
=E2=80=9CWhat=E2=80=99s in it for me=E2=80=9D (WIIFM) and the concept of pr= ide of ownership are=20
important =E2=80=93 essential =E2=80=93 ingredients of a sustainable, deep,=
thriving, and=20
healthy community. The success Facebook is that the verticals are not=20
(were not) defined for them by their grand architects =E2=80=93 they are=20 self-creating, self-forming, and also self-destructing. They form, reform,=
=20
mutate and disperse after they hit a limit of general conversation and=20
then either break off and reform into an =E2=80=9Cinterest group=E2=80=9D o=
r =E2=80=9Cclub=E2=80=9D or=20
they self-check and work to =E2=80=9Cget back on topic.=E2=80=9D
SNS=E2=80=99s and communities in general tend to be formed in one of two wa= ys:=20
like Paris or like London. Intelligence Design (architecture) or Emergent=
=20
Design. The later never looks very beautiful or the way people =E2=80=93 or=
the=20
creators, investors, and architects =E2=80=93 expect (or want) it to look, = because=20
investors and designers tend to not be able to control it =E2=80=93 and whe=
n they=20
do try to impost order, often in a heavy-handed way, they also tend to=20
scare off all of their members, too.
This organic revolution has proven its success online time and time again.=
=20
The Internet does not respond (well or at all) to command and control. The=
=20
smartest Web 2.0 platforms allow the =E2=80=9Cmasses of asses=E2=80=9D (yes=
, the customer;=20
yes, us) to define the platform and the experience =E2=80=93 their own and=
=20
collective environment and experience.
Facebook does this amazingly well. Friendster and MySpace suffered from a=
=20
vision and used command and control tactics to try to coerce its users=20
that =E2=80=9Cit didn=E2=80=99t really want to do things that way=E2=80=9D = and Friendster members=20
abandoned in droves to platforms and experiences not so monitored by =E2=80= =9Cmom=20
and dad.=E2=80=9D
A command and control grand vision doesn=E2=80=99t work when you develop an= =20
environment that needs to be truly both attractive and compelling much=20
more than it needs to be informational or instructional. An SNS needs to=20
be attractive, diversional, compelling, amusing, and entertaining =E2=80=93=
never=20
limiting.
My analogy of college and high school never mentioned classrooms or=20
classes for training or learning. People do enough of that at school and=20
at work. An SNS needs to give its users a university campus without any=20 expectations or concepts of dropping out, getting judged, doing homework,=
=20
or being held accountable for anything.
A good SNS should be all late-night wine-influenced discussions of=20
Descartes and Plato and the summer afternoons on the quad and the time=20 playing Xbox with your roommates.
When I go onto my long-term online communities, the Well, The Meta=20
Network, USENET, and Brainstorms, there are many very deep and very=20
vertical communities, discussing things as frivolous as fashion and video=
=20
games and as deep as how to survive cancer, how to get a post doc grant,=20
and very deep discussions on =E2=80=9Cspirit,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9Cchaos theor= y,=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cworld=20
politics.=E2=80=9D
What makes this amazing and sustainable is that there are an infinite=20
number of ways to get along, to move into a space of intense conversation,=
=20
and then to pull back into common areas, just to see who=E2=80=99s around. =
In a=20
university setting, this could be the dining hall, the quad, the commons,=
=20
etc. These spaces are very important.
If you think about all of this in terms of evolution, then we can think=20 about the way things evolve in the most perverse ways when isolated from=20 others of its kinds. So, if there are impervious walls =E2=80=93 gaps or vo= ids,=20
mountains or ridges =E2=80=93 between these vertical markets, SNS=E2=80=99s=
, and=20
communities, then there may be an initial success, but there can also be a=
=20
terrible volatility. One plague or drought can decimate a population=20 completely.
Having a commons allows members and visitors to have a place to meet new=20 people, have new experiences, and learn of new clubs, new opportunities,=20
and new places =E2=80=93 inbreeding versus crossbreeding. Ultimately, a div= ersity=20
of visitors helps build a more resilient, invested, and self-identifying=20 community. They will become =E2=80=9Cstudents for life=E2=80=9D at best and=
proud alums at=20
worst. They will carry the brand awareness, even if their lives become too=
=20
busy to participate any more.
They will become life long brand ambassadors for your community. Proud=20 alumni.
And, in terms of =E2=80=9Cviral marketing,=E2=80=9D it is also important wh=
en it comes to=20
a member of an SNS =E2=80=9Cinviting his friends=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 not all=
of my friends have the=20
same vertical interests that I do=E2=80=A6 They could have very different=
=20
interests =E2=80=93 but as I explore the =E2=80=9Ccommons=E2=80=9D of an SN=
S, I can note that=20
there are things happening online that =E2=80=9Cfriend x=E2=80=9D and =E2= =80=9Cfriend y=E2=80=9D would=20
love, and that would be my incentive to invite them on board.
I am the only person I know in my entire community =E2=80=93 that is not tr= ue, my=20
buddy has an Audi S4 =E2=80=93 who is into cars. My buddy is an Audi driver=
and I=20
am a BMW driver. Does that mean we=E2=80=99re both drivers? Does that mean =
we love=20
cars or our particular car? Do we cross over on performance sedans? On=20 German cars? On luxury cars?
You have to offer the tools to allow the market to choose for itself,=20 otherwise, you might never find out that the SNS needs all three, or none=
=20
at all.
A =E2=80=9CModularized SNS=E2=80=9D should be neutral like a university (un= like MySpace,=20
which is pretty pre-defined as to what the demographic is), and there are=
=20
lots of =E2=80=9Cvertical niche SNS=E2=80=99s=E2=80=9D (e.g. car enthusiast=
s, gourmet cooking,=20
travel, Rolex fans, Republican politicos, etc.) That way, everyone can=20
form a SNS experience that actually fits them by modularly assembling the=
=20
groups of people who have similar interests, (not just friends-in-common!)
Got it? Go git =E2=80=99em, Tiger!
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