#networkeffects — Public Fediverse posts

@voltagex

Yes. That is the strongest argument for staying, and I think it’s a real one.

Facebook became social infrastructure.

Your family is there. Your local groups are there. Your old friends are there. Leaving can mean losing access to things that matter.

But that is also the trap.

Network effects only remain unbeatable while everyone keeps accepting them as unbeatable.

I’m not pretending leaving is cost-free.

I’m saying somebody has to start leaving, building elsewhere, and inviting people with them.

Otherwise “everyone I know is there” becomes Meta’s permanent business model.

#Facebook #Meta #Fediverse #SocialMedia #NetworkEffects #OpenWeb

@voltagex

Yes. That is the strongest argument for staying, and I think it’s a real one.

Facebook became social infrastructure.

Your family is there. Your local groups are there. Your old friends are there. Leaving can mean losing access to things that matter.

But that is also the trap.

Network effects only remain unbeatable while everyone keeps accepting them as unbeatable.

I’m not pretending leaving is cost-free.

I’m saying somebody has to start leaving, building elsewhere, and inviting people with them.

Otherwise “everyone I know is there” becomes Meta’s permanent business model.

#Facebook #Meta #Fediverse #SocialMedia #NetworkEffects #OpenWeb

So, after having spent a good amount of time actually interacting on Mastodon, I'm starting to identify kind of a structural rift between what we see on corporate social media vs here.

It's not just the profit model or the federation or whatever else (although those are factors that lead to this point). It's that on corporate social media, the system favors the creation of massive spoke hub "creators", which connect to a hell of a lot of users.

That is, there's a small collection of high influence creators. This is as opposed to how the Social Web/fediverse works, in which there's more (percentage-wise) "creator" nodes, but each one has less influence.

Here, take a look at a fancy graphic I made, since I feel like this should be a concept people feel viscerally.

🧵 (1/)

#SocialWeb #NetworkEffects #influencers #instagram #tiktok

So, after having spent a good amount of time actually interacting on Mastodon, I'm starting to identify kind of a structural rift between what we see on corporate social media vs here.

It's not just the profit model or the federation or whatever else (although those are factors that lead to this point). It's that on corporate social media, the system favors the creation of massive spoke hub "creators", which connect to a hell of a lot of users.

That is, there's a small collection of high influence creators. This is as opposed to how the Social Web/fediverse works, in which there's more (percentage-wise) "creator" nodes, but each one has less influence.

Here, take a look at a fancy graphic I made, since I feel like this should be a concept people feel viscerally.

🧵 (1/)

#SocialWeb #NetworkEffects #influencers #instagram #tiktok

A minor point: We need to take care to distinguish #NetworkEffects versus #SwitchingCosts.

A “network effect” is often good for the people affected (more people in the system makes it more appealing to join that system) and we typically want that effect.

A “switching cost” is typically bad for the people affected: Anyone already in the system, must give up something when they try to leave.

We need to *lower* the hostile switching costs, and retain the beneficial network effect.

@syntaxseed

A minor point: We need to take care to distinguish #NetworkEffects versus #SwitchingCosts.

A “network effect” is often good for the people affected (more people in the system makes it more appealing to join that system) and we typically want that effect.

A “switching cost” is typically bad for the people affected: Anyone already in the system, must give up something when they try to leave.

We need to *lower* the hostile switching costs, and retain the beneficial network effect.

@syntaxseed

I pushed a post “Mastodon kinda hates AI” that is basically what it says on the tin https://nathanherald.com/posts/mastodon-kinda-hates-ai/

I saw this post by 1Password https://1password.social/@1password/116569353856438624 and the replies were pretty overwhelmingly negative on Masto, but not anywhere else.

Do you see the same thing? Is it good/bad/neutral that Masto overall has biases?

#mastodon #networkeffects #socialnetworks

I pushed a post “Mastodon kinda hates AI” that is basically what it says on the tin https://nathanherald.com/posts/mastodon-kinda-hates-ai/

I saw this post by 1Password https://1password.social/@1password/116569353856438624 and the replies were pretty overwhelmingly negative on Masto, but not anywhere else.

Do you see the same thing? Is it good/bad/neutral that Masto overall has biases?

#mastodon #networkeffects #socialnetworks

Turning Network Effects Into a Sustainable Marketing Moat

read more : https://www.martechcube.com/turning-network-effects-into-a-sustainable-marketing-moat/

#NetworkEffects #SustainableMarketingMoat #martech #martechnews #martecharticles #martechinterview

Does the exodus to UpScrolled signify the end of TikTok?
#USA #TikTok #UpScrolled #SocialMedia #Algorithms #Censorship #Politics #Misinformation #Bluesky #Tech #MediaPower #OnlineSpeech #PlatformPolitics #TechPolicy #NetworkEffects #ShadowBanned #Facebook
https://the-14.com/does-the-exodus-to-upscrolled-signify-the-end-of-tiktok/

Does the exodus to UpScrolled signify the end of TikTok?
#USA #TikTok #UpScrolled #SocialMedia #Algorithms #Censorship #Politics #Misinformation #Bluesky #Tech #MediaPower #OnlineSpeech #PlatformPolitics #TechPolicy #NetworkEffects #ShadowBanned #Facebook
https://the-14.com/does-the-exodus-to-upscrolled-signify-the-end-of-tiktok/

@urlyman @davew @pfefferle

You're right! Ideal is too strong for the case, as we'd better chose something else. Maybe viable/possible would fit better. However, #WordPress 43% adds #networkeffects to #opensourceinnovation. Otherwise, how would #Brazilianmuseums, which are among the most defunded institutions on the planet, have the muscle to be part of this conversation? The opportunity that the #pluginecosystem opens up for #sustainable #freesoftware development was key to bringing us here.

@urlyman @davew @pfefferle

You're right! Ideal is too strong for the case, as we'd better chose something else. Maybe viable/possible would fit better. However, #WordPress 43% adds #networkeffects to #opensourceinnovation. Otherwise, how would #Brazilianmuseums, which are among the most defunded institutions on the planet, have the muscle to be part of this conversation? The opportunity that the #pluginecosystem opens up for #sustainable #freesoftware development was key to bringing us here.

This diagram, taken from the U.S. v. Google judgment, illustrates a fundamental dynamic of digital market power. This self-reinforcing loop is the core issue with Big Tech platforms: scale isn’t just an advantage — it shuts the door on competition. #DataAggregation #BigTech #NetworkEffects

This diagram, taken directly from the U.S. v. Google judgment, illustrates a fundamental dynamic of digital market power:

Data Aggregation → Market Dominance

This self-reinforcing loop is the core issue with Big Tech platforms: scale isn’t just an advantage — it becomes a moat. And without regulatory intervention, it shuts the door on competition.

#Google #Antitrust #PlatformPower #DataAggregation #BigTech #DigitalMonopoly #DataEconomy #NetworkEffects #Regulation

This diagram, taken directly from the U.S. v. Google judgment, illustrates a fundamental dynamic of digital market power:

Data Aggregation → Market Dominance

This self-reinforcing loop is the core issue with Big Tech platforms: scale isn’t just an advantage — it becomes a moat. And without regulatory intervention, it shuts the door on competition.

#Google #Antitrust #PlatformPower #DataAggregation #BigTech #DigitalMonopoly #DataEconomy #NetworkEffects #Regulation

🎉🎓 Apparently, some genius dropped a 12-minute #thesis on "network effects" — because clearly, none of us have ever heard of #Facebook 🤔. Spoiler alert: #mistakes were made, but don't worry, there's a book for that. 📚✨
https://madhavajay.com/the-cold-start-problem-using-network-effects-to-scale-your-product/ #networkeffects #bookrecommendation #HackerNews #ngated

🎉🎓 Apparently, some genius dropped a 12-minute #thesis on "network effects" — because clearly, none of us have ever heard of #Facebook 🤔. Spoiler alert: #mistakes were made, but don't worry, there's a book for that. 📚✨
https://madhavajay.com/the-cold-start-problem-using-network-effects-to-scale-your-product/ #networkeffects #bookrecommendation #HackerNews #ngated

The Cold Start Problem: Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product – A Review

https://madhavajay.com/the-cold-start-problem-using-network-effects-to-scale-your-product/

#HackerNews #ColdStartProblem #NetworkEffects #ProductScaling #TechReview #StartupInsights

The Cold Start Problem: Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product – A Review

https://madhavajay.com/the-cold-start-problem-using-network-effects-to-scale-your-product/

#HackerNews #ColdStartProblem #NetworkEffects #ProductScaling #TechReview #StartupInsights

Microsoft Windows+Office for $55?

What happened?

Usually cheap MSFT license offers are a sign of Linux gains somewhere but I'm not seeing it this time

LibreOffice for Steam OS is taking off?

They're selling at a loss because it makes you train their "AI"?

There's some market share number they need to tweak upward to keep some stock analyst happy?

https://mashable.com/deals/january-24-the-ultimate-mso-pro-2021 #networkEffects

Microsoft Windows+Office for $55?

What happened?

Usually cheap MSFT license offers are a sign of Linux gains somewhere but I'm not seeing it this time

LibreOffice for Steam OS is taking off?

They're selling at a loss because it makes you train their "AI"?

There's some market share number they need to tweak upward to keep some stock analyst happy?

https://mashable.com/deals/january-24-the-ultimate-mso-pro-2021 #networkEffects

Longform by Liz Pelly at Harper's Magazine on SPOTIFY'S USE OF FAKE MUSICIANS to reduce royalty payouts to real artists. This is a long and indepth article the Spotify user and musician community should read in full.

Images of the intro in toot, full article 👇

https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machine-liz-pelly-spotify-musicians/

#Music #MusicBusiness #Spotify #GhostArtists #Fraud #News #Economics #NetworkEffects #enshitification #Capitalism #ParasiticCapitalism #Longform #HarpersMagazine #LizPelly

Longform by Liz Pelly at Harper's Magazine on SPOTIFY'S USE OF FAKE MUSICIANS to reduce royalty payouts to real artists. This is a long and indepth article the Spotify user and musician community should read in full.

Images of the intro in toot, full article 👇

https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machine-liz-pelly-spotify-musicians/

#Music #MusicBusiness #Spotify #GhostArtists #Fraud #News #Economics #NetworkEffects #enshitification #Capitalism #ParasiticCapitalism #Longform #HarpersMagazine #LizPelly

I'm talking with a colleague who gave the usual reasons for staying on #X / #Twitter while I gave the usual reasons for moving to #Mastodon.

I found myself making this argument too: I want #SocialMedia to live on #OpenInfrastructure, just as I want research to live on open infrastructure. #NetworkEffects might have made "starting over" on open infra impossible, and even now make it very difficult. But #Musk's odious changes are making it slightly easier and we should take advantage of that."

I'm talking with a colleague who gave the usual reasons for staying on #X / #Twitter while I gave the usual reasons for moving to #Mastodon.

I found myself making this argument too: I want #SocialMedia to live on #OpenInfrastructure, just as I want research to live on open infrastructure. #NetworkEffects might have made "starting over" on open infra impossible, and even now make it very difficult. But #Musk's odious changes are making it slightly easier and we should take advantage of that."

Regarding:
https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113456445683645336

The Fediverse and decentralized social-media (DeSo) in general needs to be more than just an online social-network.

It also needs to be a developer platform where people create things.

#deso #fediverse #networkEffects

Regarding:
https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113456445683645336

The Fediverse and decentralized social-media (DeSo) in general needs to be more than just an online social-network.

It also needs to be a developer platform where people create things.

#deso #fediverse #networkEffects

Crypto Market Flatlines at $2.3 Trillion—Coingecko’s Q3 Insights Show Surprising Trends - According to Coingecko’s 2024 Q3 Crypto Industry Report, the global cryptocurrency... - https://news.bitcoin.com/crypto-market-flatlines-at-2-3-trillion-coingeckos-q3-insights-show-surprising-trends/ #inflationresistance #decentralization #cryptocurrency #networkeffects #socialcontract #blockchain #consensus #featured #bitcoin #privacy #forks

Crypto Market Flatlines at $2.3 Trillion—Coingecko’s Q3 Insights Show Surprising Trends - According to Coingecko’s 2024 Q3 Crypto Industry Report, the global cryptocurrency... - https://news.bitcoin.com/crypto-market-flatlines-at-2-3-trillion-coingeckos-q3-insights-show-surprising-trends/ #inflationresistance #decentralization #cryptocurrency #networkeffects #socialcontract #blockchain #consensus #featured #bitcoin #privacy #forks

An Underwater Data Center in San Francisco Bay? Regulators Say Not So Fast - The YC-backed startup NetworkOcean plans to sink GPUs into San Francisco Bay. Multiple Ca... - https://www.wired.com/story/networkocean-datacenter-san-francisco-bay-environment/ #business/startups #networkeffects #business

An Underwater Data Center in San Francisco Bay? Regulators Say Not So Fast - The YC-backed startup NetworkOcean plans to sink GPUs into San Francisco Bay. Multiple Ca... - https://www.wired.com/story/networkocean-datacenter-san-francisco-bay-environment/ #business/startups #networkeffects #business

COLLECTIVE-PLATFORM-MIGRATION

#NetworkEffects often organically lock us in. People don't want to move to another platform until their network does

What if regulators mandated dominant platforms have a function allowing users to collectively migrate?
=
to flag that when a certain tipping point (x%) of their network has flagged it is willing to move to platform Y, then they are willing to have their account automatically transferred, together with that of their network, to the new platform

"This article assumes that in order to advance the decarbonisation of fossil-based socio-economic systems it is first necessary to ‘deactivate’ the related fossil machine: to investigate how to do so we propose a new reticular approach. The article adopts this approach to investigate the deactivation of the... fossil machine built around a group of coal plants in Civitavecchia...whose planned conversion to gas was eventually abandoned."

#EnergyPolicy
#NetworkEffects

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629624002469?dgcid=rss_sd_all

"This article assumes that in order to advance the decarbonisation of fossil-based socio-economic systems it is first necessary to ‘deactivate’ the related fossil machine: to investigate how to do so we propose a new reticular approach. The article adopts this approach to investigate the deactivation of the... fossil machine built around a group of coal plants in Civitavecchia...whose planned conversion to gas was eventually abandoned."

#EnergyPolicy
#NetworkEffects

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629624002469?dgcid=rss_sd_all

Hear Jordan Kostelac explain how Deploy solves the geographical coverage of venture capital scouts with network effects https://youtube.com/shorts/HXqxh6AQ12k

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@analyseasia/video/7378362067184618768?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7198703856800581122
Main Site: https://www.analyse.asia/proptech-in-2024-deploy-startup-venture-jordan-kostelac/
Full YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/XkBdxV-z2Qc?ref=analyse.asia
Newsletter Signup: https://www.analyse.asia/#/portal/signup
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/analyse-asia/

#venturecapital #venturescouts #duediligence #networkeffects #expertnetworks

"Other social networks like MySpace and Vine had their moments, only to eventually fade into obscurity.

There are three possible reasons network effects can backfire, according to research from #CatherineTucker, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management."

#BobbyAllyn, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/12/1168232177/twitter-tik-tok-replaced-network

#SocialMedia #NetworkEffects #MIT

"Other social networks like MySpace and Vine had their moments, only to eventually fade into obscurity.

There are three possible reasons network effects can backfire, according to research from #CatherineTucker, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management."

#BobbyAllyn, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/12/1168232177/twitter-tik-tok-replaced-network

#SocialMedia #NetworkEffects #MIT

While Friend.tech booms, decentralized social has a retention problem — Execs - Decentralized social network Friend.tech may be booming right now... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/friend-tech-decentralized-social-media-onboarding-problem #decentalizedsocialmedia #networkeffects #userinterface #desoprotocol #suhailkakar #friendtech #onboard #edmoss

While Friend.tech booms, decentralized social has a retention problem — Execs - Decentralized social network Friend.tech may be booming right now... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/friend-tech-decentralized-social-media-onboarding-problem #decentalizedsocialmedia #networkeffects #userinterface #desoprotocol #suhailkakar #friendtech #onboard #edmoss

any video conferencing system that needs a "system requirements" page is doomed

(even if 99% of users are on the supported client platforms, a much larger % of meeting organizers will have a broken meeting + wasted time because of a few attendees on unsupported client systems #networkEffects)

any video conferencing system that needs a "system requirements" page is doomed

(even if 99% of users are on the supported client platforms, a much larger % of meeting organizers will have a broken meeting + wasted time because of a few attendees on unsupported client systems #networkEffects)

why an ad-supported, for-profit social network might want to support federation: they can choose to offer it only in countries or regions where ad revenue/user is greater than moderation cost. Users in countries where ad revenue < moderation costs can use a separate service that federates with the ad-supported one, so those users count for purposes of #networkEffects but not financials

#ActivityPub #winning

why an ad-supported, for-profit social network might want to support federation: they can choose to offer it only in countries or regions where ad revenue/user is greater than moderation cost. Users in countries where ad revenue < moderation costs can use a separate service that federates with the ad-supported one, so those users count for purposes of #networkEffects but not financials

#ActivityPub #winning

#SocialMedia #NetworkEffects #BigTech #Oligopolies: "Social media needs to burn.

From its first days, the consumer computing and networking sector was synonymous with explosive growth.

Companies would spring up out of nowhere and grow to impossible scale overnight. The source of this rapid corporate gigantism was no mystery: it came from network effects.

A business, product or service enjoys “network effects” when adding more customers increases in value. Every Apple ][+ sold increased the number of people you could exchange data on floppies with; it increased the number of dealers who’d sell you accessories for your new home computer; and it increased the number of software authors and hardware companies who’d fill those dealers’ showrooms with new applications and peripherals for you to use.

Network effects are how Amazon got so big. They’re why platforms with App Stores — from games to mobile OSes — are so exciting for investors. And, of course, they’re why social media platforms exploded onto the scene in the 2000s and took over the world."

https://doctorow.medium.com/let-the-platforms-burn-6fb3e6c0d980

#SocialMedia #NetworkEffects #BigTech #Oligopolies: "Social media needs to burn.

From its first days, the consumer computing and networking sector was synonymous with explosive growth.

Companies would spring up out of nowhere and grow to impossible scale overnight. The source of this rapid corporate gigantism was no mystery: it came from network effects.

A business, product or service enjoys “network effects” when adding more customers increases in value. Every Apple ][+ sold increased the number of people you could exchange data on floppies with; it increased the number of dealers who’d sell you accessories for your new home computer; and it increased the number of software authors and hardware companies who’d fill those dealers’ showrooms with new applications and peripherals for you to use.

Network effects are how Amazon got so big. They’re why platforms with App Stores — from games to mobile OSes — are so exciting for investors. And, of course, they’re why social media platforms exploded onto the scene in the 2000s and took over the world."

https://doctorow.medium.com/let-the-platforms-burn-6fb3e6c0d980

@cstross

Frankly, I can't see a whole lot of the private instance admins wanting to #federate with #Facebook. Maybe whats-his-name's big one (mastodon.social?).

So I'm guessing Meta would start offering to #pay instances to federate with them, at least at first, until they can get the network effects going.

It'll be interesting to see if it happens, and which admins are susceptible to the #bribe.

#NetworkEffects

@cstross

Frankly, I can't see a whole lot of the private instance admins wanting to #federate with #Facebook. Maybe whats-his-name's big one (mastodon.social?).

So I'm guessing Meta would start offering to #pay instances to federate with them, at least at first, until they can get the network effects going.

It'll be interesting to see if it happens, and which admins are susceptible to the #bribe.

#NetworkEffects

Politics is downstream from culture and the battlefield for culture wars is in disinformation and provokatsiya across digital networks.

via John Robb: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnrobb/p/america-needs-enemies?r=4hxgy&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

#politics #culture #informationgain #informationwar #culturewar #provokatsiya #networkeffects #networkstate

Politics is downstream from culture and the battlefield for culture wars is in disinformation and provokatsiya across digital networks.

via John Robb: https://open.substack.com/pub/johnrobb/p/america-needs-enemies?r=4hxgy&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

#politics #culture #informationgain #informationwar #culturewar #provokatsiya #networkeffects #networkstate

I kinda went on a rant: https://open.substack.com/pub/paninid/p/organizational-information-gain?r=4hxgy&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

#informationgain #decisiontrees #values #priorities #systemsthinking #productmanagement #strategy #CX #UX #masspersonalization #GenerativeAI #collaboration #platform #networkeffects #SaaS #communication #socialmedia #customersuccess #processoptimization #employeeengagement #servicedesign #LLMs #cashflow #psychologicalsafety #emotionalintelligence #ambiguity #productmarketfit #backpropagation #machineaugmented #digitaltransformation

I kinda went on a rant: https://open.substack.com/pub/paninid/p/organizational-information-gain?r=4hxgy&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

#informationgain #decisiontrees #values #priorities #systemsthinking #productmanagement #strategy #CX #UX #masspersonalization #GenerativeAI #collaboration #platform #networkeffects #SaaS #communication #socialmedia #customersuccess #processoptimization #employeeengagement #servicedesign #LLMs #cashflow #psychologicalsafety #emotionalintelligence #ambiguity #productmarketfit #backpropagation #machineaugmented #digitaltransformation

Two posts by #Mastodon advocates @atomicpoet and @samlitzinger search for motivations why journalists stay on #twitter.

Anyone who can figure out why authors still sell books on Amazon can figure this out.

No need to psychoanalyze: it's #NetworkEffects, their existing #Audience, automatic recommendations that turn circulating content into new followers, and ease of use.

https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/110147601755950269
https://journa.host/@samlitzinger/110147487457976651

#BigTech #Capitalism #NetworKEffects #SwitchingCosts #Economics: "While it’s possible in theory for competition to work well even when network effects and switching costs exist, it’s probably best to assume that they are gumming up the works. Paul Klemperer, one of the pioneers of switching-cost models, has argued that antitrust authorities should try to ensure compatibility between rival platforms, reducing switching costs and pushing against the ability of any one company to monopolise a network.

That means maximising interoperability: the ability to send posts to your Facebook friends, and read their posts, even if you’ve decided to leave Facebook and use a different social network; the ability to take your eBooks and audiobooks out of Amazon’s ecosystem (you paid for them, after all); the ability to put any kind of ink in your printer, any kind of razor blade on your handle and any kind of bread in your toaster.

Interoperability cannot be guaranteed by law. There are too many hard cases, too many grey areas, too many legitimate technical obstacles. But regulators can operate with a presumption in favour of interoperability, as they do for switching phone providers or making transfers between banks."

https://www.ft.com/content/acaf3fb1-d971-48ad-8efb-c82787cdd2fc

"… #antitrust authorities should try to ensure #compatibility between rival platforms, reducing #SwitchingCosts and pushing against the ability of any one company to monopolise a network. …regulators can operate with a presumption in favour of #interoperability, as they do for switching phone providers or making transfers between banks."
https://www.ft.com/content/acaf3fb1-d971-48ad-8efb-c82787cdd2fc?sharetype=blocked
#enshittification #NetworkEffects