[Opinion] Would a Community Managed Social Network be any good?

[AdamTile]

I know there are many Social Networks that are sprouting up now, but some are so complicated that they need a good FAQ, so uses can understand how things work...

There also seems to be a perception that centralism is evil

Some Social Networks are even financially rewarding viewers, which for me personally, doesn't make sense.

But if a Social Network could still run along the same lines as other conventional Social Networks, with the only main change is that the Manager of these Social Platforms is voted in by the Public, each year, then is that a worthwhile idea?

Managers who do a good job would tend to get voted back the following year

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[Bitcoin Smith]

When someone is giving their services for free then understand they are selling our data so they keep making money when people using their service like social media.If someone starts their own social network with not touching anyone's data then how they will generate profits to run their services?

[squatz1]

I mean something like this could happen initially and it could work for the first portion of time. People would be happy to know that there's no central authrity and they're free to spread their opinion. All of that sounds great on paper.

But what about censoring child porn, illegal activities, and other items like this? You need a central authority for this. If the whole community was really decentralized, they would slowly agree to put someone in power to combat this activity.

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

[Spendulus]

When someone is giving their services for free then understand they are selling our data so they keep making money when people using their service like social media.If someone starts their own social network with not touching anyone's data then how they will generate profits to run their services?

There are many ways to generate profits, one of the best is a simple very small charge per message or email (received or sent).

[merchantofzeny]

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

Well that really is an issue, I think even with some sort of community guideline etched in stone. Maybe they can just design the site so that the ads can differ depending on the post, like how in Youtube you can choose which videos you like your ad to show up? Maybe like the ad is some sort of signature that you only see when you expand that person's posts, like when clicking "Read more".

IMHO I think one way to make it really community-based is if it's funded by the community instead but I don't know how that would work since people these days expect everything to be free.

[squatz1]

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

Well that really is an issue, I think even with some sort of community guideline etched in stone. Maybe they can just design the site so that the ads can differ depending on the post, like how in Youtube you can choose which videos you like your ad to show up? Maybe like the ad is some sort of signature that you only see when you expand that person's posts, like when clicking "Read more".

IMHO I think one way to make it really community-based is if it's funded by the community instead but I don't know how that would work since people these days expect everything to be free.

Yes but with this sort of site, with no real moderation allowing for some pretty horrible stuff to be posted -- they're going to not be able to fit the advertisers needs too well. Companies that are advertising on a site like this aren't going to pay too well, as it's going to be riddled with the bottom of the barrel ads -- such as investing tips, groups, scams, porn, etc.

This isn't going to be enough to support the network at all, and it's unfair to think that it will.

Sadly this isn't truly possible if you want the network to scale into the levels of Instagram, Reddit, etc.

[Spendulus]

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

Well that really is an issue, I think even with some sort of community guideline etched in stone. Maybe they can just design the site so that the ads can differ depending on the post, like how in Youtube you can choose which videos you like your ad to show up? Maybe like the ad is some sort of signature that you only see when you expand that person's posts, like when clicking "Read more".

IMHO I think one way to make it really community-based is if it's funded by the community instead but I don't know how that would work since people these days expect everything to be free.

Yes but with this sort of site, with no real moderation allowing for some pretty horrible stuff to be posted -- they're going to not be able to fit the advertisers needs too well. Companies that are advertising on a site like this aren't going to pay too well, as it's going to be riddled with the bottom of the barrel ads -- such as investing tips, groups, scams, porn, etc.

This isn't going to be enough to support the network at all, and it's unfair to think that it will.

Sadly this isn't truly possible if you want the network to scale into the levels of Instagram, Reddit, etc.

Funding by a micro charge per post eliminates the possibility that small fringe groups or persons can spam the system, making it appear that a fringe opinion is mainstream. Those micro charges add up pretty quick if one is posting thousands of messages.

[squatz1]

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

Well that really is an issue, I think even with some sort of community guideline etched in stone. Maybe they can just design the site so that the ads can differ depending on the post, like how in Youtube you can choose which videos you like your ad to show up? Maybe like the ad is some sort of signature that you only see when you expand that person's posts, like when clicking "Read more".

IMHO I think one way to make it really community-based is if it's funded by the community instead but I don't know how that would work since people these days expect everything to be free.

Yes but with this sort of site, with no real moderation allowing for some pretty horrible stuff to be posted -- they're going to not be able to fit the advertisers needs too well. Companies that are advertising on a site like this aren't going to pay too well, as it's going to be riddled with the bottom of the barrel ads -- such as investing tips, groups, scams, porn, etc.

This isn't going to be enough to support the network at all, and it's unfair to think that it will.

Sadly this isn't truly possible if you want the network to scale into the levels of Instagram, Reddit, etc.

Funding by a micro charge per post eliminates the possibility that small fringe groups or persons can spam the system, making it appear that a fringe opinion is mainstream. Those micro charges add up pretty quick if one is posting thousands of messages.

Wouldn't that just allow a small group of the ultra wealthy to spam things? Even people with enough money to beat the next person would be able to make it seem like their voice holds more weight.

Micro payments and such don't make people too happy as well, as they ensure that people are now paying themselves -- which isn't different from before, as on Facebook you're paying through the ads that are targeted at you. But people would rather ads hit them rather then them having to physically pay themselves. It's a weird world we live in, but you're going to have to live on ads to go mainstream.

[TheCoinGrabber]

Funding by a micro charge per post eliminates the possibility that small fringe groups or persons can spam the system, making it appear that a fringe opinion is mainstream. Those micro charges add up pretty quick if one is posting thousands of messages.

With this it's a matter of finding the right price though it's likely that certain parties would still be able to take that hit since they got money set aside for that purpose. I can imagine that the pricing would get tricky if it's an international sm platform. A trivial price for an American would probably be somewhat expensive for say, a Somali.

Maybe just give each free member a post limit based on how long they've been on the site and maybe a ranking based on community feedback. If they want to exceed that then they pay per post.

[Spendulus]

Funding by a micro charge per post eliminates the possibility that small fringe groups or persons can spam the system, making it appear that a fringe opinion is mainstream. Those micro charges add up pretty quick if one is posting thousands of messages.

With this it's a matter of finding the right price though it's likely that certain parties would still be able to take that hit since they got money set aside for that purpose. I can imagine that the pricing would get tricky if it's an international sm platform. A trivial price for an American would probably be somewhat expensive for say, a Somali.

Maybe just give each free member a post limit based on how long they've been on the site and maybe a ranking based on community feedback. If they want to exceed that then they pay per post.

Why should the forum care if posters from Somali are disadvantaged?

The point of requiring a price to post is to completely eliminate spam. The alternative is an add driven site? The somalis do not buy from those adds.

[squatz1]

Funding by a micro charge per post eliminates the possibility that small fringe groups or persons can spam the system, making it appear that a fringe opinion is mainstream. Those micro charges add up pretty quick if one is posting thousands of messages.

With this it's a matter of finding the right price though it's likely that certain parties would still be able to take that hit since they got money set aside for that purpose. I can imagine that the pricing would get tricky if it's an international sm platform. A trivial price for an American would probably be somewhat expensive for say, a Somali.

Maybe just give each free member a post limit based on how long they've been on the site and maybe a ranking based on community feedback. If they want to exceed that then they pay per post.

Why should the forum care if posters from Somali are disadvantaged?

The point of requiring a price to post is to completely eliminate spam. The alternative is an add driven site? The somalis do not buy from those adds.

But the thing is this won't cause an issue of spam, this will cause an issue of having people with large amounts of money boosting their opinion to look as if it is really popular (when it isn't) Doing a 'pay per like' system is just going to allow for a social media cesspool of corporate driven stuff.

Plus you're going to have the regular restrictions of ads as well, as people are going to want more and more money to further grow the platform -- as running a platform like this isn't cheap, even if it is a 'community'

[merchantofzeny]

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

Well that really is an issue, I think even with some sort of community guideline etched in stone. Maybe they can just design the site so that the ads can differ depending on the post, like how in Youtube you can choose which videos you like your ad to show up? Maybe like the ad is some sort of signature that you only see when you expand that person's posts, like when clicking "Read more".

IMHO I think one way to make it really community-based is if it's funded by the community instead but I don't know how that would work since people these days expect everything to be free.

Yes but with this sort of site, with no real moderation allowing for some pretty horrible stuff to be posted -- they're going to not be able to fit the advertisers needs too well. Companies that are advertising on a site like this aren't going to pay too well, as it's going to be riddled with the bottom of the barrel ads -- such as investing tips, groups, scams, porn, etc.

This isn't going to be enough to support the network at all, and it's unfair to think that it will.

Sadly this isn't truly possible if you want the network to scale into the levels of Instagram, Reddit, etc.

Hmmm. Well, look at this forum. What are the companies advertising here? Yes, crypto related companies since all we talk here is mostly crypto. The advertising can be made so that it's related to the content. Like I make a post and then I chose 3 from a category of what can be allowed to advertise. Imagine FB's timeline but the ads only show up when a post is opened rather than them being posts themselves.

So basically users sort of pay to use the platform and if anyone does advertise on their posts then they earn. The point we just want with this is that since the users also pay for the service they have more of a say on how the platform is run. The community comes first and if it thrives then that's when some advertisers come but they'd know that what they can advertise is also up to the community.

[squatz1]

First the stuff that everyone thinks is horrible is removed and there's no problem there, but when advertisers come in and want other things removed or the site is going to have to shut down people usually change their minds pretty quickly.

Well that really is an issue, I think even with some sort of community guideline etched in stone. Maybe they can just design the site so that the ads can differ depending on the post, like how in Youtube you can choose which videos you like your ad to show up? Maybe like the ad is some sort of signature that you only see when you expand that person's posts, like when clicking "Read more".

IMHO I think one way to make it really community-based is if it's funded by the community instead but I don't know how that would work since people these days expect everything to be free.

Yes but with this sort of site, with no real moderation allowing for some pretty horrible stuff to be posted -- they're going to not be able to fit the advertisers needs too well. Companies that are advertising on a site like this aren't going to pay too well, as it's going to be riddled with the bottom of the barrel ads -- such as investing tips, groups, scams, porn, etc.

This isn't going to be enough to support the network at all, and it's unfair to think that it will.

Sadly this isn't truly possible if you want the network to scale into the levels of Instagram, Reddit, etc.

Hmmm. Well, look at this forum. What are the companies advertising here? Yes, crypto related companies since all we talk here is mostly crypto. The advertising can be made so that it's related to the content. Like I make a post and then I chose 3 from a category of what can be allowed to advertise. Imagine FB's timeline but the ads only show up when a post is opened rather than them being posts themselves.

So basically users sort of pay to use the platform and if anyone does advertise on their posts then they earn. The point we just want with this is that since the users also pay for the service they have more of a say on how the platform is run. The community comes first and if it thrives then that's when some advertisers come but they'd know that what they can advertise is also up to the community.

Well the thing is this isn't a community run forum. This is a forum run by Theymos. This isn't decentralized in the least, and there's no ability for the members to have any sort of say -- they can advocate for certain things, but at the end of the day Theymos makes the rules around here.

Plus I do think that this is a very special circumstance due to the fact that advertisers have to deal with what we have here as this is the only real forum for Crypto companies to advertise on and generate a return on that advertisement.

[TwitchySeal]

Reddit is a community managed social network.

To some degree, so it bitcointalk.

[TheCoinGrabber]

Funding by a micro charge per post eliminates the possibility that small fringe groups or persons can spam the system, making it appear that a fringe opinion is mainstream. Those micro charges add up pretty quick if one is posting thousands of messages.

With this it's a matter of finding the right price though it's likely that certain parties would still be able to take that hit since they got money set aside for that purpose. I can imagine that the pricing would get tricky if it's an international sm platform. A trivial price for an American would probably be somewhat expensive for say, a Somali.

Maybe just give each free member a post limit based on how long they've been on the site and maybe a ranking based on community feedback. If they want to exceed that then they pay per post.

Why should the forum care if posters from Somali are disadvantaged?

The point of requiring a price to post is to completely eliminate spam. The alternative is an add driven site? The somalis do not buy from those adds.

The "free" post limit is the only one I can think of that would allow people from all over the world use the site while at the same time still cutting spam. 

Thing is there should be multiple ways for the users to earn this credit through their activity in the site. If it's all based on payment this would allow organizations with larger budgets the keep posting stuff, whether they be ads or propaganda while the "free" users just consume.

[squatz1]

Reddit is a community managed social network.

To some degree, so it bitcointalk.

Reddit is more community managed then Bitcointalk. Thought there is still an overarching policy from the company in charge of the Reddit platform, where they set what subreddits are okay and what is okay to be on a subreddit. Meaning that -- they can ban certain subreddits due to them not being within what they, or their advertises like.

So yes, while there is some moderation from the 'community' there is still overarching admins that handle what is OKAY to be on reddit.

[TwitchySeal]

Reddit is a community managed social network.

To some degree, so it bitcointalk.

Reddit is more community managed then Bitcointalk. Thought there is still an overarching policy from the company in charge of the Reddit platform, where they set what subreddits are okay and what is okay to be on a subreddit. Meaning that -- they can ban certain subreddits due to them not being within what they, or their advertises like.

So yes, while there is some moderation from the 'community' there is still overarching admins that handle what is OKAY to be on reddit.

The problem with not having anyone enforcing basic rules is that the community would quickly become a hotspot for kiddie porn and people encouraging real world violence.  And eventually a government will find a way to shut it down.

[squatz1]

Reddit is a community managed social network.

To some degree, so it bitcointalk.

Reddit is more community managed then Bitcointalk. Thought there is still an overarching policy from the company in charge of the Reddit platform, where they set what subreddits are okay and what is okay to be on a subreddit. Meaning that -- they can ban certain subreddits due to them not being within what they, or their advertises like.

So yes, while there is some moderation from the 'community' there is still overarching admins that handle what is OKAY to be on reddit.

The problem with not having anyone enforcing basic rules is that the community would quickly become a hotspot for kiddie porn and people encouraging real world violence.  And eventually a government will find a way to shut it down.

Well yes, that's what I've been saying over and over. No managament to enforce any rules is going to lead to an issue, but once you have a management team in the first place you're going to lead to the issue of this management team wanting to continue to expand the forum, and the only way to do this (if you want money) is to start putting up ads.

And to put up ads, you're going to have to silence more and more views in order to get ad money.

That's just how it works.