If a social media website becomes too popular then there’s too much activity for anyone to become aware of what’s going on. Only the ’Buzz’ items like Johnon’s 100 Sphinns or more really get any traction.
Of course if the SM website has few visitors, then no one wants to be seen there. So how do you strike the right balance so that the website has a possibility of surviving for the long term.
4 Comments
Of course if the SM website has few visitors, then no one wants to be seen there. So how do you strike the right balance so that the website has a possibility of surviving for the long term.
4 Comments
Comments
I understand completely what you’re saying here, Barry -- Sphinn has really taken off in the last week or two. The amount of new submissions and comments is growing exponentially, to the point where I’m now thinking of strategies to help my own submissions be seen more. :-) But as to your "how do you strike the right balance" question ... is there even an answer for this? The size and popularity of a social media site is almost wholly dependent on the users themselves. Activity begets activity. I don’t know that it’s something you can control. Any attempts to control the growth might be what kills the momentum entirely. Great topic....
I don’t know if "surprised" is the right word to use, but it is remarkable to see how many submissions there are now, and how many Sphinns some articles are getting now compared to a couple of weeks ago. Also, in the first few days, I could read almost everything here, because I knew it was going to be good. Now I’m afraid that this may be yet another time waster* for me, although more educational than most! *I mean this in a good way of course;)
I think this topic is one of the most important to try to wrestle to the ground, although it’s very challenging. If you want to create a social media site that is "successful", then inevitably it will have too many topics being raised for you to be reasonably sure that you get to all the quality items. Being ’Hot’ will often be a function of the author of the item so it may not include some really memorable items. Voting is one way to try to get some measure of value although few seem to be willing to vote. Perhaps another would be to have everyone having the right to nominate ’My Favorite’, which would be an item other than their own items. Provided this was a key part of the social media makeup then counting the ’My Favorite’ choices would be a better measure of what some folk think is important. Your ’My Favorite’ choice should automatically die after 7 days with a reminder to choose a new (or the same) ’My Favorite’.
Things will evolve to help. One key feature that will come is for you to filter What’s New to things that your friends are sphinning. You can then collectively help find the signal from the noise. In the meantime, I strongly recommend scanning What’s New and then resorting it by Most Sphinns So Far: http://sphinn.com/upcoming/mostpopular/ You’ll quickly find some gems that have been spotted by others over time but yet to pop. Plenty of traction there.