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This article is a brilliant take on what a social networks *really* are. Think of them as SaaS businesses, but instead of software, they provide status. eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19…
@eugenewei (Former Head of Video at Oculus, Head of Product at Flipboard and Hulu) calls this Status as a Service. I'm going to try a very hasty summary that does the full article a disservice.
Basically, @eugenewel argues that the value of a social network relies not simply on utility (finding friends etc.) but its ability to confer status. Can I use the social network to accumulate social capital?
Young people like social networks because it allows them to accrue social capital. Older people already have social capital (IRL, usually), so reject them.
A necessary part of this whole equation is the proof-of-work token. You need to demonstrate that you're worthy. Status is only valuable if you have to work for it. Hence the endless selfies and Instastories and Vines and TikTok-ing.
For example: think of Twitter, he says, as "late-stage performative Twitter, where nearly every tweet is hungry as hell for favorites and retweets, and everyone is a trained pundit or comedian. It's hot takes and cool proverbs all the way down."
IMDb, Wikipedia, Reddit, and Quora are other obvious examples of early places to build status. But it's important to offer both status and utility. TikTok, Snapchat, Douyin have found, or will find themselves hitting a ceiling if they don't offer more utility.
WeChat and, to a lesser extent, Facebook combine status and utility to a devastating effect (for their competitors). But social capital structures are fragile and lead to endless attempts to preserve status for users. That's not good for our health.
"You could easily replace Status as a Service with FOMO as a Service. It’s one reason you can still meet so many outrageously wealthy people in Manhattan or Silicon Valley who are still miserable."
(Sidenote: what if news organisations think of themselves as networks that convey both status and utility? There's a lot happening in the memberships and #engagedjournalism movements that roadmap this.)
Finally, go read the whole thing. It's long, but great. eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19… . p.s. I found this article thanks to @CaseyNewton's great newsletter.
