Social networks are by far the most problematic in this question because they need to be free to be useful. They also require tons of costs to run and which means it's all but impossible to launch a viable social network without venture capital again. Elos: What happens if above anything else every decision that the company made was actually not around selling advertising but what what was going to make users happy do you think it would look different from facebook i mean is there a prerequisite the company makes money i know you're absolutely right we're coming back to l o but like no it's it's critical because that there's a few especially with a social networking.
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss the problems with Ello’s business model, James’ discomfort with Facebook, and why Social Networks always have ads. We also talk about incentives and something surprising Ben learned from the notorious Episode 18.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Ello and Consumer Friendly Business Models – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Facebook Launches Atlas – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: Friction – Stratechery
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