In the Are.na Trying Things with Charles Broskoski

19 snips

Oct 14, 2024

Charles Broskoski, co-founder of Are.na, discusses the importance of human-centered online interactions over rapid growth. He shares insights from Are.na's 13-year journey, emphasizing community over algorithms. Charles advocates for creative entrepreneurs to focus on genuine passion rather than trends, highlighting the value of early user feedback. He critiques traditional social media's efficiency-driven models, urging a return to individual discovery and connection, and reflects on crowdfunding as a path to independence in the creative economy.

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INSIGHT

Creativity for All

Charles Broskoski dislikes "creatives" as a demographic label.
He believes creativity should be accessible to everyone, not a defining characteristic.

ANECDOTE

Early Social Media Critique

Are.na was initially ahead of its time in critiquing social media.
Broskoski believes Cambridge Analytica marked a turning point in public perception.

INSIGHT

Evolving Focus

Are.na shifted from "making smart cool" to fostering deeper relationships with interests.
They value focused discussion and open-source ethos, citing GitHub as an example.

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When I reached out to Charles Broskoski, co-founder of Are.na, it was largely because I kept hearing mention of the service he'd built increasingly entering the zeitgeist among young, creative technologists.

What I thought would be a conversation about the tension between creativity in technology ended up being a much more nuanced conversation.

Some takeaways —

Arena has been operating for 13 years and has taken a slow, steady approach to growth. Arena initially struggled with fundraising but found success through a crowdfunding campaign and charging for their product. They prioritized profitability and user feedback over rapid growth or chasing trends. That trade-off leaves potential money on the table, but allows the community to flourish into its own unique place.

More Artists should start businesses — entrepreneurship provides an endless stream of problems that need solving through creativity and ingenuity. Focus on genuine passion and interest rather than chasing what seems “cool” or trendy with investors. Charging users early to validate the product and gain meaningful feedback.

Charles & Are.na have long been critics of traditional social media, for better and for worse. They’re critical of algorithmic recommendations and AI implementations that remove human discovery and idiosyncrasy from products. He believes in maintaining a human relationship with topics and interests, rather than optimizing for efficiency.

Charles and I had crossed paths several times in years past as he and the team had been working to bring Are.na to life. With each interaction, I was impressed with his vision, earnestness, and commitment to serving a community he cares deeply about.

The parts of this conversation I haven't been able to shake are the need for role models for creative technologists to follow and the trap that many fall into, chasing what's cool instead of creating something that's uniquely theirs to build.

There's something in here for everyone.

I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording this one.

As always, if you or someone you know is working on something that could be a fit for indie, don't hesitate to reach out.