None of the pioneering social media platforms — Friendster, MySpace, and Digg — maintained their dominance. That’s because the very network effects that allowed them to grow rapidly ended up working against them when people decided to move on.
It’s for this reason that I predicted years ago that Facebook would not persist as a dominant social media platform. It’s taken longer than I thought, but the decline is beginning — and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of people.
This anti-social media sentiment is everywhere as we head toward 2019. And it may present an entrepreneurial opportunity for you.
Recently, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian said that we’ve hit “peak social,” and that users will migrate away from social networks to more community-focused platforms. Author and computer scientist Cal Newport continues to warn of the many evils of social media, while advocating a more “indie” approach to online connection rather than Silicon Valley platforms.
The rise of niche online communities
“Community” was the original internet business buzzword, and plenty of companies have bungled the concept badly over the last 20 years. But it’s quite possible to get it right by balancing the needs of the community members with a business model that sustains the group.
I’ve been building online communities tied to business education since 2007. The general rule of thumb has been that people initially purchase for the education, but stay due to the connections they make in the community.
Now, community itself is taking the lead. With the array of quality free information plus the proliferation of affordable online courses, it’s the inspiration, connection, and sense of belonging with like-minded others that people realize is worth paying for.
Yes, people will pay for online connection
Originally, no one thought people would pay for online community. But since ad-supported social media went mainstream, people now know that if they’re not paying for the product, they are the product.
Long after Facebook’s audience dwindles to a tiny fraction of its peak, they’ll still be monetizing the data we gave them freely all these years. That can’t be put back in the box.
On the other hand, online entrepreneurs can now develop community commerce models that fill the gap left by former social media giants. A paid community weeds out trolls and eliminates much of the ugliness of free social platforms.
Serving the needs of the community begins with you belonging there as well — but you still have to run it like a business. An ethical business, I should add.
Hear that, Zuckerberg?
Don’t make these 4 mistakes when you’re building an online community (Fast Company)
