Reflection: we were also trying to build a two-sided marketplace. We needed writers, but writers wanted readers, but readers wanted good content. I think the correct way to solve that would have been to attract people with existing blogs / readership to switch to Arbital and bring their audience with them.
Yup. My first startup failed because I couldn’t crack that chicken-egg problem. FWIW, I think that http://platformed.info/ has some really solid content on the topic.
I recently finished reading Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler’s book The Elephant in the Brain, so I’m currently primed to always think, “maybe X isn’t really about Y”. In this case, I find myself thinking that bloggers/writers are just interested in prestige, which is typically determined by the metrics of page views or users. As opposed to purely being interested in producing the best content possible.
If they truly are just interested in producing the best content possible, satisfied with the quality of their craftsmanship, and content with whatever users they happen to get, then yes, maybe Arbital would gain some writers and solve the chicken-egg problem that way. But if they just want prestige, well, I personally don’t see a path towards overcoming the chicken-egg problem.
Despite everything I just said… even if writers are solely after prestige… I still have a gut-level feeling that Arbital is on to something. If the UI truly allows writers to produce better content, when I take Paul Graham’s advice and try to live in the future, I find myself in a world where writers all use an Arbital-eque UI. The question of course is how to get to that future state, but I have a feeling that there is a path there.
Yes about the prestige. That was the realization I had in 2017.
Be careful: I think Arbital as an idea has evolved to be extremely sticky and “obviously good”. The antidote is to find a problem that actually exists and people want solved (and ideally will pay for). And only then take parts of Arbital that might provide a solution.
It’s been a while since I spent time reading things there, and I don’t have particular things bookmarked. I just have memories of reading a lot of stuff there, liking it, and learning a lot from it. Sorry.
Yup. My first startup failed because I couldn’t crack that chicken-egg problem. FWIW, I think that http://platformed.info/ has some really solid content on the topic.
I recently finished reading Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler’s book The Elephant in the Brain, so I’m currently primed to always think, “maybe X isn’t really about Y”. In this case, I find myself thinking that bloggers/writers are just interested in prestige, which is typically determined by the metrics of page views or users. As opposed to purely being interested in producing the best content possible.
If they truly are just interested in producing the best content possible, satisfied with the quality of their craftsmanship, and content with whatever users they happen to get, then yes, maybe Arbital would gain some writers and solve the chicken-egg problem that way. But if they just want prestige, well, I personally don’t see a path towards overcoming the chicken-egg problem.
Despite everything I just said… even if writers are solely after prestige… I still have a gut-level feeling that Arbital is on to something. If the UI truly allows writers to produce better content, when I take Paul Graham’s advice and try to live in the future, I find myself in a world where writers all use an Arbital-eque UI. The question of course is how to get to that future state, but I have a feeling that there is a path there.
Yes about the prestige. That was the realization I had in 2017.
Be careful: I think Arbital as an idea has evolved to be extremely sticky and “obviously good”. The antidote is to find a problem that actually exists and people want solved (and ideally will pay for). And only then take parts of Arbital that might provide a solution.
Which specific content on http://platformed.info/ would you recommend?
It’s been a while since I spent time reading things there, and I don’t have particular things bookmarked. I just have memories of reading a lot of stuff there, liking it, and learning a lot from it. Sorry.
That’s okay! Thanks for mentioning it at all. I’m exploring content on there now. :)