Heterophily, JFDI and generative communities

“Happy relationships are based on shared values and mutual admiration so intense that outsiders laugh. Let them laugh.” Make Your Own Bubble in 10 Easy Steps, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

“The two best theories of network value we have — Metcalfe’s law for point-to-point networks and Reed’s law for group-forming networks — both rely on optionality, the possibility actually creating any of the untold potential connections that might exist on large networks. Valuable networks allow nodes to connect to one another without significant transaction costs.” Shirky.com Domain Names: Memorable, Global, Non-political?

“If there’s a lesson to be learned from the data, it’s that it takes more than a lot of users to build a viable social network. They need to have strong connections too.” The Friendster Autopsy: How a Social Network Dies | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

“I understand that what makes a team strong is its ability to communicate, share, and iterate on its ideas.”

Rands In Repose: The Long Thought

s/team/community/

“Trolls throw out lures designed to create an emotional reaction and ensnare people who type before thinking. If you see someone freaking out in a comment thread, they’re not the troll, they’re responding to the troll.” Picture Yourself in a Boat on a River ∙ An A List Apart Column

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The second is community management. Having watched Facebook, Digg, Reddit and Hacker News, my conclusion is that most people imitate the successful acts of others from the outside-in. That is, someone has a reason to make a post; others see this post is liked, and so they imitate its form and do not take into account its content and the choices made based on that content that determine its form.

Thus you get threads where 5% of the responses are significant, and the rest are people behaving like monkeys yammering out repeated memes, conventions, stylistic flourishes, demands for attention, etc.

” Coding Horror: Civilized Discourse Construction Kit

“And it became a performance, not a community. Hell, I barely keep tabs on what some of my favorite people write about because all of the tools for managing the dynamic broke when it became big. And my blogging practice changed a lot as a result. For better and for worse. So I’m not sure that it is a conversation anymore, as much as a performance that serves as an opening for a conversation in some instances.” danah boyd | apophenia » mourning and public-ness

“Note: The official moderation policy of Tiger Beatdown is that commenting is a privilege. Any legal document, law, treaty, or executive order cited to circumvent this policy must mention Tiger Beatdown by name. You wanna express yourself go join an art class.” Tiger Beatdown › #NOTBUYINGIT: The Problem Is Far Bigger Than Audi’s #BraveryWins

“That’s the wonderful thing about the Internet: the Internet you love is different from the Internet that I love – but we both love the Internet! We can all inhabit different communities, the same communities, multiple communities, or none at all – and it still works.” A False Dichotomy — I.M.H.O. — Medium