Insights from The Unified Theory of Social

This post is a companion piece to my previous essay: A “Unified Theory” of Social Networks, in which I developed a classification framework for social media platforms.

That framework ended up inspiring a host of generalizations and insights, which are presented here in bullet form. Please note that this is a work in progress, and I will continue to change and add to it over time.

Last revision: June 10, 2021

Intro & Approach

As a quick refresher, we’d previously derived the following classification for social media platforms:

First, I will group my thoughts based on the categories defined by measures #1 and #2:

• Personal Relationships (low dependency): Discovery-Oriented communities
• Personal Relationships (high dependency): Clique-Oriented communities
• User Cooperation (low dependency): Content-Driven communities
• User Cooperation (high dependency): Interaction-Driven communities

Then I will dive into each of the four types of platforms to provide more specific insights:

1. The Roundtable
2. The Conference
3. The Stage
4. The Repository

Measure #1: Personal Relationships

Discovery-Oriented Communities (e.g., Reddit)

Recall that discovery-oriented communities are ones in which user behavior is less dependent upon real-life, personal relationships.

Some thoughts:

• Understanding your user’s interests should be top priority. An onboarding experience should probably incorporate some information collection from users (e.g., selection of interests).
• User identity and completed profiles aren’t as important in discovery-oriented communities because user behavior doesn’t rely on knowing who the other users are. If users even create an account, it’s likely that usernames can be auto-generated to reduce onboarding.
• Because there isn’t necessarily a strong interaction for people who know each other in real life, you may have to leverage SEO or reposts on other discovery-oriented platforms for exposure (rather than relying on referrals). For example, YouTube and SoundCloud provided great embedded videos for other sites, whereas Pinterest nailed the SEO game.
• Communities should be fostered around shared interests. The best way for a user to discover new content is for them to align themselves with similar users who can share content they like.
• Sharing content with friends generally happens outside of the platform, because users aren’t closely connected to their IRL relationships.
• User interactions tend to mean less in discovery-oriented platforms, since users don’t often share a relationship. For example, getting an upvote on Reddit probably doesn’t mean as much as for users as getting a like on Instagram.

Clique-Oriented Communities (e.g., Snap)

Recall that clique-oriented communities are ones in which user behavior is more dependent upon real-life, personal relationships.

Some thoughts:

• Connecting with friends and contacts on the platform should be top priority, and probably a core part of the onboarding process.
• User identity and completed profiles are important, insofar as they help other users identify people they know who they might want to interact with.
• If the product is compelling, you can generally rely on users to share with their personal and professional networks.
• Communities on the platform are often driven by personal connections. For example, companies on LinkedIn are where users work together.
• Sharing content with friends generally happens on the platform. For example a retweet or post share.
• User interactions tend to mean more in clique-oriented platforms, since users share an external relationship.
• The best content a user sees is largely dependent upon their personal network – what’s being shared or liked by my friends or groups?

Measure #2: User Cooperation

Content-Driven Communities (e.g., Youtube)

Recall that content-driven communities are ones in which the value derived by users is less dependent upon interactions with other users.

Some thoughts:

• It might be self-evident, but in content-driven communities, the content must be compelling enough (e.g., informative, entertaining, polished, etc.) to be the reason why users come back.
  • This generally requires a distinct “creator” class of users, since not every user will be able to create good enough content.
• Content-driven communities also tend to focus only on one specific type of content/media. For example, Soundcloud is audio whereas Youtube is video. Tiktok effectively carved out a “new type” of video with the time limit and backing track feature.
• Community building should focus on fostering the creation and promotion of great content. For example, helping creators monetize their work may help.
• There should be an easy way to browse content that’s popular, trending, and recommended. It’ll be less easy to rely on user interactions to share great content, so recommendations are a must!
• There probably isn’t a front-and-center “create” CTA for your average user. The UI should be all about consumption.

Interaction-Driven Communities (e.g., Clubhouse)

Recall that interaction-driven communities are ones in which the value derived by users is more dependent upon interactions with other users.

Some thoughts:

• The primary innovation introduced by an “interaction-driven” platform should be – get this – an interaction. How do you connect people differently than they’ve been connected before?
• The core interaction should probably involve a quick and direct feedback loop between users. It should be easy and intuitive for users to interact with content and other users.
• The user’s “home” experience should have something akin to a feed of what their contacts are doing on the network. (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn feeds)
• A messaging feature should probably exist for 1-on-1 or group conversations.
• Be wary of echo-chamber effects. 

Insights by Platform Type

Type #1: The Roundtable

Inherits features of clique-oriented and interaction-driven communities. 

Here are some additional notes:

• Try to give users a unique interaction with friends that they can’t get elsewhere. For example, Snap was the only place where you could send and receive ephemeral photos, so you had to get on the app if you wanted to see certain content from your friends.
• Growth and engagement will greatly benefit from an upfront way to identify friends already on the platform. (e.g., through third-party auth or contact permissions)
• The platform should enable users to easily share personally relevant updates. What will people who know us care about seeing from us?
• The platform should enable quick and easy feedback (e.g., likes, emojis).

Type #2: The Conference

Inherits features of discovery-oriented and interaction-driven communities.

Here are some additional notes:

• The “conference” is all about sub-communities based on shared interest. This is because the primary value a user gets from the platform is based on the interactions they have with other users, but in lieu of personal relationships connections must rely on common ground.
• The average user probably needs the ability to create a community that can attract like-minded individuals. If successful, this will result in a richer ecosystem of cultural enclaves where similar users congregate. Some of these communities may run counter to each other, but will end up using the same platform because it allows them to interact with others who share their interests. Examples include “Black Twitter” or “The_Donald” on Reddit.
• “Conference” communities tend to be about sharing discussions, news, and updates about a particular topic of interest. As a result, they are great sources of “meta” commentary. (e.g., memes, hashtags, etc.)

Type #3: The Stage

Inherits features of discovery-oriented and content-driven communities. 

Here are some additional notes:

• Considering that “stages” are all about the content and not very driven by personal relationships, you’ll want to ensure that as many people as possible can view your content. Try to avoid registration requirements or at least make it as minimal as possible.
• Because interactions are less powerful in these platforms, there’s also a lower likelihood of sub-communities forming. Users in the audience are all looking the same direction (at the stage) rather than at each other.

Type #4: The Repository

Inherits features of clique-oriented and content-driven communities. 

Here are some additional notes:

• With “repositories”, you may be pretty reliant on content creators to get their personal connections to adopt the platform. Give them a strong incentive to share the platform with others. For example, you could help them monetize (Substack) or improve a workflow (Github).
• Repositories are probably best served for content that is confidential or valuable and should thus be hidden behind either permissions or a paywall.

In Conclusion

This is just my first “pass” at output from the framework presented in my “Unified Theory” of Social Media. Did I get anything wrong? Do you have anything to add? Let me know in the comments below! I’d love to discuss ways of improving the model and insights, and will try to keep things updated accordingly.