[danko]

I put my money on the former. 4chan is... itself. But it is definitely a vibrant community. And Poole himself has some thoughtful, unique insight into what makes a community vibrant and what kills it.

[andrewvc]

Maybe. Creating successful online communities has a huge luck element to it. I don't think there's anyone who can reliably create new online communities out of nothing.

[blakesterz]

Indeed. That, and timing. It seems like Google with all its money and talent and unbeatable built in audience, pushed so hard and still couldn't get it done with Google+, it'll be interesting if they can get it done now.

[Shorel]

It's a bit hard to 'lurk' into a theme related community in Google+.

Everything is too personal, too related to a particular individual and in that sense there are no communities, only egos.

[467568985476]

Would you mind elaborating on his insight into online communities? I'd love to read his perspective in depth

[bydo]

His TED talk, for one: http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_m00t_poole_the_case_for...

[CPLX]

That's an impressively on-topic username you've got there.