[ringmaster]

Is there an explanation online about how a network that only has 11k users is worth $50 per year? I can almost see paying that much for the volume of users on Twitter. Almost. The value of a network that is aligned with users over advertisers is clear, but where is the value in such a small network? (This isn't a dig, but genuine curiosity.)

[mechanical_fish]

I would pay one thousand dollars a year to join a social network of only twenty people… if they were the right twenty people.

(And they actually used the network. That's always the trick. Renting the venue is easy, inviting the people is easy, but will they actually show up?)

As someone on App.net itself was pointing out yesterday, the current vibe is basically that of an industry conference: A bunch of people with vaguely-aligned interests hang around in a room swapping small talk. Such conferences are much more valuable in person than online, of course, but in person they're worth hundreds to thousands of dollars for a few days. $50 per year is a steal.

But, again, the people you want to talk with have to show up. We shall see how the conversation evolves.

[podperson]

But here's the thing -- will the twenty people you want on your perfect network be willing to pay $50/year to be on it and make your network perfect?

Bear in mind that each of them has 20 people they want on THEIR perfect network.

"The internet treats cost as damage and routes around it."

I think the key trick would be creating a "free" network that lets you pay (a very small amount) for key niceness, e.g. freedom from ads and spam. Even better, take an existing free service and piggyback a paid service on top of it that adds useful value. (I'm thinking here of email where you pay $0.01 to send a message per Bill Gates's excellent idea for eliminating most spam.)

[egonschiele]

Out of curiosity, what are the right 20 people for you? All the people I can think of are already on Twitter, Facebook or G+...and I don't see them talking to me more because I'm on App.net.

[aleprok]

Personally I do not like the $50 price, I will not be backing app.net and I will never use one of the networks running on the app.net platform, because as ANYONE is able to build basically anything on top of the platform without actually having anyone forcing them to continue keeping their service alive, expect users and there exist ton of companies and people "Me included" who are ready to take advantage of users.

I did not back diaspora and I knew they will fail even though I knew their idea was awesome. I also think app.net or any of the networks running on the platform will never become the next Twitter or Facebook. Diaspora idea was nice, because it allowed you to control your own data by running your ow instance, but app.net wants to basically control everyone's data with the message stream interface.

I will stay slave of Facebook until someone can actually offer me better user experience or I will build my own. I also require that there is no chance of the company going under and fail. I do not accept the founders word for it, because he might have other secret plans like selling the company engineers to some big company after they get enough traction in the market.

I do not buy a product because of the company's words, even if they sound pleasing. I will buy a product if I need it.