The 80/20 Rule of Small Social Media - Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst

Unlike big platforms, which are largely differentiated by technical affordances and whose work mostly involves building and maintaining technical infrastructure, small platforms are largely differentiated by social factors and most of their work involves building and maintaining social infrastructure. This is what we call the 80/20 rule of small so... See more

At that scale, running a platform is more like hosting a dinner party than building a rocket. The distinct and valuable thing you’re building isn’t a new technology, it’s a community. The central tasks are recruiting people to join the community and keeping them involved once they’ve joined. The former requires outreach and the latter requires soci... See more