pay for digital social spaces

It may be more likely to be pay-to-play. Design takes time and effort. Content creation takes time and effort. Everything that goes into a shiny digital footprint – website design, hosting, platform service subscriptions – costs money. Compare this to a random book club meet-up advertised through a single flyer made by hand and stapled to a few... See more

The mistake of the 1.0 platforms was to optimize for engagement—likes, clicks, and shares. This was a successful short-term growth strategy, but at the long-term cost of sustainability. For engagement includes not only joy but rage, not only mirth but sadness. Incentivizing these things creates hellishness, driving people to disengage, to become... See more

🧠 The puzzle of vanishing member dues - Part 2

Imagine a geographically-local-oriented digital social space that’s funded by a mix of local city government (tax $$) and local big philanthropy, plus allows for small individual donations too. Like the ‘bricks’ or signage in a local library or museum, the people who contribute would be recognized publicly for their support. The money would go

... See more

I wish more media / subscription products didn’t have auto-renew as an unchangeable default.

Any time I see that - even if it says “cancel at any time” - it deters me from taking action in that moment because I’m worried about forgetting to cancel it later, and then getting charged $19.99 or whatever.

A better approach would be: we’ll charge you $10

... See more

Of course, money is a transformative incentive. Donating our time and labor for free is a privilege. I’ve watched stipends, contract agreements, or permanent staff roles enable incredible volunteers to go way beyond what they could do without compensation. I also believe expectations themselves require expansion and redefinition outside of the... See more