What Makes A Social Platform Popular?

As I continue to be a part of the Blurt project, I watch as many still seem to misunderstand what makes social platforms popular. It seems that because of the crypto payment structure that has been added to the social experience, the social part has largely been forgotten as many focus on the extraction part. Totally forgetting the social part.

I see many lifeless posts that are thrown up with little thought given to the true interest level of the consumers. Few to zero comments, little interaction in the comment sections as a testament to the lack of real social engagement that is possible here.

I’ve said before, several times in fact, that what makes sites like Reddit special are the vast comment sections that take place after the initial OP. One can see sometimes thousands of comments, often more entertaining than the initial post that served as a catalyst for them.

Remember How Popular The Old AOL Chatrooms Were?

I was a late comer to the internet, jumping into AOL when they were on version 7. I was instantly amazed with the chat room experience. Virtually every topic one could be interested in had a chat room, often member created, not AOL created. I was in awe as I was now exposed in real time to some extremely brilliant minds. Very knowledgeable minds that would often discuss and debate subjects of interest. Untold millions were logged in most times.

No one was getting compensated to interact. We all did so because we wanted to, felt the experience enriched our lives for whatever reasons we did.

When I look at the many comment sections and for the most part see ghost towns unless one of the curation projects leaves their standard we were here and voted messages, it strongly signals to me how many that are here don’t view this as a social platform.

Not viewing this as a social platform sadly will result in the likelihood that Blurt will never achieve success as the social platform experience. Doomed then to being little more than a crypto faucet as the majority view one another as little more than an extraction possibility.

The power to turn this around is all within everyone of our hands. By being ourselves, by writing about topics from a personal experience level instead of a clinical cold approach that is available on thousands or more of websites.

The cold clinical presentation is probably why so many don’t thrive in school, and is why many websites and posts even here don’t thrive.

The same old recipe doesn’t intrigue the mind. A quick Google search will turn up many options offering the same information.

What is lacking is your experience. Ones interest is naturally more prone to being excited once a unique personal experience is shared. Drawn like magnets, our curiosity is piqued much more.

Notice even much of the crap that passes for news these days are always “glimpses” into the private experiences of the ever growing so called celebrities. The most trivial crap is widely consumed because it’s tailored as being personalized.

An Example Of What I Mean.

I sometimes peek at posts that I’m not interested in if it shows there are comments. Through this practice I discovered an interesting user here. The comment they left was very personal and heartfelt, despite being left on a post that at best could be termed shallowly narcissistic. That user gained a follower that day, and I have regularly curated them because of it.

I wish to qualify the above scenario even more.

This person is Muslim, which shines through in their posts. I’m not Muslim, so be default the commonality wouldn’t be immediately obvious between us. Although to be fair, I studied many different religions after having been raised in the Christian religions (different branches). I can say that after much research, I do find Islam to be the most palatable to the Abrahamic religions.

Having said that, now that I regularly read this persons sharing, it stands out as some of the best on Blurt for myself. He regularly shares history from the Islamic view, which is lacking obviously in the western Christian dominated cult-ures. The juxtaposition of these two narratives is really fascinating to myself. All made possible because I by chance stumbled across this person sharing from their heart. They embrace the social side of this, and like a magnet draw other signs of social life.

Don’t Be Afraid Of Criticism Nor Debate.

I believe perhaps one large impediment to folks sharing themselves on social blockchain is worry over a lasting reputation. Unlike other media platforms, one can’t so easily just create endless accounts if they encounter hardships for revealing themselves.

I would urge all not to be concerned about that. If you are correct in the way you interact with others, outsiders looking in at negative exchanges have eyes to see what the dynamics are.

I can remember back on the AOL times how excited I was by the many debates taking place. Vast amounts of knowledge being bandied about. Challenging my ignorance, both in acknowledged and more importantly what I was unaware of.

Those many encounters with so many I had helped me shed much ignorance, as well as seeing much ignorance being presented as fact. There was no loss for myself when I had wrong conclusions based on erroneous facts, or because my ignorance had never exposed me to such things.

I was ENRICHED by these encounters, these debates I both watched and also took part in. I wasn’t a loser because at times I was wrong. I was a WINNER because I left those encounters shed of erroneous thoughts. I learned much by exposing myself, my ignorance to these others. Things I would have remained in the dark of had I not entered the social arena with those others and exposed myself, both the good and the bad.

We all have our faults. Areas of knowledge we lack so badly it stands out like a sore thumb. It doesn’t matter and if you handle yourself with humility there is no shame in any of that. We ALL have our unique crosses, journeys that make us a magnet for others who have a need to see they are not alone. That someone else takes joy in the same things, feels pain at the same things. That has beliefs that align with ours.

Or, doesn’t align with ours. You know what happens when we encounter those people if we are strong enough to match up our views? We either leave the experience stronger in our convictions after the comparison, or we leave it with questions that can set us on a journey to reconcile what isn’t correct.

Think Of The Social Side First.

If Blurt really takes off in the future, it will be because the social side takes off. Just like all the other large social experience sites we have seen, once yourself and others can’t wait to log in and interact here Blurt will moon. The key though is wanting to interact. Not log in long enough to do the mandatory chore necessary to get that crypto drip. Log in because you want to connect with others here, have interactions that mean a lot to you in your daily life.

We can do this, and quickly if enough of us choose to. Ghosts rattling chains to get a few coins isn’t ever going to make a successful social site. We all need to be real and personable with one another. Take care of that, and there is no stopping Blurt. We determine the value, and it’s derived from the value we perceive it and the rest of the community as holding.

We are the value, and it comes from all of our weaknesses and strengths. Celebrating it all, the pain we bleed and the joy we exude. Sharing all of this, honoring those who also do is the real magic, the glue that will bind us in compassion and humbleness. Honoring both the fragility and magnificence in our neighbors here, as we see it in ourselves too. A true gift of social interaction, this ability to contrast ourselves to our neighbors. A magical area where marvels are waiting to be found.