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Come for the tool, stay for the network

cdixon.org

55 pointshglaser9 comments

Some networks never had single-player tools, including gigantic successes like Facebook and Twitter.

I think he's spot on with the overall piece, but I think Twitter is a fine example of the principle too. Twitter was a single-player tool for me at the start. I signed up after hearing about it around SXSW 2006 but there was no-one I knew on there so I just used it as a personal "microjournal" of sorts for several months as it was lighter than the Movable Type setup I was then using (which was amazingly slow at the time). It then became a network for me as people followed me via my email address.

I was just about to chime in here regarding Twitter too. I recall it blew up in 2007 not 2006. Also, the winning factor of Twitter back then was indirect group texting. Once you signed up for Twitter with your phone, you could send a text to a specific number and it got blasted out to everyone following you. Instead of sending 10 texts to 10 friends, you just sent one. Anyone who bothered to respond, could just directly text your cell or tweet it themselves to carry on the group conversation. It was great for "Hey, I'm hungry... who wants Thai?"

I think my memory has created an inaccurate narrative for me. My account shows I signed up in December 2006 so I guess it wasn't SXSW that got me on after all :)

Interesting to think about with respect to Fred Wilson's Dentist Office Software Story: http://avc.com/2014/07/the-dentist-office-software-story/

Always liked the single player vs multiplayer framework of breaking out products.

John Gruber's podcast, touches upon this in the recent episode with Ben Thompson as a guest https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2015/01/24/ep-108

This sounds like a potential great way to tackle chicken egg problem in marketplaces. Single player / multiplayer is something I hadn't heard before but makes it very clear. It might not be feasible (eg what's single player on car sharing app?) but it's a good thing to think about.

It's not merely kindling, if you have a good single player story, it indicates versatility. This sounds like a good thing to have.

Another good example is how Disqus has layered their tool (better comments section) to a discovery platform.

Framework could be applied to first-person shooters.

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