Tsu: Monetizing Your Social Network
Tsu is a social network with a twist: it’s trying to turn your social prowess into cash. Large social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, use ad revenue to generate a profit for themselves. Tsu wants to give you a cut of that revenue. Each user gets a code with which they can invite other users to the platform. As the invitee generates content, they receive a 50% royalty for their content, image, etc. Then, 10% of their profit from this usage goes to Tsu and the rest is kicked back to that person’s inviter, their inviter, and so on with diminishing returns. This benefits the creator, and allows them to easily monetize their own content by simply sharing it. So, those who already have a large following on other social media websites can let their ubiquity make money for them. Those with emergent enterprises can build their user base and earn money for it, while simultaneously benefitting those who promote their content. The website employs the use of several concepts discussed in class. Primarily, this leverages the existing linkages a user has, and promotes the creation of more. In creating new linkages, the top level user, or inviter, actually benefits from not knowing people too. As their invitees invite more people to Tsu, the initial inviter receives more (albeit in a smaller amount than if they directly knew the secondary invitees) revenue that they would never have received at all. However, the initial inviter also runs the risk of losing invitees to their own invitees. While they would gain some revenue, they would gain less than if they had directly connected them. Close knit social groups also run the risk of running out of people to invite, which limits their largest sources of revenue.
The strength of your network increases your revenue. It certainly seems as though entrepreneurs and creators may find an idea platform on which to promote their content, in theory. However, the life and death of any social media website depends on one thing: user base. Social media users are fickle as is, and many don’t respond well ad placement. In fact, a study conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index indicates that 27% of Facebook users and 12% of Twitter users claim that ads interfere with their experience. The intent of Tsu makes it, by nature, an advertisement experience. It’s not really meant for the casual user; this hurts the scope of its appeal, which limits its growth and subsequent effectiveness. If content begins to feel like “click-bait”, users will be turned off; but if the content fails to perform and spread, the creator gets no benefit. Although very ambitious in its design, it remains to be seen whether the Tsu project will succeed.
Sources:
http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/the-social-network-that-pays-you-to-friend/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-ads-user-experience-2013-7