Reverse Network Effects: Can a Social Media App Have too Many Users?
Source: https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/03/reverse-network-effects-todays-social-networks-can-fail-grow-larger/
Every social media company knows the importance of building its user count; it’s a principle based on the phenomenon known as network effects. As a new social media app grows in popularity, Its value increases leading to more people joining the site. Sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram have skyrocketed in numbers and so have their values; however, as these sites develop, we are observing a new phenomenon: reverse network effects. Reverse network effects answer the question as to why today’s social media sites could fail as they grow larger. Researcher, Sangeet Paul Choudary, explains how increasing the number of users on the site can compromise three qualities of the site: “connection”, “content”, and “clout”.
Firstly, as the number of users on a social media site grows, the quality of the connection between the users deteriorates. Initially, users join the site because their friends are on the site as well, but as more people join, their intentions may shift. Spammers, hate speech spreaders, and stalkers are a few examples of problematic users. As the site grows, these issues become more apparent, causing the original users to participate less, which leaves a smaller portion of ‘true’ users and a larger portion of ‘problematic’ users present on the site; ultimately leading to its failure. Secondly, the content of the site is compromised. Increasing the user count also increases the amount of content on the site. Initially, the social media site has many curation mechanisms put in place in order to provide its users with a personalized and relevant experience. “Curation mechanisms often break down as the volume of content increases. When curation algorithms and moderation processes do not scale, noise on the system increases”. You may have experienced this if you went on a social media site like Instagram or Facebook and almost immediately leave the app because there is just too much going on and most of it is not interesting to you, or even more, may have made you upset. As the user count increases, true (ordinary) users are bombarded with sponsored posts, spam, and irrelevant content, to the point where these users leave the site, eventually leading to the site’s failure. Third, as the number of users grows, it is harder for new users to develop a following and produce successful content. The first users of the site helped to catalyze the site’s success, and many social media apps have algorithms that are programmed to recommend old user content more than newer users. The original influencers continue to have a higher influence on the site, and as the site grows, it becomes extremely hard to enter the competition. Because of the difficulty, many users will not try to become an influencer and viewers will get bored with the old content, making the social media site lose its popularity and fail.
The idea of reverse network effects is extremely new and as social media superpowers continue to grow, it will be interesting to see how they combat this issue. Updating the curation mechanism, focusing on content personalization, and moderating for spam and problematic users are great ways to maintain the integrity of the social media site. Overall, network effects isn’t a simple formula to a successful social media site, it’s a psychological map built on cause and effect, and by understanding that, one can maintain a popular social media site.
Author: Sheba Sow