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jonathancai | 4 years ago

> Like will this be useful for someone who is following thought leaders in MMA fighting, Pornstars, DIY Guns and Drugs?

We haven't quite been considering the latter folk for obvious reasons, but we have been pondering the general question of "which types of people should we index?"

I think this is an interesting question to consider.

One framework we've been using to try to answer this question is the old vitamins vs. painkillers line of thought. Where is the need for a product like this the greatest? Or "where is the consequence for missing out on a piece of content the highest?"

This line of thought leads us towards the finance folks, where a single piece of information/alpha from a thought/industry leader can lead to 100+x returns, and missing out on those returns can be financially painful.

But I'd love to hear others thoughts on this question.

discuss

order

ghostbrainalpha|4 years ago

So I followed over 1,000 people on Twitter because I valued them for "some field" or other, but that may have been years ago. And I did a terrible job organizing my follows into lists.

So now my Twitter is full of somewhat useful people, but I can't really use it quickly populate a list on your site.

I'd like it if your signup process included easy access to suggested lists on topics like "longevity" or "virtual reality". I see a lot of the people I want on your home page, but I can't really use that during signup without two windows open.

iMuzz|4 years ago

Hey this is great feedback. We should definitely make it easier to come up with names and suggest more folks for you to subscribe to based off of topics

rumblecat|4 years ago

This perspective is about delivering maximum value, which is a worldview primarily of silicon valley and finance folks. Which is fine and a totally legitimate play for a limited set of high value subscribers. But if someone knows that value can be obtained by following someone, then they should already be doing so on the platforms where they are most prolific. Which means that this platform is not adding the entire value of 100+x gains, but rather the marginal value which probably wasn't worth capturing previously. Then the primary value of your service comes from convenience and discovery - but my impression is those two features are strongest when your service has a large number of diverse subscribers.

Something I've been wanting for some time but have been too lazy to implement myself is a similar system targeted towards utility rather than value. That is to say, targeted towards entertainment. Something like your favorite guitarist has a new side project, Patrick Rothfuss finally released Doors of Stone, your favorite director is releasing a new movie. Unfortunately most databases for this information seem to be either proprietary or inaccurate.