I am interested in funding a prototype for true "Social" media

[stratozyck]

So far, we have gotten lots of innovative social media models. I am not too sure if this has already been tried, but I want to innovate on ownership model.

Basically, I envision a Reddit that is owned by its mods and users. Maybe a hybrid FB and Reddit. It would only work on a country basis so the first one would be targeted at US because of the legal aspects.

It would have to be like FB in that users cannot be truly anon (due to ownership) but I want it to have more mods like Reddit. Rules would be set by vote.

Creators would have initial control to get it off the ground but would give up 100% once/if it did.

I am willing to fund a prototype. I am not rich, but can pay fair wages for a prototype if I can be convinced someone can do it. I can pay for servers too, and for legal.

I would only do it if I could find someone who believes in this project and can convince me that they can do it. I am a data scientist in my day job, but I am also an indie game dev on the side (I mainly use C which is probably useless for this). My sole web programming experience is JavaScript.

I could help with algorithms in the long run to do things like ads (which the rev would go to maintaining the site only). But that wouldn't be an issue right now. For this, I'd need the basics and proof of concept from software to legal. I have a lawyer already for my game dev and I can get him to help with this.

I want to be clear, there would be no huge windfall from this even if it worked out. My 100% plan is to turn it over to the "people."

I would found a non profit wing of my LLC and you would work for that.

[rproffitt]

I've read such before and the person who asks is usually unaware that such projects are huge. So much so there are usually dozens of programmers working the project. For what you are asking the day when a lone programmer would create a Facebook or Reddit are long gone. Unless you pare down the project to what we could expect from one person.

Reddit is currently and mostly written in Python using and this is from memory the Pylons framework. Beyond that there is a lot of cloud resources along with many other assets such as graphics and so on.

You may want to do more research into the scale of this project you are proposing.

[jwenting]

Do you have a few BILLION dollars to invest in that venture?
As that's what it'll take to create a viable competitor to both those giants (or even facebook alone) and the marketing to get it a large enough user base to get to the point it has critical mass and doesn't get swamped (which you have to achieve quickly).

And most of those billions won't be the coding (that'll be mere tens of millions for the initial investment) but hardware, marketing, hosting services, etc. etc. etc.

[Dani]

I completely disagree. Reddit didn’t start with billions. Neither did Quora. I know it was a long time ago, but I bootstrapped DaniWeb with a $20 initial investment and quickly displaced the largest tech publications at the time (CNET, Ziff Davis, etc.)

It is also completely reasonable for a project of this magnitude to be coded by one person because I coded DaniWeb myself, and I don’t see a Reddit-like platform as technically THAT different from ours.

If you were to hire a couple developers, I think you could do the entire thing, all in, for less than $300k and 8-16 months of work. I’m assuming 2-3 full time devs each being paid $100k. If you’re a programmer yourself, then of course you would save most of that money. I used to also do mostly C++ and I found it relatively easy to pick up PHP web development because the syntax is very similar in style to C.

I agree that Reddit today might be worth in the billions, but that’s because of the value placed on how much traffic it gets, the size of its database, and user base. It did not take anywhere near that amount of money to get to that valuation.

[rproffitt]

My take is that folk want to re-create what Reddit or Quora is TODAY. What they started with is possible with a small crew but to duplicate what they have today? Millions.

Also, folk like Mark Weinstein have to try and try again. If you look at his history, crash and burn more than a few times.

[Dani]

That is not at all what I understood from the question. He wrote he wants to fund a prototype for a platform that is a hybrid of Facebook and Reddit in terms of moderation functionality, and then release it “to the people,” to quote him, without plans for it ever being a hugely profitable business.

[Reverend Jim]

Creators would have initial control to get it off the ground but would give up 100% once/if it did.

If I read this correctly, you are saying that the people who actually do the work will eventually have zero ownership? Isn't that the opposite of

I envision a Reddit that is owned by its mods and users.

[Dani]

He’s saying the creators (aka him and the initial dev team he hires that he would pay a salary to) would initially own 100%. With the plan of handing that ownership over to the members and moderators who grow the community over time.

It seems as if he doesn’t like how Reddit, the business, owns all of Reddit, but rather that the subreddits should each be owned by the members and moderators who lead each subreddit.

[rproffitt]

I still encounter people that want to duplicate Facebook, Reddit, Microsoft Windows and other things. All are oblivious to the effort and cost to do this. Let me be clear here, they want to duplicate what all these have today, not what they were at launch.

Unsure whether to nod and move on or to tell them the truth.

[rproffitt]

@strato. Change the word duplicate to mimic, be like, similar, etc.

What apps have you created so far? Most that want to do such things misjudge the cost. As to cost, that's not just money but hours, years and how many developers and more they need.

[rproffitt]

Why I thought you wanted the full product is simple. After decades of working in many capacities, when the client wants a prototype they want something where everything works. The more you work in this area, the more you understand the code or language the clients speak.

[rproffitt]

As to comment limits here, I use a reply when I need to write at length. However I see what you want so far as something you either dive in and pick Dani's reply with the usual year of work or go with WordPress and add the components you want.

HOWEVER, you may be blissfully unaware of the power of the dark side, err, WordPress.

[Dani]

As to comment limits here, I use a reply when I need to write at length.

Click the "Reply to this Topic" purple bar at the bottom of the page.

[stratozyck]

Ok I am struggling to figure out this platform.

Tech people just look at the immediate tech solution. That is only one part of the idea. The rest is legal and branding.

I already have a nascent brand that has a simple 4X TBS game and another one on the way.

“Socialist media” fits in the brand. It doesnt even need to be a full working prototype to have cross promotion.

Central to the business model is complete ownership of data. In addition, limiting outside involvement means I dont have to worry about being de platformed.

I would operate as “dictator of the proletariat” (its a joke, the company is People’s Republic of Games and the theme is faux Communism).

As dictator, I would make the initial rules and get it going. I can even get a prototype but I couldnt do much beyond that. The dictator role
would be legally probibited from receiving a salary or any payment whatsoever.

Why am I suited to this? Well,
my background is game theory and data science. I have a PhD in econ. I dont need any money - and in fact I am
willing to pay for this.

The rules of the non profit are as
important than the rules of the platform. They have to be legally binding (the non profit).

Users would have to trust that the dictator is attempting to adhere to the mission.

There would be a process in place for removal, change of power, etc. Basically, the only money to be made will be by paid employees who do the work.

I have thought at length how to design rules for a better more pro social social media platform. None of it will happen in a profit maximizing firm with equity.

Yes, I am aware of what it takes to compete with the big ones. But do you know what they dont have that this could have? Trust. They can never get trust.

[pty]

It's not difficult to get something with Facebook-like functionality up and going on a small scale. I could build a working prototype in a couple of days.

The difficult bit is attracting users. Google couldn't do it with their resources for Google+.