Conflict

Content platforms

Here’s how content platforms succeed and trick you into keep contributing. It’s a three step process.

Always have new content available.

This is what kicks things off. Knowing that, as long as people visit again, there’s at least SOMETHING. This sustains traffic.

Cultivate and catalogue engaging content.

This requires profiling user’s metadata, how they use the site. And it requires a smart way to categorize stuff, to build a network of recommendations. But optimizing this will only sustain traffic further.

Let users get swept up in narratives.

You’ll notice the concept of “subscribing” or “following”. By doing either, a user indicates they’re interested in how the story develops. And as long as they’re interested in that story, they’ll keep visiting.

With the above in mind, this is why small sites die, unless you have a devout following that enjoys a narrative of intermissions. A more morbid take is that, maybe one retreats to small sites for a feeling of ‘authenticity’ because there aren’t any profit models, but it’s still dressed in all the same ways. The website creator is compelled to do the same things, otherwise their site no longer exists.