[09:42:55] Julian Bond says: Just been pondering group forming. For a network of size N
- Metcalfe: Value grows by N^2
- Reed: Value grows by 2^N - N - 1
Some implications for Skype:-
- Group chats radically increase the value of the network because they move Skype from Metcalfe to Reed.
- What's the minimum average size for a group chat to be self-sustaining?
- What's the maximum average size for a group chat before it splits? There's some law that says groups become unwieldy at about 150 participants. So Skype public chats should be set to max 150 ?
[09:42:55] Julian Bond says: - Skype needs to actively encourage group forming. Which means things like public chat directories.
[09:43:49] Julian Bond says: Few-To-Few comms are more interesting than one-to-many or many-to-many
[09:44:37] Julian Bond says: "The long tail" is spiky. It's actually made up from large numbers of small communities.
[09:44:49] Julian Bond says: In any community, 90% lurk.
[09:45:37] Julian Bond says: The Fat Middle is more interesting than the Short Head or the Long Tail.
[09:45:38] Julian Bond says: Oooh. I can feel a book coming on.


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[ 27-Nov-06 9:48am ] [ , ]