I've been thinking about this for a while as well and feel that it all depends who is the audience of this service. One idea is to define geographical limits to participate. That aligns with your cap idea. The nice thing about this model is it allows participants easy access to get to know others near them. This has real world benefits for strengthening a local community.
A second idea I had, especially relevant to HN, is to setup a barrier for use. Similar to old BB systems from the 80s and 90s, in order to participate it takes more effort than an email and password setup. A `vi` or `emacs` interface where there is a true learning curve but that also invites the user to learn more as they on-board into the social media service. You could spin this idea around other niche interests and hobbies though.
Network effects mean that these ideas likely won't be break-out hits for the general public. However, I find that to be ok as the easy approaches are solved challenges, the new challenges for social media are making those services more of a positive/healthy (as in eat your Broccoli) experience for everyone who interacts with it.
> One idea is to define geographical limits to participate.
Pretty sure you just invented NextDoor.
Also, this would mean you couldn't be friends with people you meet online. You immediately would eliminate gaming communities, even closer-knit ones like in-game guilds.
A second idea I had, especially relevant to HN, is to setup a barrier for use. Similar to old BB systems from the 80s and 90s, in order to participate it takes more effort than an email and password setup. A `vi` or `emacs` interface where there is a true learning curve but that also invites the user to learn more as they on-board into the social media service. You could spin this idea around other niche interests and hobbies though.
Network effects mean that these ideas likely won't be break-out hits for the general public. However, I find that to be ok as the easy approaches are solved challenges, the new challenges for social media are making those services more of a positive/healthy (as in eat your Broccoli) experience for everyone who interacts with it.