h1. Users and their content are the top features for community sites

Whatever they are called ...

* social media
* social networks
* forums / message boards

... these sites accept user-generated content, and most likely, these sites host discussions on that content.

Here's a fine comment in this thread with my emphasis added:
https://ello.co/thomashawk/post/jxqnl9CnXL1DGTJsCg7OMQ

q.
Ello needs more posts - *especially more posts that are your own.*  Photos, artwork, writing, whatever. 

My least-vfavorite thing about looking at FB is all the *click bait garbage that everyone +reposts.+* 

If you don't have something original to post, you should think about why you're wasting everyone's time reposting the latest grumpy cat meme, or whatever.
q..

The focus should be on the users, the content, and the discussions. Does a wad of fancy software features make that happen, or can fewer features, combined with an easy to learn and use user interface work best?

Ello's client-side, JavaScript-heavy user interface needs tweaked. Link colors and the icons may need improved too. Ello will resolve its UI/UX issues over time. But hopefully, they don't add too many "normal" social network features that could make the interface and experience worse. 

Are these features necessary?

* share/forward a post
* like/favorite a post

The lo-fi cut-and-paste activity works. It requires a bit more effort, but that could be a positive. Maybe people "like" or "share" too much crap. 

Cut-and-paste could be a slight barrier that encourages people only to share things that are worth the extra seconds to cut-and-paste.

Maybe Ello is an example of how web content readers and producers are ready for the past and old services, such as "The Well":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WELL and "LiveJournal.":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveJournal

I think The Well charged users $100 a year. The Well contained a lot of interesting discussions. It was a home to writers, artists, thinkers, etc. It required real names though.

The Well could probably work today. Actually, it still exist. The Well probably fizzled in the aughts because of Live Journal, Blogger, MySpace, Typepad, Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. 

But maybe users in 2014 are worn out from complex systems with a ton of features along with data mining for targeted ads. Maybe at least a small segment yearn for a simpler interface and experience with more interesting discussions.

This could be why the message board will always exist.  Reddit seems to be doing okay.

* http://ello.com
* http://www.well.com
* http://www.livejournal.com
* http://reddit.com


 #socialnetwork - #socialmedia - #forums - #blogging - #design - #reading - #writing