last saturday morning, i woke up to find one of my best friends on suicidegirls, booshanky, mysteriously missing. not crossed-out, not "gone private", but totally deleted.
i asked him what was up via IM, and he said he had no idea, that it must be a glitch or misunderstanding.
well it was a misunderstanding, but not the sort we'd thought: we were under the impression that Spooky understood the worth of the community that he'd created, and valued the people who were central to that community. In a recent article about SG, that worth is clearly stated:
The rise of Suicide Girls is a study in buzz. As a collection of nude and semi-nude photos, it's unremarkable, a lightweight in a bottomless industry. Yet Suicide Girls distinguishes itself from the typical softcore porn site with its ever-expanding discussion threads, web logs (blogs), calendars, groups and even member-organized get-togethers. This lighthearted mix of punk-rock sensibility and softcore pornography has produced a potent new product.
while that quote doesn't give enough credit to the awesome models, it does state an important truth: suicidegirls is a "potent product" not simply because of its content, but because of its community. WE are that community, and if you read the whole story, you will see that "unique aspects" of SG are being actively sold to raise venture capital.
Spooky, i don't mind being monetized, that's your job, but it makes me crazy that you seem to have so little understanding of what you've created, and how to nurture it. I recommend that you use my last $10 and get a copy of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
suicidegirls was built on the tenants of viral marketing: take a look at the hook-ups page, read the "most comments" section. You'll see a lot of familiar names; names that appear on the friend-lists of many many people in the active SG community -- these are the 'Kevin Bacon's of suicidegirls...the uber-connectors and uber-mavens of the SG viral empire, and you are beholden to them!
metrics are very difficult to calculate in viral marketing...you will never be able to easily measure how "important" booshanky was to SG, but i'll tell you this: he was far more important than you imagined. he had the rare ability to effortlessly pull new people into groups and make them feel welcome, which is the key to cross-pollinating sub-communities and building "buzz". with a few kind words and some understanding, you could have retained a powerful, dedicated general for your army...but instead you've cast him free, perhaps to land in another, competing community.
when fillerbunny called this a "sinking ship", i think she was dead-on: communities die, and the most common cause of death is the attrition of strong community leaders. if boo can simply vanish based on a misunderstanding, then any of our friends can...which implies that our community is simply a fiction that we're "allowed" to indulge in, instead of the living, breathing entity that it should be.
so..i'm outta here. love to all of my SG friends, and i'm sure i'll see you around town! to anyone and everyone who'd like to contct me:
email: bryan@gamespy.com
icq: 1279158
aim: wallaby1107
Best wishes,
- walla
i asked him what was up via IM, and he said he had no idea, that it must be a glitch or misunderstanding.
well it was a misunderstanding, but not the sort we'd thought: we were under the impression that Spooky understood the worth of the community that he'd created, and valued the people who were central to that community. In a recent article about SG, that worth is clearly stated:
The rise of Suicide Girls is a study in buzz. As a collection of nude and semi-nude photos, it's unremarkable, a lightweight in a bottomless industry. Yet Suicide Girls distinguishes itself from the typical softcore porn site with its ever-expanding discussion threads, web logs (blogs), calendars, groups and even member-organized get-togethers. This lighthearted mix of punk-rock sensibility and softcore pornography has produced a potent new product.
while that quote doesn't give enough credit to the awesome models, it does state an important truth: suicidegirls is a "potent product" not simply because of its content, but because of its community. WE are that community, and if you read the whole story, you will see that "unique aspects" of SG are being actively sold to raise venture capital.
Spooky, i don't mind being monetized, that's your job, but it makes me crazy that you seem to have so little understanding of what you've created, and how to nurture it. I recommend that you use my last $10 and get a copy of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
suicidegirls was built on the tenants of viral marketing: take a look at the hook-ups page, read the "most comments" section. You'll see a lot of familiar names; names that appear on the friend-lists of many many people in the active SG community -- these are the 'Kevin Bacon's of suicidegirls...the uber-connectors and uber-mavens of the SG viral empire, and you are beholden to them!
metrics are very difficult to calculate in viral marketing...you will never be able to easily measure how "important" booshanky was to SG, but i'll tell you this: he was far more important than you imagined. he had the rare ability to effortlessly pull new people into groups and make them feel welcome, which is the key to cross-pollinating sub-communities and building "buzz". with a few kind words and some understanding, you could have retained a powerful, dedicated general for your army...but instead you've cast him free, perhaps to land in another, competing community.
when fillerbunny called this a "sinking ship", i think she was dead-on: communities die, and the most common cause of death is the attrition of strong community leaders. if boo can simply vanish based on a misunderstanding, then any of our friends can...which implies that our community is simply a fiction that we're "allowed" to indulge in, instead of the living, breathing entity that it should be.
so..i'm outta here. love to all of my SG friends, and i'm sure i'll see you around town! to anyone and everyone who'd like to contct me:
email: bryan@gamespy.com
icq: 1279158
aim: wallaby1107
Best wishes,
- walla
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
melissa2:
you will be missed.
digdug:
adieu