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The great thing about the contraversial upgrades at Tribe is the massive breadth of feedback that comes in. Some of the less constructive stuff can be rather depressing, but after 2 years of ruining peoples' on rollout day lives you sort of get used to it. That time that we took away the trackback stuff stands out as a big one. We really didn't anticipate the backlash that would cause, but lo and behold, it turns out that there were some folks to whom that feature was absolutely critical to the Tribe experience.
The ads are a different beast. This isn't buggy functionality, it is far more significant. To many, it is a sellout - a harbinger of simply awful things to come. The beginning of the end. To others, it is just an annoyance, one that is quickly adjusted to and life goes on. Some seem genuinely hurt or offended or betrayed. Many are disgusted. But in amongst the shouting and calls for boycott there are always valuable nuggets.
For example, this guy is mad and has a great explanation of why he should be:
www.tribe.net/template/pu...ab0d9a6d2cb6
Seeing stuff like this not only renews my faith in humanity, but it also renews my belief that there are many tribe users who *really* get it. He is mad about the ads, but he also understands (as we do) that we have more than enough information to do far far better. He understands that he has given us all kinds of information about his location, his tastes, and his interests. He understands that he *gave* us this information of his own free will - that doing so was a valuable part of him developing his online identity here at Tribe. And he not only understands, but *anticipates* that we will use that information to show him ads that are more relevant to him than any other site on the internet possibly can. I look forward to the day where we deliver that message and reintroduce this man and others to the gee whiz factor that has made a connection with many of our users in the past.
There is also this woman:
www.tribe.net/template/pu...7df1084d15bb
This is also a refreshing bit of feedback. It is nice to know that people would like to see us succeed, and offer up constructive advise on how to get this done. That is nice. But what is powerful is that her idea is to tap the very community that we have all built, not just Tribe the company but Tribe the culture. I can't tell you how many times I have thought to myself "ah... but if only days were 40 hours long and we could organize events to make this online community happen in real life". Be it a Tribe.net block party where local tribesters come to meet, sell their art, juggle fire, and cause some offline havoc for a change, or be it new functionality to help non-profits organize on Tribe, to mobilize their memberships and gather donations.
These are the things that transcend code and servers, business and revenue, venture capital and office space. These are the things that people already do that Tribe could help them do better. Is there a business in it? I don't know. No one here has really been able to convince anyone else here that there is, and as a result we are forced to experiment with other ideas. The ad thing will certainly improve. The targeting is no good and the page layout is choppy. In time, it will probably be forgotten. What continues to endure is the community, and all of its opinions and passions. Not only the boistrous nay-sayers but the silent contributors who continue to find value in what they have found here.
The ads are a different beast. This isn't buggy functionality, it is far more significant. To many, it is a sellout - a harbinger of simply awful things to come. The beginning of the end. To others, it is just an annoyance, one that is quickly adjusted to and life goes on. Some seem genuinely hurt or offended or betrayed. Many are disgusted. But in amongst the shouting and calls for boycott there are always valuable nuggets.
For example, this guy is mad and has a great explanation of why he should be:
www.tribe.net/template/pu...ab0d9a6d2cb6
Seeing stuff like this not only renews my faith in humanity, but it also renews my belief that there are many tribe users who *really* get it. He is mad about the ads, but he also understands (as we do) that we have more than enough information to do far far better. He understands that he has given us all kinds of information about his location, his tastes, and his interests. He understands that he *gave* us this information of his own free will - that doing so was a valuable part of him developing his online identity here at Tribe. And he not only understands, but *anticipates* that we will use that information to show him ads that are more relevant to him than any other site on the internet possibly can. I look forward to the day where we deliver that message and reintroduce this man and others to the gee whiz factor that has made a connection with many of our users in the past.
There is also this woman:
www.tribe.net/template/pu...7df1084d15bb
This is also a refreshing bit of feedback. It is nice to know that people would like to see us succeed, and offer up constructive advise on how to get this done. That is nice. But what is powerful is that her idea is to tap the very community that we have all built, not just Tribe the company but Tribe the culture. I can't tell you how many times I have thought to myself "ah... but if only days were 40 hours long and we could organize events to make this online community happen in real life". Be it a Tribe.net block party where local tribesters come to meet, sell their art, juggle fire, and cause some offline havoc for a change, or be it new functionality to help non-profits organize on Tribe, to mobilize their memberships and gather donations.
These are the things that transcend code and servers, business and revenue, venture capital and office space. These are the things that people already do that Tribe could help them do better. Is there a business in it? I don't know. No one here has really been able to convince anyone else here that there is, and as a result we are forced to experiment with other ideas. The ad thing will certainly improve. The targeting is no good and the page layout is choppy. In time, it will probably be forgotten. What continues to endure is the community, and all of its opinions and passions. Not only the boistrous nay-sayers but the silent contributors who continue to find value in what they have found here.
posted by:
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Mission District
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Indeed, that guy you mention has zeroed in on the issue. Perhaps the problem isn't so much with tribe as with the ad service we're using (or the way we're using it?). Maybe all this hullaballoo is an indication that there's an opportunity for an organization (maybe even tribe?) to do a genuinely good job at laser beam advertising. If not tribe, it will be the company eats our lunch.
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Can we pay tribe money to NOT see the ads?
That would be worth a subscription.
Ami Sun -
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This has come up a lot recently, both here in the office and on tribe ideas. Moreso than we thought, it actually appears that folks would be willing to pay us a little money for the service. I would like very much to integrate such a feature in the very near future - I will let you know when things are going to happen...
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So I was adamant in my belief that introducing a pay option was the right thing to do. Advertising or no, people have been mentioning for quite some time now that they would in fact pay for tribe. However, Patti pointed out to me tonight that in fact introducing a pay option would most likely result in a higher customer service expectation than we currently have the staff to support. All those little bugs that still slip through, and that you all very dutifully (if sometimes irately) report would become more unacceptable.
My thought on gathering pay was that I wanted to get a baseline assessment for the intrinsic value of tribe to its members. I wanted to understand in purely economic terms the value that we had created over and above the commodity services that people can get anywhere on the internet. But in the larger business context Patti ( patti.tribe.net ) may be right - in the short term there would be more burden and in the long term we would like to be far more creative with our advertising. Ultimately we want to be able to leverage what we know about you to show you things of interest.
Sheesh... QA people... -
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I'm glad you understood what I was saying.
I'm not against the idea of having a premium verison of Tribe, but I think it's a decision that we have to make carefully, weighing all of the costs and benefits of doing so.
It's also a one-way street-- once you have a pay service, you lose a fair bit of flexibility... you're pretty committed to serving up whatever has been paid for.
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