Why people wont use your cool website idea
Back in 2011 I launched a website called "Past Me/Future Me", it was a social networking site where you could post something addressing your future self, or in the future address you past self by leaving messages and replying to those old messages in the time span of a year.
Today I saw a website called "Boya". In this website you could make and share commitments and stories by selecting "I will", "I am", "I love" and "I have".
It didn't really have many users.
Earlier this year I launched a fan website called "Dear Lauren Faust", it was meant for leaving an archive of "Thank You" messages for the creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (which has gained a massive adult following in the past three years it has been up).
One person used it despite me sending it to Equestria Daily.
I thought to myself, "Why aren't anybody using these ideas". Then I remembered back to Boya. I left that website in the matter of minutes, I didn't give a fuck.
If your website only has one purpose, and that purpose is to write something out or make a daily or yearly commitment. People aren't going to give a fuck either. When making a website, make sure you make the idea as flexible as possible, and don't force it on your friends too much.
The reason Facebook worked so much is because of it's flexibility. It's sign up, post and repeat when you want to.
The reason Tumblr worked so much is for the very same reason.
Another problem with websites like Boya is that there is a lack of proper communication. While Facebook and Tumblr allow you to write full posts (to a character limit in some cases), Boya is stuck to it's "I will" system,
You need to speak in a certain way for the website to work. People don't like doing that. They like creativity and freedom to move.
For example on Twitter, there exists BronyRT, an automated bot that retweets brony related things on twitter for the followers to see and connect with the community in a different way. This could NEVER happen on Boya. There is not enough freedom and flexibility for it to work out.
TL;DR: Don't waste your money on 2 second ideas.
Now Past Vance is dead forever :c
Things mentioned:
Boya: http://boya.com
BronyRT: http://twitter.com/BronyRT
Past Me/Future Me: Rest in piece sweet prince
Dear Lauren Faust: I want my £5.34 back pls.
