That's why after scrolling I took it to Claude with the command: "Distill all of the novel insights and actionables in this."
So in fewer words it was:
> To create a successful social network, focus on providing a valuable single-user utility (utility) and a means for users to accumulate social capital, which drives growth and engagement. By understanding how social capital is created and maintained, you can design a network that fosters a positive flywheel of growth, leading to rapid expansion and user retention.
Distill more.
> Create a successful social network by providing a valuable utility and a way for users to accumulate social capital, which drives growth and engagement.
Distill more.
> Make social networks that give users value and help them gain status, and they will grow and engage.
Sounds like the dream we were sold in early 2010s. Connect people and everything will improve? Is that what the author meant?
> everything will improve
What domain "everything" belongs to? From the first recap it’s the company perspective:
> network […] rapid expansion and user retention
While the third distillation suggest the users will profit it:
> users […] will grow and engage
Social network history show us both are not necessarily aligned.
The "they" refers to the social networks I think. The human reader is the one making the leap.