DLD Video
Social Networks Rebooted
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and technology reporter Steven Levy take a close look at the state of social networking, and what’s wrong with the current approach of making money through targeted advertising. Wales also explains what makes his new social network WT Social different and why he’s chosen to go with a “pay-if-you-want” business model, trying to avoid click-bait content.
“If you have an advertising-only business model the quality isn’t what you’re concerned about,” Wales explains. “I argue with the people at Facebook, and they’re actually receptive to the argument that, in the long run, if you’re optimizing only on engagement and the number of ads people see – all of these side effects we’re seeing in society are happening. And if the general public is convinced that your business is destroying Western civilization, that’s a long-term problem for your brand.”
Jimmy Wales
Wikimedia Foundation
Internet and technology entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, is founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia and co-founder of the privately owned Wikia Inc., including its entertainment media brand Fandom powered by Wikia. Most recently, he launched WT Social, a news-focused social network.
Steven Levy
Backchannel
Steven Levy is the founder and Editor in Chief of Backchannel, a tech-based publication owned and operated by Medium. His previous posts were senior staff writer for the magazine Wired; and senior editor and chief technology correspondent for Newsweek, where he wrote the “Technologist” column. His books include the classic computer history Hackers; Insanely Great (the story of the Macintosh computer); Artificial Life, Crypto, and In the Plex, the definitive story of Google.