Community vs Client

[butterfly_kisses]

how important is "community" to the success of a p2p

client?

your thoughts please

[Pie-Rat]

Can you define "community" better?

If you mean all the features like instant messaging, sharing themed files, etc., then i think it's irrelevant, because the 95%+ of users of these networks are newbies just out to download the latest songs or whatever... they give a crap for "features" which will bring them closer together to other users of the network.

Then there's the old 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of the P2P traffic comes from 20% of the users... and if those users are the super community users, then yes... it could have bearing on the communities success.

[butterfly_kisses]

Originally posted by Pie-Rat
Can you define "community" better?

If you mean all the features like instant messaging, sharing themed files, etc., then i think it's irrelevant, because the 95%+ of users of these networks are newbies just out to download the latest songs or whatever... they give a crap for "features" which will bring them closer together to other users of the network.

Then there's the old 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of the P2P traffic comes from 20% of the users... and if those users are the super community users, then yes... it could have bearing on the communities success.

i was thinking about the old "kazaa community" and neighborhood i.e., "the message board" there before Sharman took them down....how important is it to the success of a client to have some way for users to interact with each other and that also goes for what we have here at the Napsterites forum...i think this might have originally been just for the Napster client but lately has involved to embrace a full range of p2p clients.

what i'm asking is do you prefer and impersonal p2p client where you can download anything you want without any interaction with others users (you know like a "chat" area or instant messaging) or do you think the ability to communicate with the ones you are downloading from to be important (and also a helpful forum for sharing ideas is it essential to the success of a new client?)

[zombywoof]

Originally posted by Harbynger
how important is "community" to the success of a p2p

client?

your thoughts please

It has little relevance regarding traffic and the number of users who share their files). Probably over 99% of users of p2p apps do not post on a board, but simply download and use the p2p app.

[assorted]

I would say Harby's definition of community means nothing to me. The quality of a message board community attached to a file sharing client is only useful as a free way for the company to have 24/7 excellent tech support.

However if the question posed were "quality of files/number of sharers" vs. "decent software" then I'd say community wins in a flash. For example Audiogalaxy vs. WinMx.

Audiogalaxy has every mp3 I have EVER looked for in my life thx to "community." As software, their central server is sluggish/infuriatingly slow, the client gives you no control whatsoever and the install comes with spyware. I'd say the AG software sucks major ass.

The WinMX software is great. Multi-sourcing now supported, never a problem connecting, decent array of configuration choices, and an ability to connect to opennap. However all of my slots fill on WinMX within minutes and I never find ONE song I want unless it was in the top 40 album chart at some point. And even then there are hopelessly long queues. So WinMX has great software but a shit community vs. Audiogalaxy with an excellent community and shit software.

Not even a question about which I prefer.

(ps: hopefully AG users will wander to decent software clients; but we'll see.)

[napho]

It can work both ways I think. In the case of Filetopia hardly anything is shared outside of little groups; that's stunted the growth of the program as a result. In the case of Blubster ppl are loyal and stay with a relatively small program because of the forums. Ultimately though it's all about the content and fuck the community.

[Mowzer]

"the old "kazaa community" and neighborhood i.e., "the message board" there before Sharman took them down....how important is it to the success of a client to have some way for users to interact with each other and that also goes for what we have here at the Napsterites forum..."

For P2P developers, the last thing they think about when coding is adding in fancy communitys. After all they are pointless.

I mean its a waste of the projects bandwidth, to set up a forum where newbies can be chastized like crazy, and it gets filled with long winded religious rants, poetry and other off topic crap.

Then there is the trolling, and other non sense. Whats really worse off then the above points is a community is only good for customer support. The thing a community could be useful for is finding and exchanging file names and file types. Hooking each other up with the magic goods.

But that is also the first thing any file shareing app rules out, as its a huge legal burden to have floating around. With "No warez" as a rule what able body file sharer is gonna stick around?

Get real. Even as tech support places they often provide the lowest level of all tech support. New findings show for software applications, forums are not reccomended. Its a cheap scape goat.

The only real useful tool providers can stick in is a stable form of chat, If some one wants to get help they can, or if you need to know a correct movie size, you can also.

Although my guess is with movie sizes, as ideas improve people will use tools like indy's sig to dat more and more, or as web sites devoted to file sizes come about more and more, people will utilize those un offical mediums.

If people want close groups of unique little communities, they can ad will often form them on the web and in other ways. Those looking for P2P discussion, already have hundreds of good portals on the very topic. Napsterites is one.

You saw how great the KaZaA forums where timmy. The idea of repeating that mess is a joke, and no developers in their right mind would repeat it as a viable and important part of an application.

I think as groups like the RIAA try and pull more people into court rooms, a day will come when they realize its a waste and just start targeting on a user basis. If a day like that ever came the last thing you want is messages time stamped and marked with your ISP details showing a history of your file sharing escapades.

To sum it all up, having a forum developer run thats a vital community has little revelence to the software itself. It often is an add on freak show.

Show me one forum that has no moderation, that is run by a software company and hasn't degraded into a nut house.

Community is still important, but there are better ways of having a community and in other formats.

[butterfly_kisses]

that's a very good point, ethen as a matter of fact you all make very good points. so to sum up it looks like the general concensus (agreement) so far is that a quality client with a huge userbase and quality content is more important than a "sense of helping others"?

Originally posted by Ethen
"the old "kazaa community" and neighborhood i.e., "the message board" there before Sharman took them down....how important is it to the success of a client to have some way for users to interact with each other and that also goes for what we have here at the Napsterites forum..."

For P2P developers, the last thing they think about when coding is adding in fancy communitys. After all they are pointless.

I mean its a waste of the projects bandwidth, to set up a forum where newbies can be chastized like crazy, and it gets filled with long winded religious rants, poetry and other off topic crap.

Then there is the trolling, and other non sense. Whats really worse off then the above points is a community is only good for customer support. The thing a community could be useful for is finding and exchanging file names and file types. Hooking each other up with the magic goods.

But that is also the first thing any file shareing app rules out, as its a huge legal burden to have floating around. With "No warez" as a rule what able body file sharer is gonna stick around?

Get real. Even as tech support places they often provide the lowest level of all tech support. New findings show for software applications, forums are not reccomended. Its a cheap scape goat.

The only real useful tool providers can stick in is a stable form of chat, If some one wants to get help they can, or if you need to know a correct movie size, you can also.

Although my guess is with movie sizes, as ideas improve people will use tools like indy's sig to dat more and more, or as web sites devoted to file sizes come about more and more, people will utilize those un offical mediums.

If people want close groups of unique little communities, they can ad will often form them on the web and in other ways. Those looking for P2P discussion, already have hundreds of good portals on the very topic. Napsterites is one.

You saw how great the KaZaA forums where timmy. The idea of repeating that mess is a joke, and no developers in their right mind would repeat it as a viable and important part of an application.

I think as groups like the RIAA try and pull more people into court rooms, a day will come when they realize its a waste and just start targeting on a user basis. If a day like that ever came the last thing you want is messages time stamped and marked with your ISP details showing a history of your file sharing escapades.

To sum it all up, having a forum developer run thats a vital community has little revelence to the software itself. It often is an add on freak show.

Show me one forum that has no moderation, that is run by a software company and hasn't degraded into a nut house.

Community is still important, but there are better ways of having a community and in other formats.