While I don't have a hatred of Xanga like some people out there, and I don't believe that Xanga blogs are inherently lower quality than those of people who host their own, I do find Xanga's concept of eProps simplistic and juvenile. Upon further thought, it dawned on me that it was because you, as a Xanga user, have an unlimited supply of them to give out. With this infinite eProp reserve, there's nothing to prevent someone from giving 2 eProps to every entry, no matter how silly they might be.
Xanga describes eProps as "a currency of good will." What if, like any real currency, eProps are in limited supply? And what if the eProps that people gave you would add to your net eProp wealth? Then, conceivably, in this free market, there would be a greater incentive to compete on a quality basis to garner those eProps. Furthermore, since the more people read one's page, the greater the likely eProp revenue for the author, there would be a motivation to advertise one's page as much as possible, and to get as many friends to join Xanga as possible.
What phenomena would arise from this? Will we see people in close-knit informal alliances giving eProps to each other, like Asian-American immigrants traditionally have had informal monetary support networks to support each other's businesses? Will we see people auction off accounts with high number of eProps on eBay, like they do with online gaming characters? Would we see thieves trying to "rob" "eProp rich" people of their eProps, by hacking their password?
I think it'd be a very interesting experiement in online social and economic dynamics, and see what subsystems evolve out of it.
Comments (2)
DATE: 07/14/2003
06:19:43
your idea is good, seeing how Xanga is looking for ways to keep it financially viable, they should make more ways possible for generating revenue.. perhaps to sell eProps, and to sell sponsorships - so a Xanga blogger that I like
to read, I can help support their Premium service.. (journalspace.com and bloggingnetwork.com already do something like this)
as it is now, the eProps do work as a ratings system, so I give them out to blog entries that are worthy of an eProp, and for the excellent blog entries that really share a good insight or wisdom, they they get 2 eProps.
djchuang
Posted by Anonymous | September 2, 2006 6:21 AM
Posted on September 2, 2006 06:21
DATE: 06/28/2003
09:48:05
I agree, it would make an interesting experiment for Xanga to turn eProps into a sort of currency. There's no incentive to be judicious with eProps. And since it's so easy to give them, it almost makes them meaningless.
I've also noticed that it seems like Xanga wants people to give eProps, whether they (the people making comments) know it or not. By default, all posts will give 2 eProps.
You should pitch your idea to Xanga. :)
Posted by Anonymous | September 2, 2006 6:21 AM
Posted on September 2, 2006 06:21