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Social Graph

Most social networks rely on the 1% of devoted creators to publish high-quality content that is then consumed by the rest of the network. 

This is known as the 1-9-90 rule. It suggests that in any given digital space, 1% of users are the creators, generating the majority of original content, 9% are engagers, actively commenting, sharing, or modifying content, while the remaining 90% are lurkers, who passively consume content without directly contributing. This distribution reflects the natural imbalance of engagement in online forums, wikis, and social networks, where a small fraction of users drive the conversation while the majority remain silent observers. It’s akin to going to a lecture, where an expert (1%) talks to an audience (90%) and few participants (9%) ask questions during the talkback afterwards.

In the audio space, both ends of the speaker-listener spectrum are currently served: Podcasts for the 1:Many and voice messages for the 1:1. There has not been a social product that has cracked the Many:Many community of commenters Microfone seeks to address. 

We want Microfone to be a place for discussion, not performance. Typically, professional content creators flood new social media platforms to gain social capital. Since Microfone is anonymous, we’ll create an internal system to reward contributions to the network. While this system will continue to evolve as we build out the MVP, here are some basics: 

• Every post can be upvoted or downvoted.

• Each anonymous account will have a public karma score calculated by the number of user posts, upvotes, questions asked, and questions answered. This will incentivize thoughtful responses and more heavily weight the contributions of users the community values.

• A reciprocal credit system of questions asked and questions answered will keep the two sides of the equation balanced.

While there will undoubtedly be Microfone power users, this reward architecture flattens the typical hierarchy, empowering the casual 9% at the expense of the professional 1%. Similar social graphs and incentive schemes already function well on Reddit, Quora, and Stack Exchange.

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