Users

I got to thinking (yeah, dangerous thing for my brain) why you can find a contact link on Tumblr. Really, I went through the help and support pages and the other links about the company and such, and there is no easy-to-find link to send e-mail to the company.

My complaint is those stupid pop-ups windows they added, their version of Mr. Clippy, and there is no setting, preference or cookie to set to stop them. They something the company thought is helpful, but is really annoying after the first time, like, "Yeah, I know already, so shut the f..k up."

Well, here's the thought.

When startups get their social media-network Website running they have to rely on users to troubleshoot, debug and improve the experience on their Website. Without them listening to users, they most likely have a very geeky, dump social media-network Website.

Ok, they listen and then fix and add features, and the Website and company grows, as users begin to use it, advertise it and help the company. The people at the company know their product is the result of the users and them.

But at some point the Website becomes so popular the people at the company do two things. First they begin to believe they invented all of it, including all the ideas and suggestions user sent them and the problems the users found with it.

This is where they start to stop listening to users and begin to think they don't need users that the users will just accept what they do. They believe their own view of the popularity of the Website, that it was built by them than the users.

This is where they will begin to annoy and even offend the users by making arbitrary changes thinking they know what users want and will accept because they're smarter and better than the users. At this point they can either crash and burn because they failed and users went elsewhere.

Or they can muddle their way through it with half-hearted fixes and improvements, and slowly but surely change the Website in increments where users will complain but not leave. Sometimes they'll offend the users they'll have to backtrack and change, but not back down from their goal of the change they want.

If they don't crash and burn and users are still there, Then the company and Website will evolve into the next phase when and where users are the product than the source of the company and the Website. This is where the company focuses on the value of the company and the potential for investors or an IPO.

Yeah, it's about money. This is why they started the company and Website, and if they're good and lucky, remembering timing is sometimes everything, eg. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc., they'll be worth billions to the market, but it's all money based on the value of the users as the product.

This is where the company and the Websites become focused on what they have and know about users, meaning the content of the Website, the users themselves, not for the users but for what they are for the value of the company.

This is why users can build and destroy a company and Website if they want, but won't because they become addicted to the Website, and only if a newer and better one comes along with they leave, eg. MySpace and Yahoo.

Which is my point too besides how users are used initially as the source for the company but becomes the product of the company. Users should remember the value of the social media-nework Websites and the company is you and what you put there.

Users build social media network companies and Websites just like customers build other companies, but the difference is that the real companies sell your products while the companies with social media-network Websites sell you as the product.