constantly tweak and iterate on their product to respond to the behavior and needs of their audience. In many ways, this is where centralized control—usually in the hands of a well-funded company—is in a better position to address the myriad of challenges that might crop up as the network expands. A startup can quickly make changes to their discovery algorithms, user interfaces, and hire moderators—as we’ve seen many social apps do. In contrast, Usenet was never a company, never raised money, and didn’t have hundreds of full-time staff. Any new product confronted with millions of users
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