Hawaiʻi's Technology Community

Tipping Points in Social Networks

The science of social networks has always interested me, which is part of the reason I decided to launch TechHui. I often wonder what the tipping point is for this network. Have we already reached it? If I was hit by a bus tomorrow, would TechHui continue to be a viable social network a year from now? As we approach 200 members, and other active posters have started to appear, I believe the answer is yes, but this is just a gut feeling. What are the metrics? Do they differ for vertically specialized networks and more general networks?

I also wonder about the maximum potential size of our network. How many techies in (or somehow connected to) Hawaii exist? As a reasonably active member of the community I suffered from the conceit of thinking I knew most techies on Oahu. Its been humbling and exciting to see dozens of experienced developers and engineers working on high profile projects appear on this network that I've never met. It has also eroded my confidence in being able to set any sort of meaningful target for membership. Is 1,000 a reasonable target, or is it 10,000?

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Comment by Christa Wittmier on March 23, 2008 at 1:07pm: I think the focus should be technology, but new media people interested in technology (including the technology that enables their communication) are more than welcome.

whew!

looking forward to meeting more of you at the bbq.

Comment by Brooke Fujita on March 23, 2008 at 3:54am: Why limit membership to just people per se? How about encouraging corporations, companies, organizations to join and participate as member entities? That would certainly change the dynamics of the interactions on this network, possibly for the better. And I certainly could see members (people or corporate-wise) from outside of Hawaii being able to both contribute and profit from the interactions made possible on TechHui.

Just my 2 yen worth from Sapporo.

Comment by Daniel Leuck on March 22, 2008 at 9:06pm: Will we go from 200 to 400 faster than we went from 0-200?

An interesting question. I think this depends on whether or not we get at least a handful of members to send a significant number of invitations. Right now about 75% of the invitations are sent by me. This obviously isn't scalable :-) It also depends on content. We have had better community participation in this area.

A lot of this depends on Techhui's vision. Will the focus strictly be on tech? Or expand to include "new media"

I think the focus should be technology, but new media people interested in technology (including the technology that enables their communication) are more than welcome.

Maybe we can start a group or have an in-person brainstorming session on how to promote Techhui and the Hawaii tech community? I have a bunch of ideas...

I really like this idea. The value of this network to the tech community is dependant on its size and the level of participation. I'd love to hear any ideas you have in this area.

Comment by Gabe Morris on March 22, 2008 at 8:28pm: just some random thoughts:

-Will we go from 200 to 400 faster than we went from 0-200? At some point, we'll hit a wall (400 to 800 may go slower than 0 to 400), but I suspect that for this benchmark, doubling the original mark will go faster.

-A lot of this depends on Techhui's vision. Will the focus strictly be on tech? Or expand to include "new media" - PR folk, advertising community, people who work for the online versions of local newspapers, etc...? I'm not proposing to alter the current emphasis on tech... just an idea...

-Maybe we can start a group or have an in-person brainstorming session on how to promote Techhui and the Hawaii tech community? I have a bunch of ideas...

Comment by Mika Leuck on March 22, 2008 at 1:27pm: Many thanks to those that have contributed content to help get this network off the ground. In particular Truman Leung, Aaron Kagawa and J. David Beutel for their blog posts and GB Hajim for his amazing digital imagery.

Tipping Points in Social Networks

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