Inspired by my recent micro.blog experience, some thoughts on the right way to have social networks without all the depression and unhappiness that are endemic to them today.
Interactions
- Disallow "likes"
- Disallow retweets, reblogs, etc.
- Disable "follower counts"
Connections
- Allow following, but keep it private. I should not be able to see who you follow, and vice versa.
- No "comment threads", only "replies".
People
- Dis-incentivize bots by disallowing mass free accounts. Have a fee either to sign up, or to post more than X posts, or to reply more than Y times.