**Goal**

To prove the feasibility of a P2P publishing market where content ownership remains with the author and moderation choice remains with the user.

**Building the Community**

(This document consists of ideas that I picked up from the #community channel and my own thoughts that I have consolidated over the last few weeks. Thanks to @ryancharles, @tonysakich, @paul\_xbt, @darrenm, @bradkam, @genevayngrib and @go1dfish)

(Some of the thoughts assume that the identity of the user is known at least in a smaller circle. For example, local communities or targeted journalism would not work without a certain level of identity being available. This can be a consistent identity just by maintaining a single pseudo identity associated with the public key.)

Datt is a content platform. We will not be publisher(s) of content as this can lead to censorship which is against the core tenets of the network.

**1.  What are we appealing to?**

  a. Where is the value transfer?

  The value starts with the users consuming content and if the benefit is direct then the value of the network increases and the domino effect continues till the creator.

  b. User Contribution:

  (for users willing to create an identity) We are appealing to the users to contribute to the community by participating in the network. This will lead to an increase in self-worth if their participation is rewarded in a tangible and in-tangible fashion. We can also mention about their contribution in monetary, comment, vote and time as part of the network. (this would involve some bit of analytics, but will help in keeping users in the long run)

  c. Content creator Ego:

  The creator can see the number of users they can reach out to then the network will appeal to them. Same-side and cross-side network effects are important for this network. It is important to get content creators even by incentivizing them thru' bounties and other monetary mechanisms like content promotions, if required.

  c.1. We should ask (request) content creators for long form content rather than short ideas or thoughts. It helps give the impression that the quality of content creation is higher in comparison to short form content.

  c.2. Content creators also reach a worldwide audience as geographical restrictions don't exist in datt.

**2.  Where is my market niche to begin?**

  a. Smaller content publishers who want more control over their content

  b. Aspiring journalists

  c. Authors of niche content who aren't regular publishers and who

  d. In future

  d.1. Special communities for mainstream journalists

  d.2. Content discovery platform for other types of content

**3.  How to get the first users and creators?**

  a. Interest in decentralized technologies

  a.1. Follow a few of these people and get an idea of their network and influencers and approach them to get greater visibility. Normal mode of user ->; Influencer ->; Maybe decision maker ->; More users.

  b. Interest in Bitcoin and Blockchain application(s)

  c. Users at reddit, linkedin, medium, facebook etc who are not happy with the current policies

  d. Approach websites like cointelegraph, insidebitcoins, epicentre podcast etc and ask them to connect their links to the datt network. This would drive come more traffic towards them. (I do not think it is necessary to pay them for this as the content is served from their website. We might need to create a button like 'create datt' which would post the link on datt network)

  e. General interest in technology

  f. Journalists with a keen belief in free speech (or maybe even net neutrality. Basically, any concept which can be censored in mainstream media)

  g. Junior bloggers at large media publications

**4. What is the value of the network?**

  a. The value of the network for the initial 50-100,000 users is not very great as the contribution level on the web for user generated content is 1:10. So, the network would be running with approx. 5-10,000 users contributing while the remaining would only be consumers.

  a.1. I would presume the threshold to be in the range of 1Mn users for the network to start becoming invaluable to its creators and users. We will be able to reach approx. 50,000 users per community (as data updation would be pushed when the user connects) with total number of users around 1Mn.

  b. (The value of the network be higher if we source content from journalists or professional content writers, but then we would be getting into the space of publishing rather than being a platform)

  c. Datt network can differentiate itself from the regular content publishing platforms like developers started distinguishing themselves by developing for Android when iOS was the main platform. This is the social trend that we can use and journalists and bloggers might be key to use a platform which actually uses the same principles about which they write.

  d. For centralized or decentralized systems, the network holds the key. And at this point, the first mover gets the advantage as it appeals to people looking for alternatives and also solves a problem area which is currently visible to everyone in the web.

  e. The establishment of the platform which would enable creators to reach users and vice-versa without a central system has to be the first focus rather than revenue. The value of the network lies in the protocol and the benefits it brings along.

  f. Datt can be the Content Delivery Network (CDN) for smaller content publishers once it reaches a critical mass. This can reduce their cost of publishing and also ensure better geographical coverage.

  g. Can datt become a 'torrent' for content ownership? We can serve all types of content and we also know who is consuming the content.

**5. What is the possible demographics that we are targeting?**

  a. Users would be in the age group of 18-34 mostly and will be probably from US and Western Europe and maybe Aus/NZ/Arg/Bra for early adopters. There will definitely be a niche set in other countries but this would be very small.

  b. Publishers would mostly be from US and Western Europe for original content as this is where most of the action with respect decentralization and bitcoin is happening.

  b.1. Local communities can appeal to everyone but needs a group of people from the same geography.

**6. What can be the possible communities to begin with?**

  a. Science

  b. Technology

  c. New Startup Projects

  c.1. This can give the creator of the start-up an opportunity to reach out to the users with their ideas and seek feedback in a secure and slightly controlled environment. This can also help gauge the market responsiveness of an idea. Given that the users of the network (at least initially) will be tech savvy they might be willing early adopters.

  d. Bitcoin

  e. Blockchain

  f. Local citizen communities

  f.1. Events can be announced and managed thru' this channel thus avoiding costs.

  g. Citizen Journalism

  h. Open Source Projects

  i. App publishing platform

  i.1. Developers can post links of their projects without going through the likes of Apple or Google and reduce the marketplace fees being paid. We can also promote bitcoin transactions with App developers when they use this method. It would also be easy to keep license information on the blockchain for developers by this method.

**7. How do we connect with content creators & users?**

  a. Create an invite only system by restricting the download of the client (this can be tricky but will give publicity)

  a.1. It might also be a good idea to request content creators to publish snippets in other websites and then link to the datt network for complete access.

  b. Maintain a 'datt' community on the network which update(s) information on the work done on the protocol, clients etc.

  c. Podcasts with the important people in the network and also with content publishers and prominent users

  d. Participation in events

**8. What possible collaborations can be set-up?**

  a. Connect with news organizations (aggregators) and check if their content can be pushed to this network when they upload it. They reach a larger audience and also as content is pushed it helps in reaching the audience quicker.

  a.1. The reverse of this should also be made possible and it would be great if these organizations can have a small place on their website which lists the current content being discussed.