Does Amazon make any significant revenue from Goodreads? I can see how it might be something that boosts their kindle sales but other than that they probably have a good reason not to focus on it like... because it isn't a business breadwinner. Why work on Goodreads when you can make more money on AWS? Does anyone really believe they are going to become the next hot social network because they nailed the market for people who read books in the most transparent/ community accessible way possible?
Also I want to give a bit more info about why rec.music.phish was special. Phish, like the Grateful Dead, allow people to record and distribute concert recordings as long as they didn't profit from it. So people would offer free "blanks and postage" deals to other people on rec.music.phish who would mail cassette tapes with return envelopes and get recordings of live concerts back in the mail a month later. That whole process is completely irrelevant now but it was a unifying fan experience that had real meaning to everyone involved. Going on a bittorrent site (bt.etree.org) doesn't compare in the development of meaningful relationships with total strangers even though it is far more efficient.
https://www.phantasytour.com is one of my favorites. Phish in particular has a very vibrant community, if you enjoy their music you can find lots of other people who are passionate about them on just about any social network. For people who are easily offended there is also a forum on phish.net that prefers to avoid hostile conversations. Phantasy Tour has a lot of obscene discussions that most people would find offensive but is tolerated on this forum.
Every comment submitted here is kept by Y Combinator and they own it in the same way facebook or "applebook" would own it, except they don't run ads. But if you were to apply to their accelerator they would use your comments to determine if they want to accept your business idea so there is definitely added value to them of your data being surrendered to them freely.
You don't have to tell them your handle. They ask for it if you'd like, but they'd be bad investors if they declined applications from people who said something like "I'm a lurker and don't have an account"
If the person who walks by did something memorable and unique then we do own that experience and it very much translates into meaningful data. If I was a witness to a crime happening on the street I can convey that information to the police or media as a witness. Even if it was something silly I witnessed it might make a good story to tell friends about. I own the decision to tell others or not.
The mobile app Whisper can be useful to some for finding friends although there are tons of creepy people who primarily use it to try to hook up with women so if you can tolerate occasionally dealing with that sort of behavior then you can anonymously chat with total strangers and potentially make friends from those conversations.
I'm not affiliated with Taproot, but am aware of them and that they have been successful with their model.
Taproot Foundation - WHAT WE DO: The Taproot Foundation connects nonprofits and social change organizations with passionate, skilled volunteers who share their expertise pro bono. Through our programs, business professionals deliver marketing, strategy, HR, and IT solutions that organizations need to achieve their missions. https://taprootfoundation.org/
