“Are you thinking about the digital divide? The people most adversely affected by legislation are not the most likely users of Reddit.”

- Chrys Wu, probing how I thought about the audience and use case for my thesis. Indeed, I was (shameful) not thinking much about the digital divide at all. I think I know who my primary audience are, but what about secondary audiences?

“A new form of arguing has been invented in our lifetimes in the last decade, in fact. It’s large, it’s distributed, it’s low-cost, and it’s compatible with the ideals of democracy.”

- Clay Shirky in a TED video talks about how the version control system Git can apply to how laws are written, through the Git model of “cooperation without coordination.” The talk blew my mind wide open.

“Whole songs, whole albums, even, are hinged upon a good hook.”

- Amit Pitaru, after hearing my reaction to Clay’s talk, advised me to stay focused, not on possible features, but on how my thesis appeals to people.

“The yearning for meaning and significance is a huge user need!”

- Eli Pariser, from Upworthy, talks about the motivation that Upworthy’s socially-positive viral content appeals to in a lecture he gave at Betaworks. Which reminded me of …

“The best products are designed for how it makes its users feel.”

- I’m paraphrasing what Gary Chou said in Entrepreneurial Design last year. All the crazy features inspired by Clay wouldn’t matter if people don’t use it. To get people in, I need to focus on how I want people to feel as they use this thing I hope to build.