LeoGlossary achieved a milestone when it recorded its 5,000th post.
This was a milestone that was set to end the year. The account started 18 months ago, which seems like a low number considering the time. Actually it really is since much of that time was spent without a great deal of activity.
Over that time, there were some UI issues which precluded really building. The database consisted of around 2,800 pages in September. Since that time, over 2,200 were added. This should give a clear picture of the acceleration that took place.
In this article we are going to discuss the importance of acceleration with a database. This means the impact of the next 5,000 pages will be much greater than the first.
Network Impact
Network science is an interesting field. It is also rather novel in terms of its development.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to discuss much of anything without focusing upon the network. This is especially true in the digital world.
Often, I discuss the exponential nature of things. The Internet is an ideal mechanism for this. We find the reason in we are dealing with a series of networks that are obvious to most. In fact, the entire internet can be summed up as a culmination of different networks, interconnected together.
For this reason, understanding the nature of how the evolve is crucial.
In this article, we cannot go deep into the theories. However, we can easily see the impact of interconnected items as they are joined together.
Over the course of the last 18 months, the goal was to keep linking the pages together. This was done to increase the visibility of the entire project. When it comes to resiliency, a bunch of pages in isolation means little. Everything changes when they are joined together.
This is the basic idea that search engines operate upon. Naturally, Google is not going to reveal all the secrets so the particulars are only speculated upon. That said, we know relevance and information tied together is important.
We also have a situation where nothing is operating in a vacuum. With networks, there are always multiple areas of impact. One could look at this as network upon network. This is why what impacts LEO also does the same for Hive. The two cannot be separated in this regard.
Network Effects
By now, most have heard about Metcalfe's Law. There is another associated concept called Reed's Law. They basically cover the same thing, parting when it comes to the math.
These are most often discussed when referring to users. Since the theory was applied to social media networks (Facebook being the test candidate), that is where the focus is.
What is important to note is that Metcalfe did his research with facsimile machines. He determined that each new machine added to the network has a greater than 1 impact. That means even if there were a millions machines, the next one still had a larger than 1 effect.
The reason for this is because, as the network nodes grew, the connections that could take place also increased. It looks something like this.
If we look at the pages in a database, we can see the same thing happening. Each time there is a link established between the pages, it adds to the entire network. This is really impacted when new nodes (pages) are added.
This is why the next 5K pages will have a greater impact than the first. What is already in the database is not going away. We will be linking the newer pages, creating more internal links throughout the entire system.
How Many Are Required?
This is something that most will logically ask. There is, of course, no simple answer.
While the concept of niche focus is what most suggest, this goes against the nature of networks. We know there is a lot that occurs which is outside our control. The internet is known for the dumbest stuff going viral. There is simply no accounting for what grabs people.
A way to consider this is like a farmer. We are simply planting seeds. The goal is to get LeoGlossary to flourish, just like seeds do. That is how networks operate. We can try a evolutionary approach, with a heavy hand towards a top down hierarchy. However, that is only a part of the equation.
The other is the development side, which is a bottom-up. Here is where the "planting" comes in. Over time, as more is connected together, the entire network can flourish, often in ways we never anticipated.
Ultimately, the key is connection. An arm, part of the network called the body, is not of much use if detached. By the same token, a computer with its network card removed losses its value to the network. Thus, we see a reversal of the math as put forth by both Metcalfe and Reed.
The bottom line is that we will keep adding pages, connecting them together, and bringing more value to the LeoGlossary. While this might not show up immediately in terms of monetization, over time, we are certain it will grow.
We are now onto the next 5,000 pages.