Survival and competition among social networking websites: A research commentary on “Critical Mass and Willingness to Pay for Social Networks” by J. Christopher Westland

摘要

In this commentary, I discuss the major results and implications of “Critical mass and willing to pay for social networks” by J. Christopher Westland. I argue that Westland provides a new perspective on understanding and measuring network effects and critical mass on social networks. His research results also suggest that there may be a “first-to-critical-mass advantage” rather than first-mover advantage among social networking websites. Extensions to his research include considering multiple firms and using theories such as organizational ecology and organizational evolution to examine the survival and competition among social networking websites.