New Users join because there are enough users already participating. How did blind manage to achieve its critical mass of users?
I have tried communities that didn't take off. So there are early adopters, get enough of them and it takes off.
Microsoft had an internal Blind competitor called Yap that developed a small but engaged community, who then all jumped ship to Blind when it was released.
What was wrong w/ Yap?
Uber negative press promoting Blind, plus their FB and IG campaigns
i found out about blind via uber articles
I came through a fb ad
Facebook advertising
Also saw it on fb feed, joined, liked it, told co-workers that I trust.
My theory, Blind is made successful by Yahoos. About 12-18 months ago, Yahoos were in a dire need to get corporate updates. They were hearing conflicting information from Marissa Mayer and Cara Swisher. People were leaving left and right, and people needed to know what's happening, Blind came at the right time to rescue. Yahoos have since spread to other companies, and so did Blind. Yahoo was useful after all.