---
title: Metcalfe's Law And Network Effects
date: 2025-09-19T00:00:00
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
This morning I sat on the balcony, staring at the way the sun hit the potted plants, sipping on some lukewarm coffee. You know that feeling when you’re just drifting in and out of random thoughts, letting the sunlight kind of seep into your skin? Anyway, there I was, scrolling through Instagram for the umpteenth time, wondering why I keep going back to it. Like, why am I so drawn in? Is it just FOMO or something deeper? And then, somehow, I stumbled onto a rabbit hole about Metcalfe’s Law and network effects, which, I mean, aren’t the same thing but kinda related?
Metcalfe's Law, I think, says something about the value of a network being proportional to the square of the number of its users, which sounds...big. So, more people means more value, but also, does it really? Isn't there like a tipping point where more is just noise? I swear I read somewhere, maybe on Twitter or in this half-remembered article, that the more people join a platform, the less intimate and more chaotic it becomes. Anyone else feel that? Like, how many friends can you actually have on Facebook before it's just a list of birthdays you forget?
And scrolling through Instagram, it’s like each post adds some kind of value—kinda like Metcalfe said, I guess?—but also, it’s overwhelming. You ever notice how sometimes the more people join a thing, the less magic it has? I dunno, maybe that's just me being nostalgic.
Speaking of networks, I remember when I was all about Facebook—back when it was new and fun. More people meant more fun, right? But then, I started feeling like it was, I don’t know, like being in a crowded room where everyone’s shouting. I think I read something about network effects, where a product gets better the more people use it. But I'm not sure if Facebook got better for me or just... noisier?
So, here I am, wondering if these network effects are really as powerful as they say. I mean, I delete apps like they’re clutter, then download them again when I feel disconnected. It’s this cycle I can’t figure out if it’s healthy, you know? Like, does removing myself from the network reduce my value or just my headache?
And there's this whole Metcalfe's Law thing—does it work in reverse? If people leave a network, does the value drop? I know platforms freak out when users leave, but is it just the money or something else? Is there a point where fewer people actually make a network more valuable, more tight-knit? I can’t decide if I believe in this law or just find it frustratingly simplistic. Maybe it's me who’s missing something.
I guess all this questioning doesn’t really lead anywhere clear. Just pondering if these principles really shape our digital lives as much as we think. I'll probably keep scrolling, keep deleting apps I don’t need, and thinking these fragmented thoughts while the coffee goes cold.
And then, I’m back to staring at the plants again, still wondering.