Frank was a businessman who understood human nature, and this product was practically a trap designed specifically to exploit it.
"That's not enough," Takuya Nakayama smiled, pulling out his trump card. "We'll add a button right below each article—a thumbs-up icon. When a user enjoys something, they click it, and the number above increases. When that number reaches a level beyond their wildest imagination, the thrill of validation will become addictive."
"And comments, interactions, search—" Frank murmured, "this will form a massive social network. Americans are inherently egomaniacs. Give them a microphone, and they'll talk from their backyards to the White House. Current BBS platforms are too chaotic, failing to satisfy their desire for a one-man show. But this Blog—it gives each of them their own stage."
"Exactly. And these personalized settings—prettier backgrounds, cooler avatar frames, more prominent various badges." Takuya Nakayama rubbed his fingers together, making a universally understood gesture. "Want to stand out? You'll have to pay extra."
"The standard user page is white with black text—boring and bland. But if you're willing to pay two dollars a month, you can switch to a cool starry background or a pink lace border. Your avatar can be a whole size bigger than everyone else's, and it can even sparkle."
"That's class," Takuya Nakayama said softly, his words hitting home. "In this virtual world, we need to let some people get rich first, and pretty first. As long as there's a contrast, there will be competition. And as long as there's competition, people will willingly pull out their credit cards."
Frank took a deep breath, the frown that had been etched on his face from bandwidth cost concerns now completely smoothed out, his cheeks even flushing slightly from extreme excitement.
He rubbed his hands together, those hands that once belonged to an elite executive now looking impatient and eager. His eyes sparkled with the rawest commercial greed.
In that moment, the Silicon Valley CEO didn't look like a tech wunderkind, but more like a large-sized goblin guarding a gold mine, his abacus clicking furiously.
"As long as this differentiation satisfies their vanity," Frank growled, squeezing the words through gritted teeth, "don't talk about two dollars—even five dollars, these guys will be lining up to stuff money into our pockets."
Tom burst out laughing. "You're charging for this too? Do you want to drain those tech geeks dry?"
"No, Tom, you're wrong." Takuya Nakayama shook his head, his smile vanishing as his expression turned unusually serious. "I don't just want to drain them—I want to give them money."
The conference room fell silent.
Give them money? A capitalist giving money to users?
"Frank, aren't the sides of the Blog page empty?" Takuya Nakayama gestured vaguely. "What if we put GG ads there? If someone clicks those ads, we get paid by the advertisers, and then we share the revenue with the bloggers?"
Clatter.
The paper cup in Frank's hand dropped to the floor, spilling the remaining half-cup of water onto the expensive carpet.
He was completely frozen, rigid in his chair.
Let users earn money?
In an era where even internet access was charged by the hour, this idea was practically anti-human, anti-common sense, anti-capitalist!
But the next second, Frank began to tremble.
If writing articles could earn them money—even just a few cents—how insane would those users go?
They would churn out content day and night, frantically spamming their blog links to everyone they knew, begging them to click.
What used to require paid advertising now relied on users actively driving traffic!
This wasn't just a Blog; it was turning every user into a free salesperson for Silicon Valley Online, even—a partner.
"WeBlog—" Frank's voice trembled. This time, he truly understood the meaning of the word. "It's us—striking gold together on this network."
"Brilliant," Takuya Nakayama snapped his fingers. "I've even got the story ready for you. The ultimate embodiment of the Internet spirit—'making knowledge generate value.' You can spin it however you like. Let's see if any programmer will be the first to take the plunge. We'll make them a star and let them flaunt their checks."
Frank shot to his feet, his sudden movement knocking over his chair.
He didn't bother picking it up, instead spinning in place with bloodshot eyes.
Takuya Nakayama gently pressed him down and continued, "Remember the Blue V Certification?"
"Of course," Frank replied. "It's real-name verification. Every certified user will display their real identity."
"On the Blog, this Blue V Certification will be far more valuable. That's our real killer move." Takuya Nakayama continued sketching the Blog page layout on the whiteboard.
Tom leaned forward, having followed Nakayama's line of thought. He picked up the thread and elaborated: "If we create accounts for President Clinton or Michael Jackson on the Blog and give them the Blue V Certification, then every word they post will no longer be casual chatter, but official statements. At that point, traditional newspapers, TV stations—even CNN—will have to come to our website for news."
"Exactly," Takuya Nakayama said, setting down his cup and nodding approvingly. "This will turn everyone into their own media outlet. Our goal is to seize the narrative power from traditional media and distribute it to every influential person—including ourselves, of course."
Tom grew increasingly excited: "This could even become Sega's exclusive promotional channel. When we release a new console in the future, we won't have to beg Electronic Gaming Monthly for space. We can just post a visually rich press release on Sega's official Blog, and global players will see it immediately."
"To keep this fire burning bright, our initial operations must be solid," Takuya Nakayama added. "We can't expect users to figure out how to play from the start. We need to hire a few skilled writers as paid shills—or even poach some columnists directly. They can write serialized content, sharp reviews, and even stir up a little controversy. We need to set the standard, showing users: 'Look, this is what a Blog is. This is what it feels like to be a star on the Internet.'"
Frank wasn't listening to the grand narrative about media power. His mind was filled with the clinking of gold coins.
Seeing that the two hadn't yet recovered from the shock of everyday blogger, Takuya Nakayama showed no mercy. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, each tap sounding like the countdown to the next round of bombardment.
"We've covered the Bulletin Board System expansion. Now, let's talk about ICQ."
As he spoke, Takuya Nakayama poured Frank another glass of ice water.
Frank and Tom, in perfect sync, grabbed the paper cups in front of them and tilted their heads back for a large gulp of ice water.
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