Online Participation Checklist
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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The next time you have to have a conversation about "user generated content", print out this check list and bring it along with you. Does your audience have the skill, time, desire, interest, and knowledge necessary for participation?
Bud Caddell is doing a great series of blog posts this week devoted to fans and what brands need to learn about them.
Yesterday, Bud pulled this excellent point from a paper by Josh Green and Henry Jenkins, "The Moral Economy of Web 2.0".
If you hope to have your fans (or any online audience) participate in an experience you're designing, you have to be able to check off these boxes.
Skill
Does the audience possess any particular talent necessary for participation (a talent for making videos? a talent for blogging?)
Time
Does the audience have the time it's going to take to contribute to your project?
Desire
Is the audience passionate about the subject of your project?
Interest
Is the audience curious enough about the subject of your project and participating in the experience itself?
Knowledge
Does the audience know what they need to know in order to have a satisfying experience?
1 Comments:
Really like what Bud is doing this week. Following along with interest.
I was going to comment on his post about this specific point, but since you pulled it out in detail here.....
Asking these questions are critical, but they follow the first, and IMO the most important, question:
"*Why* will fans engage and participate in this "thing" in the first place?"
This list might already assume that the question has been asked and answered with confidence, but Bud's scenario makes it sound like the brand is asking their fans to engage in order to fulfill the *brands* needs first, not the fans.
I know you and Bud (and the rest of the UnderCurrent folk) would never let it get this far without clearly articulating what's in it for the fan, but it always drives me crazy when I see the value proposition for "tell us your story", "make a video about why..." or even "RT this..." is a chance to win some stupid (and in most cases irrelevant) sweepstakes.
I had a quick debate with the 12seconds.com co-founder, @thesolster, on this very topic as it relates to the sweepstakes LG is running on their new 12ommercial platform. Adding a sweepstake will typically drive your quantity, but it always at the expense of quality.
So, long string to get to my question for you and Bud, where does "What's in it for the fan?" fit on the list?
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