User Generated content sites and features
[This post is part of a 4 part series on the key tensions in growing a high quality community-generated content site. It was presented at PubCon, Las Vegas, 2011.] Growing a community is like rocket science Growing a community is like rocket science. It takes an enormous amount of energy per mile to get off […]
[This post is part of a 4 part series on the key tensions in growing a high quality community-generated content site. It was presented at PubCon, Las Vegas, 2011.] “Given that you have worked on this tool … I believe you should recuse yourself of any discussion of this feature.” Wikipedia user suggesting WikiMedia product […]
[This post is part of a 4 part series on the key tensions in growing a high quality community-generated content site. It was presented at PubCon, Las Vegas, 2011] Dan Ariely tells the classic story of mixing social and market contexts. A man finishes Thanksgiving Dinner at his mother-in-law’s house and says “That was fantastic. […]
[This post is part of a 4 part series on the key tensions in growing a high quality community-generated content site. It was presented at PubCon, Las Vegas, 2011] I happened to pick up my (nearly) 30-year-old copy of In Search of Excellence while preparing my PubCon presentation on High Quality UGC. A few points […]
Wikipedia set Neutral Point of View (NPOV) as the standard for user generated content a few years ago. Much of the Wikipedia community is ideologically opposed to self-interest in any form. While obviously not ideologically opposed to originality or creativity, Wikipedia makes it clear that its role is to summarize accepted wisdom, not to break […]
No, this isn’t a spin on “Take my wife, please.” Rena Reich Today’s Answer of the Day informed me that it’s Ada Lovelace Day, the day to honor Ada Lovelace by pledging to post a tribute to a woman in technology today. Ada, the daughter of Lord Byron, worked with computer pioneer Charles Babbage. Men […]
Wikimedia’s strategy memo is interesting for what it has and for what it’s missing. Key Concerns: Editing community has flattened out. Have been very successful in the “Global North” but it will be much harder to grow in the “Global South.” Technological and financial infrastructure have not kept pace with growth in readership. They will: […]
Recent reports of quality content’s death have been greatly exaggerated. The importance of quality content is going to increase, not decrease. If Answers.com (where I work) and Demand Media succeed, it will be because we succeeded in following Wikipedia’s model and creating high quality content that matches what users are looking for. What content does […]
Fantastic post today by Joel Spolsky Does Slow Growth Equal Slow Death? I could feel Joel’s pain. Essentially he was jettisoning the basic premises that had guided him for a decade. Joel came to the painful conclusion that there was only room for one big company in his market, and that if he continued only […]
If you’re a Twit, somebody who spends a lot of time on Twitter, you need not apply because: Some issues involve more than 140 characters. Hello? You’re supposed to working. It offends me that you think people care what you had for breakfast. Not all spelling and grammar rules are optional. Because Twitter is so […]