More details at http://platformed.info User contribution hacking. A presentation I gave recently on incentivizing user contributions. This details the elements required to set up and maximize user contributions on platforms like YouTube, Flickr, Dribbble etc.
3. Hence, a platform where users
don’t contribute is a Ghost Town
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
Credits: Creative Commons/Flickr
4. So how do you get users to
contribute on your platform?
7
questions
to help you hack
User Contributions
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
5. 1
WHY DO USERS CREATE/CONTRIBUTE ONLINE?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
6. INSTAGRAM
Create & share
cool photos
QUORA
Share my
knowledge
Self-expression
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
7. Self-promotion
TWITTER YOUTUBE
Develop a Broadcast
following myself
Change.org
Promote my
cause
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
8. Everyone’s an artist on the
internet
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
9. 2
ARE YOU PROVIDING TOOLS? OR PIPES? OR BOTH?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
10. Platforms may provide creation/
infrastructural tools
IFTTT
VIMEO
INSTAGRAM Ability to
Online HD Video
Filters to combine existing
hosting
transform services into a
infrastructure
photos new one
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
11. Platforms may provide pipes
to a specific audience
DRIBBBLE YOUTUBE
TWITTER
Access to review Access to
Ability to build a
of creations by community of
following
peers video viewers
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
12. TOOLS + PIPES
A win in the social era
INSTAGRAM
HIPSTAMATIC Filters + Ability to
Started with Filters to
transform photos VS. share creations on
other social networks
Platforms that provide both tools and pipes offer a better value proposition
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
13. 3
2. HOW ARE YOU MAKING THE CREATIVE
PROCESS EASIER THAN EXISTING OPTIONS?
HOW ARE YOU MAKING THE CREATIVE PROCESS
EASIER THAN EXISTING OPTIONS?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
15. Instagram lowers the skills
needed to create cool photos
Lower skills required = Lower friction = Higher usage
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
16. 4
3. IS THERE A ROBUST CURATION MODEL TO
SEPARATE THE BEST FROM THE REST?
IS THERE A ROBUST CURATION MODEL TO SEPARATE
THE BEST FROM THE REST?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
17. Algorithmic Curation
• Content sorted and ranked through rule-
based automation
• Most scalable model of curation
• However, potential for false positives
• Scale carefully, ‘learn’ and optimize with
social and editorial inputs.
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
18. Social Curation
• Community provided with tools (voting,
rating, flagging etc.) for input on quality of
the creation
• Aggregation of inputs used to sort and rank
creations and determine relevance
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
19. Editorial Curation
• Manual curation by in-house editors
• Helps to understand patterns that can be
automated and scaled
• Important during early days of the platform
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
20. 5
IS THERE AN EQUAL-ACCESS PATH TO THE TOP OF THE
LEADERBOARD?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
21. 6
IS THERE AN INCENTIVE BEYOND COMMUNITY
RECOGNITION?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
22. Community recognition
+
Monetization potential
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
23. Community recognition
+
Portfolio Hosting/
Monetization
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
24. Community recognition
+
Desirable job listings
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
25. 7
HOW WILL YOU MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF CREATORS?
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
26. Incentivize contributions
initially
YouTube, famously, used
contests to seed initial creation
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
27. Over time, convert
consumers to creators
Converting searchers to
question creators
A user is prompted to add a
question if she fails to find it
while searching.
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
28. However, to get it started, you might have to...
Fake It To Make It
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
29. • Reddit was initially seeded with fake
profiles posting links to simulate activity.
• The links being posted were the kind of
content the founders wanted to see on the
site over time.
• Quality of the initial content also created a
culture of good content in the community.
• MegaUpload sourced popular content (often
copyrighted) and hosted it to generate initial
traction.
• Being copyrighted, the content was often
such that couldn’t be found elsewhere.
• Pirated content led to strong initial traction
despite MegaUpload being a late entrant.
Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr
30. In summary...
Understand
motivations of
creators
Structure Create
relevant enabling
incentives technology
Maximize
number of
creators
Image: Creative Commons/Flickr Source: The Platform Thinking Blog
31. For more on platforms
and internet business
models, click below...
The Platform
Thinking Blog