ARTICLE NO. 37    February 23, 2006

User Does Not Equal Audience

by Troy Young
When over 50% of online content is consumer generated and the fastest growing properties are social networks, how sites and marketers capitalize on this new media opportunity is a very hot issue. Facebook and MySpace are the most important players to watch as the practice evolves. Why is this different than any other type of advertising? In any media relationship there is a pact between reader and publisher. Traditionally these relationships have been top down. Readers tolerated intrusive advertisements in exchange for free or subsidized content. In social experiences that pact has changed because the users are the content creators. The site does not exist without their enthusiastic participation. As such, the user community becomes a sort of editorial board on one hand, club members on the other. They are the glue that holds these enterprises together. Community owners will have to be very thoughtful about how advertiser partnerships deliver value to the community rather that exploit eyeballs… or stand the risk of abandonment. Thoughtful social networking sites together with smart advertisers will start to manage the relationship as affinity marketers, carefully selecting and packaging valuable offers that match preferences of the groups they serve. As such, advertising becomes a benefit of participation, reinforcing the value of membership. Tools that enable commerce between members of the community and small local businesses (classifieds, personals, etc…) will also be key. There is, as always, good commentary on Bubblegeneration on this issue. See this post in particular. My favorite line from the commentary which sums up the issue well: user does not equal audience.

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February 24, 2006
Yes its true, but users must be grown. in some lithuanian portals we got problem with comments as: 1. users are anonymous and they say whatever they think 2. most comments are useless and some users are unwanted. i would like to hear some comments about how to manage those unwanter user, because sometimes audince is even better
February 28, 2006
look at how slashdot.com handles members and posting. some good ideas for large social network sites
April 11, 2006
The key to making this work, in my mind anyway, is to get into people’s heads and understand the different motivations they have for contributing to these sites. Just as I am doing now, what these community owners must do is understand what makes people contribute, and use the benefits they gain from posting to ensure they deliver the best user experience possible. In response to darius, I would say that many of the better communities tend to police themselves. Once the social network is established a set of rules are formed, and the more responsible ‘community champions’ tend to police people who do not conform to those rules. A little bit of social psychology and user research could go a long way to helping advertisers understand how they should proceed in this space.
May 01, 2006
Damian: I agree with… “Once the social network is established a set of rules are formed, and the more responsible "community champions" tend to police people who do not conform to those rules.” ...and I’d like to add. Users who contribute are the ones who appreciate and want to add value to the social network they’ve joined. They’ve developed a sense of ownership and would go out of their way to preserve the integrity and value of the site.
February 23, 2006
Damian: I agree with… “Once the social network is established a set of rules are formed, and the more responsible "community champions" tend to police people who do not conform to those rules.” ...and I’d like to add. Users who contribute are the ones who appreciate and want to add value to the social network they’ve joined. They’ve developed a sense of ownership and would go out of their way to preserve the integrity and value of the site.
February 23, 2006
The key to making this work, in my mind anyway, is to get into people’s heads and understand the different motivations they have for contributing to these sites. Just as I am doing now, what these community owners must do is understand what makes people contribute, and use the benefits they gain from posting to ensure they deliver the best user experience possible. In response to darius, I would say that many of the better communities tend to police themselves. Once the social network is established a set of rules are formed, and the more responsible ‘community champions’ tend to police people who do not conform to those rules. A little bit of social psychology and user research could go a long way to helping advertisers understand how they should proceed in this space.
February 23, 2006
look at how slashdot.com handles members and posting. some good ideas for large social network sites
February 23, 2006
Yes its true, but users must be grown. in some lithuanian portals we got problem with comments as: 1. users are anonymous and they say whatever they think 2. most comments are useless and some users are unwanted. i would like to hear some comments about how to manage those unwanter user, because sometimes audince is even better
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