So you’ve heard about Web 2.0 and you’re probably at least dabbling in it, but do you know why you’re doing it? If you’re a business owner, do you know why your customers/prospects participate in it? Do you know why you should also participate?If you’re in the midst of building a “social” strategy for your company, or trying to develop a social web application, you’ll find this useful.
I’m currently reading Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. I highly recommend this book. Here’s their web site on the topic.
Why do people participate in the social web? There could be many reasons and it’s different for everybody, but here are the big buckets that Charlene and Josh suggests, and I certainly fit a few of these.
* Keeping up friendships. I’m on Facebook and I love it. I see it as a way to “scale” relationships in a way, because it’s so difficult to keep up with everybody, given your busy schedule or geographical distance.
* Making new friends. Dating sites are an obvious example, but there are plenty of other examples of people getting to know each other (in real life) without first getting introduced face-to-face. This definitely resonates with me. I first met my first online buddy Andy from Germany (while I was in Malaysia) over IRC – yeah, back in .. 1996 (+/- 2), and we’ve been real good friends ever since.
* Succumbing to social pressure from existing friends. This is largely true for the late majority and laggards – maybe the early majority. See technology adoption lifecycle. That’s right, if you’re laggard – that means you’re sloooow. Also see Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore.
* Paying it forward. Having seeing and believing that a site is genuinely valuable/useful yourself first hand, you may be compelled to help out and contribute, however little, maybe it just that 1 click to pick 3.5 stars out of 5 stars on a review.
* The altruistic impulse. People do good in the offline world, surely this can be extended to the social web. We have microfinance to help people get out of poverty (See Wokai, Kiva), people writing software and giving them away for free (open source), and free advice online from everything ranging from motorcycle problems, to legal and medical advice.
* The prurient impulse. What Charlene and Josh describes as an endless parade of exhibitionism from people online that are fascinating, sexy, entertaining, and stupid. Kind of like picking up the TV remote and flipping the channels.
* The creative impulse. Not everyone is a professional programmer, writer, photographer, but the Web is a place for anybody to showcase their portfolio and get feedback, a form of payment for the creative mind.
* The validation impulse. People feel validated of their expertise when they help others online for free. Validation is a powerful driver for social networks; people put themselves out there and the community reassures them about their place in the world.
* The affinity impulse. Maybe your hockey league has a Facebook fan page, your favorite NHL team has a social network where all the fans unite, maybe the motorcycle gang you just joined organize events online; surely there’s a group of people who share a common interest with you that are actively engaging the group online. However odd, rare, niche an interest is, is not a problem. The long tail of the web almost guarantees you will find someone in the world who shares it with you. And it’s better t be alienated together as a group than individually as a person, but I digress.
I highly recommend it if you’re looking to leverage social Web 2.0 to help your business in some way. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
