Ten Principles for Managing the 90-9-1 phenonemon for online community engagement

DEALING WITH THE“90-9-1 RULE”
Managing Participation Inequality
for effective Online Community Engagement
Dr Crispin ButterissFounding Partner, Bang the Table Pty Ltd
Website www.bangthetable.com
Blog www.onlinecommunityengagement.com
Twiter.com/bangthetable
Facebook.com/bangthetable
Slideshare.net/bangthetable

WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?
Me & Bang the Table
90-9-1 Rule
Our data
Three case studies
Ten principles for removing barriers to entry

Over 180 forums for over 70 clients in a little over 2 years

90-9-1 RULE
States that...
90% of visitors are voyeurs
9% of visitors get a little involved
1% of visitors do most of the work
Most people don’t have a lot to say

MORE A “GUIDING PRINCIPLE”
THAN A LAW...
10% of Twitter users make 90% of Tweets
10% of Social Network users provide 30% of content
15% of Wikipedia editors make 90% of edits
5% of all Internet users blog
“Inequality” is universal...and not limited to the web (just more measurable)

IS IT A PROBLEM?
“Obviously, if you want to assess the "feelings of the community" it's highly unfair if one subgroup's [smaller group of] members have the same representation as another subgroup's [larger group of] members.
More importantly, such inequities would give you a biased understanding of the community, because many differences almost certainly exist between people who post a lot and those who post a little.
And you would never hear from the silent majority of lurkers.”
Name withheld

IS THIS PROBLEM?
“Obviously, if you want to assess the "feelings of the community" it's highly unfair if one subgroup's [smaller group] members have the same representation as another subgroup's 580,000 members.
And you would never hear from the silent majority of lurkers. “
It isn’t obvious to me

LET’S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK
“Obviously, if you want to assess the "feelings of the community" it's highly unfair if one subgroup's [smaller group] members have the same representation as another subgroup's [larger group] members.
And you would never hear from the silent majority of lurkers.”

IS PARTICIPATION
INEQUALITY UNFAIR?
No.
As long as there are no deliberate or inadvertent barriers to entry.

DOES PARTICIPATION
INEQUALITY CREATE A BIASED UNDERSTANDING?
No.
Policy is (or should be) created based on the strength of an argument, not the number of times it is repeated.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE
SILENT MAJORITY?
Not a problem.
Experience shows us that people will get involved if they feel strongly enough and that the web opens up the conversation to marginalised majorities.
As long as there are no deliberate or inadvertent barriers to entry.

Participation inequality is only a problem if barriers prevent people from participating....
Otherwise it is simply free will

Maybe they’re just not that into you!

More on removing barriers to entry later

But first,
OUR DATA

Preferred?

CASE STUDIES
The Bays Precinct
Australian Cultural Policy
Port Macquarie Hastings Council

TEN STEPS (+2) TO REMOVING
BARRIERS TO ENTRY

1
CONSULTATION PROMOTION
Get the message to your target audience

2
CONSULTATION ACCESSIBILITY
Make sure your consultation is available to folk with no web access

3
WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY
Make sure your website meets WCAG requirements

4
WEBSITE
USEABILITY
Make sure your website is easy to navigate for newcomers

5
WEBSITE
FUNCTIONALITY
Make sure your website includes notifications systems to drive return traffic

6
FORUM
FUNCTIONALITY
Give the forum a clear structure and include “agree” and “disagree” with comment functions

7
WEBSITE
AESTHETICS
Make sure your website appeals to your target audience

8
KEY
MESSAGES
This is copy writing, not report writing. Leave the jargon, technical detail and legalese in the background

9
FORUM
QUESTIONS
Make sure your questions resonate with your target audience. Are they concrete and visceral.

10
MODERATION & FACILITATION
Know the difference.
Moderation stops people getting upset; facilitation gets people more involved.

And just two more things...

11
CLARIFY
OBJECTIVES
Are your after traffic, comments, dialogue, agreement...?

12
REPORTING
Capture BOTH qualitative and quantitative data

THAT’S IT
Thanks for listening & questions
bangthetable.com
onlinecommunityengagement.com
facebook.com/bangthetable
Twitter.com/bangthetable
Slideshare.net/bangthetable

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Ten Principles for Managing the 90-9-1 phenonemon for online community engagement

by Bang the Table on Jan 07, 2010

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Ten Principles for Managing the 90-9-1 phenonemon for online community engagement — Presentation Transcript