How to build a system engine for user contributions?

Creative content platforms such as Dribbble / Instagram / Vine generally use a typical UGC model, but how can we create a better system engine for user contributions? Sangeet Paul Choudary, a columnist and former consultant for startups, In his opinion, this issue can be considered from the following aspects:

If there is no user contribution, then the platform will become lifeless. Content creator is a very important role on the platform. Startup companies need three things to do if they want a vibrant platform: 1. Find out what the purpose of content creators on this platform is; 2. Make a set Systems and rules to motivate them; 3. Maximize the number of content contributors.

From a product perspective, here are six dimensions that can help create a platform for thinking:

First, your product is only a tool or only the community, or both? Or do you offer an easy-to-use tool or an audience for these content creators? (Tools or Pipe?)

Tools: If the tool is easy to use, can reduce the threshold of production content, can help produce good works. Instagram, for example, makes photographing and handling much simpler, while Vimeo offers users the ability to store high-quality video.

Pipe: Some platforms provide content creators with channels to find audiences. For example Dribbble brings together a large number of designers, we can browse each other works and discuss.

Tools + Pipe: The most competitive platforms are likely to be those that provide both the tools and the community. Instagram, for instance, offers a good use of filters as well as a photo-based social network, which also allowed Instagram to win over Hipstamatic, an application that used to be a tool-less community. Recently Hipstamatic also launched the revival of Oggl, but also Tools + pipe mode, you can call other users in the community filter for their own photos.

Before singing, there are also some "mobile KTV" applications, but they are purely tools and have no community. It's much better to grow Tools + Pipe than any other player.

Second, compared to the existing platform, your product has not provided a better mechanism or technology allows users to create better content?

Switching costs of network services is relatively low, the user will not die a choice. In this case, a platform that can lower the bar for content production will be more attractive. Such as Twitter's model is to reduce the threshold of content production, and now the number of people who are pushing blog write several orders of magnitude higher.

Twitter not only provides easy-to-use tools, it is also helping these content creators find the audience, also in the form of Tools + pipe. Instagram is similar.

Third, the platform to generate these content, there is no better screening mechanism?

After the content is produced on the platform, content culling and filtering should work, after all you need to distinguish what is water content and which ones are dry. The general content screening and curatorial have the following three modes, and the large-scale platform generally all three ways to comprehensive utilization:

By algorithm: This is to rely on certain rules and algorithms to do content curating, such as the so-called popular ranking. But it also gives specific weight to these two ways of socializing curators and editors as mentioned below.

Socialization: This is now used by almost all platforms. The platform provides tools that allow users to participate in the content screening process, such as forwarding, marking, likes, likes, voting and more. The content list is a deeper level of curated content that finds lines of content, such as the familiar favorites or beans.

Editor's Choice: Although everyone wants the system to work automatically and orderly. However, early in the product, the platform does not have much content contributors, the entire system did not run up, editing power is an important component, assume the role of booster.

Fourth, the hot list there is no clear rules, whether we all have equal opportunity to board hot list?

The first thing you need to know before you launch this platform is the motivation of users to generate content. Self-expression and exposure are often one motivation. However, a platform also has a curatorial and screening mechanism to differentiate premium and mediocre content, and boarding the hot list can lead to greater exposure. In the presence of these two factors, you have to let the user know what the rules are and give everyone equal opportunities.

Just as many webmasters will study SEO, in order to be ranked in the search results "good rankings." But if there's no clear rules in a search system, then users will be confused and will not spend time researching it. Similar to the popular list is presented "get the most forward" content even more clear rules.

Fifth, in addition to self-expression, the platform there is no other incentive?

While self-expression and reaping social capital (such as fans) on the platform is already a big incentive, it can be more competitive if one platform offers other incentives. For example, a lot of creative design community, but the following two have their own distinct characteristics and competitiveness:

Threadless: Self-expression of content contributor + Socialization curse + potential money gain. (It is a t-shirt design community, and if your design gets the highest votes, you can print it out as a t-shirt and sell and participate, though it's now expanded into other product categories.)

Dribbble: self-expression + social curatorial + access to high-quality job opportunities

Six, can you convert ordinary users into content creators?

The 90-9-1 rule states that content contributors always make up a small percentage of the user community. However, smartphones and product-system settings are actually favorable factors for more people to contribute to the content.

A sustainable and scalable platform It was hard to find content contributors in the early days, and content would draw "normal crowd of users." Once these groups of users reach a certain level, there is an important step toward converting part of this group of people to content contributors as much as possible. In order to have a virtuous circle.

Anyway, there are also chicken-egg problems between audiences and content contributors. Without aggregating audiences, users on the platform lack interaction and users' desires for content contribute less. Communities are not that easy to do.

VIA: medium.com