After completing the project for Jennifer Clark at the Division of Student Affairs, reading the chapters on RIBS is so much easier. Now that I have had some hands on work with these four features, they are so much easier to understand.
Belonging is exactly what it sounds like: you want your users to feel like they "belong" or feel a part of the social community/network. At first, I did not think this was a big deal, or something that really needed to be paid attention to at all. My mindset was, well why does it matter if a user feels like they belong to a network? Obviously they do if they signed up and use the network. Well, after completely my project for Jennifer Clark and reading through this chapter, it is a little more complicated than what I first thought. Just because a user technically is a part of something (because they filled in a registration form), doesn't mean they feel a sense of belonging.
Let's take this back to real life. Say you go through recruitment and join a sorority. Yes, you are a part of that group, but feeling a belonging takes so much more than signing a few papers and wearing a shirt with stitch letters. Belonging forms from learning a sorority's history, going through the same initiation that the founders went through hundreds of years ago, sharing stories between members. establishing routines (like going to chapter every Sunday or wearing a letter shirt every Tuesday), and creating a visual symbol (greek letters). Once all of those steps are taken, that is when a new girl really feels like she belongs.
That list of things to create belonging can be incorporated back into the field of social networking. To keep users coming back to your social community, they have to feel like they belong. To do this, share with them the story of how the community was founded. Not just the facts and statistics, but illustrate the relationships and bonds made, this way they feel a connection to the founders. Have them complete something that every single member, back to the original members, had to complete also. This way they have something in common with everyone, which creates a connection and belonging to the whole group. Have the members share personal stories with each other, this allows them to find things they have in common-- strengthening their bonds. Establish some sort of routine within your social community, this also increases belonging because each member does the same thing at the same time. Finally, create a visual identity. Whether this is a corporate logo or a symbol, anything that when the users see it, they identify that with the social network.
All of these techniques work together to create a sense of belonging online.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Week of September 24th
I really enjoyed Howard's chapter on Remuneration. After reading the introduction of this book, I was given a brief overview of the concept, but this chapter really made it clear to me what remuneration exactly is.
Remuneration is all about experience. It is about getting a benefit or reward from visiting a social media site. Remuneration is less about functionality and a business model, and more about a positive user experience. To put it into perspective: Why do we go to a movie theater? Well, a movie theater's function is to display films. But we could just rent one and watch it at home, or catch a movie on cable television. So why go through all of the trouble of driving to a theater, buying a $9 ticket, spending $15 dollars on food, and sharing a space with 50 strangers, when we could receive the function of a movie at home? It is because we like the experience. We aren't going to a theater just to watch a film, but also to be in the cinematic atmosphere, and experience the excitement of the lights dimming for previews, and crunching on the salty popcorn. It is so much more than watching a movie. That is exactly what remuneration refers to when talking about social media.
The reason we return to our favorite social media sites is most likely because they do a good job remunerating. We have to have a sense of benefit for us to enjoy a site. Howard gives a great example when comparing AltaVista and Google. AltaVista, while it functioned well and had a good business model, was very poor at remuneration. Its site was frustrating and busy, making the user experience confusing and slow. There wasn't a clear entry point and the webpage was full of too many search categories and options. On the other hand, Google did great with remuneration. It's first layout was very simple and it was clear where to begin a search. Even though Google had a detailed and very good functionality, that is not what users care about nor do they care to see it. What we care about is use and ease of a site, not everything "under the covers", as Howard would say. As you can see, just because a site had a great business model and functionality, does not make it a popular site users want to go back to again and again. While both business models and functionality are needed to have a successful site, they cannot stand alone-- remuneration is key.
The best and most popular example of remuneration today is Facebook. Why do millions and millions of users not only visit it every day, but also spend hours on it? Because it provides a beneficial user experience. We are rewarded by being able to connect to our relationships in a easy way. There are millions of other sites with the same functionality behind them, but the reason they are not as successful as Facebook as everything to do with remuneration.
Remuneration is all about experience. It is about getting a benefit or reward from visiting a social media site. Remuneration is less about functionality and a business model, and more about a positive user experience. To put it into perspective: Why do we go to a movie theater? Well, a movie theater's function is to display films. But we could just rent one and watch it at home, or catch a movie on cable television. So why go through all of the trouble of driving to a theater, buying a $9 ticket, spending $15 dollars on food, and sharing a space with 50 strangers, when we could receive the function of a movie at home? It is because we like the experience. We aren't going to a theater just to watch a film, but also to be in the cinematic atmosphere, and experience the excitement of the lights dimming for previews, and crunching on the salty popcorn. It is so much more than watching a movie. That is exactly what remuneration refers to when talking about social media.
The reason we return to our favorite social media sites is most likely because they do a good job remunerating. We have to have a sense of benefit for us to enjoy a site. Howard gives a great example when comparing AltaVista and Google. AltaVista, while it functioned well and had a good business model, was very poor at remuneration. Its site was frustrating and busy, making the user experience confusing and slow. There wasn't a clear entry point and the webpage was full of too many search categories and options. On the other hand, Google did great with remuneration. It's first layout was very simple and it was clear where to begin a search. Even though Google had a detailed and very good functionality, that is not what users care about nor do they care to see it. What we care about is use and ease of a site, not everything "under the covers", as Howard would say. As you can see, just because a site had a great business model and functionality, does not make it a popular site users want to go back to again and again. While both business models and functionality are needed to have a successful site, they cannot stand alone-- remuneration is key.
The best and most popular example of remuneration today is Facebook. Why do millions and millions of users not only visit it every day, but also spend hours on it? Because it provides a beneficial user experience. We are rewarded by being able to connect to our relationships in a easy way. There are millions of other sites with the same functionality behind them, but the reason they are not as successful as Facebook as everything to do with remuneration.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Week of September 17th
The entire beginning section of Howard's last chapter was very interesting and educational for me. Not only does he talk about how social media has the power to effect change for people, governments, and more, but he gives a real example. Looking at the twitter feed for hashtag #gr88 was very informational. I was able to see how the RIBS principle was at work during the 2009 Iranian election protests. The use of hashtags creates a community, like an underground society where everyone knows the same code to use. #gr88 brought protesters together even if they were far away because they could communicate. Even more interesting, was the outburst of RTs. Howard explains how rapidly people were tweeting so it was difficult to keep track of what everyone was saying. Retweeting helped people see the important statements if they missed the original post.
On another note, the foresight Starr Hiltz and Murray Turoff is amazing. They knew how rapidly technology was bound to change, and their predictions were correct. They are like modern day psychics, or to be even more realistic, they are like stock analysts-- predicting huge jumps.
I enjoyed how Howard took a look back in time and showed us how history is basically repeating itself. This boom of technology has happened in the past, with books. The invention of the printing press created a huge flux of books and, more importantly, literacy. The invention of free, accessible social media is doing the same. More and more people can put whatever they want on the internet and find pretty much anything. The more popular that it becomes over the next few years, the more we struggle between control and creativity. What is okay and what isn't okay to post? Where do we draw the line? Do we draw a line?
We have got to make sure that, like books, the internet and social media is improving our intelligence. It should be a place, like Howard said, to be able to think and discuss critically and therefore, make smart decisions. Beauty pages and celebrity gossip posts are not what is important to social media's future and our's, it is whether is can host an area for smart decision making.
On another note, the foresight Starr Hiltz and Murray Turoff is amazing. They knew how rapidly technology was bound to change, and their predictions were correct. They are like modern day psychics, or to be even more realistic, they are like stock analysts-- predicting huge jumps.
I enjoyed how Howard took a look back in time and showed us how history is basically repeating itself. This boom of technology has happened in the past, with books. The invention of the printing press created a huge flux of books and, more importantly, literacy. The invention of free, accessible social media is doing the same. More and more people can put whatever they want on the internet and find pretty much anything. The more popular that it becomes over the next few years, the more we struggle between control and creativity. What is okay and what isn't okay to post? Where do we draw the line? Do we draw a line?
We have got to make sure that, like books, the internet and social media is improving our intelligence. It should be a place, like Howard said, to be able to think and discuss critically and therefore, make smart decisions. Beauty pages and celebrity gossip posts are not what is important to social media's future and our's, it is whether is can host an area for smart decision making.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Week of September 9th
I really enjoyed the readings from both last Thursday and for tomorrow. Squirrel Inc and Made to Stick are very conversational, which makes them easy and interesting to read!
I am so intrigued by the way Squirrel Inc is formatted. I am learning about how to tell a story by reading a story about a character teaching another character how to tell a story-- ironic. My favorite tip thus far is to remember not to include to much detail in stories. The more simple they are the better. I can definitely agree to this because if I am listening to a story and the storyteller is drowning it with every detail down to the type of chips the main character ate with his sandwich for lunch, it distracts me and I become bored.
This idea of stripping a story of too much detail is brought up again in the Made to Stick book. One of parts of the SUCCES's is simplicity. There is a fine line though because you have to be careful not to take away all of the detail. If that happens, the story isn't a story anymore, but online a bite of information. While people won't get bored by a quick snip of information, they certainly won't retain it.
In the chapter on stories, the idea of creating stories that mental stimulate an audience was brought up. I agree that this concept is very important in grabbing attention. You want to put the audience inside the story so that they take each step as the characters do. This makes a story memorable and pushed the audience to act-- which is the point of telling a story isn't it? If you can get someone to mentally walk through the process, then they are more likely to take action and actually complete the goal you want them to in reality. We have to forget that audiences are just ears listening to us blab on and on. It is key to take advantage of an audience's minds and make them active within the story. In the end, they will feel inspired and act.
I am so intrigued by the way Squirrel Inc is formatted. I am learning about how to tell a story by reading a story about a character teaching another character how to tell a story-- ironic. My favorite tip thus far is to remember not to include to much detail in stories. The more simple they are the better. I can definitely agree to this because if I am listening to a story and the storyteller is drowning it with every detail down to the type of chips the main character ate with his sandwich for lunch, it distracts me and I become bored.
This idea of stripping a story of too much detail is brought up again in the Made to Stick book. One of parts of the SUCCES's is simplicity. There is a fine line though because you have to be careful not to take away all of the detail. If that happens, the story isn't a story anymore, but online a bite of information. While people won't get bored by a quick snip of information, they certainly won't retain it.
In the chapter on stories, the idea of creating stories that mental stimulate an audience was brought up. I agree that this concept is very important in grabbing attention. You want to put the audience inside the story so that they take each step as the characters do. This makes a story memorable and pushed the audience to act-- which is the point of telling a story isn't it? If you can get someone to mentally walk through the process, then they are more likely to take action and actually complete the goal you want them to in reality. We have to forget that audiences are just ears listening to us blab on and on. It is key to take advantage of an audience's minds and make them active within the story. In the end, they will feel inspired and act.
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