- Image by bensheldon via Flickr
from the Financial Post Blog . . .
With Web 2.0 technology came the potential to have an active community participating in content generation. From a user’s or community member’s perspective an active community provides entertainment and information. There’s also a feeling of belonging to something large, connected and evolving. That’s where the early successes of MySpace and Facebook came from. It was the novelty of being able to participate. I think it was also the sense of ownership having your own persona gave.
From an entrepreneur’s perspective getting a community to feel exactly that way is what you want. Obviously, traffic, as I referred to in a previous blog, is really what drives success. If you really dig deeper though, traffic doesn’t come without a significant amount of content in the Web 2.0 space. If you can design a site that gives users the feel that they want they will respond with the needed words and you’re off to the races. It sounds easy, doesn’t it?
Here’s the rub: creating the right platform for a community to form around can feel like fishing all day long when the fish aren’t biting. You can change the bait all you want and you still don’t even get a little tug at the line.
A site like Dr. everyone has a further Achilles heel: we want to breed trust and post stories about what works, but sensationalism is what gets people to comment. I have been writing a blog called Physician, Heal Thyself for over a year now. In that time I have registered only about 6 comments. I responded to them all, but never saw one of my articles start a waterfall of opinions gushing forth. On this blog I have had only 2 or 3 comments even though I have asked some questions at the end of various entries.
Read more . . .
