The “million dollar question”: What makes a good social media web site? Providing a useful service and putting in the standard social media concepts such as social graph, wisdom of crowds and UGC are the pre-requisites but hardly enough if the site doesn’t provoke people’s interest. The diminishing attention span of the Internet public calls for simplicity and differentiation. Oh, and the first time user’s Wow! effect wouldn’t harm either…
There are three criteria for making a web site a success:
- The service must be a question! A question demands an answer and we do want to engage the user to a dialogue. And, pay attention, the question must be to the user, not from the user! Examples of good questions: “Where have you been?” (whereivebeen.com); “Where are you now?” (wayn.com); “What are you doing?” (jaiku.com). When I come by a new service, I want to know what the service is about and whether it’ll be useful for me. A question from the service to me is a clear message and if it’s interesting, I’ll take the time to answer.
- The service must have a value proposition! The user must understand what she’ll get from using the service. Otherwise, why would she answer the question? The service must tell a convincing story of what it has to offer to those who answer its question. Whereivebeen.com says “easily track your travels”. Wayn.com tells a story of hooking up with others travelling to where you are. Note: this criterion is not about the service’s usefulness but about the story it tells!
- The service must support ego gratification. Why do people generate content on social media sites? Because they want others to notice them. They want show off: “You know, I’m an expert on this issue.” or “Yeah, of travel I’ve had my share.” Some people may prefer another way of putting this: something along the lines that people share their expertise because they want to help others. And that is as true but doesn’t change the fact that the service must support showing off to and helping others!
That’s all. Design your web site according to these three criteria and your site will be a success.
What about items not included on the list above? Ease of use, fancy graphics, short response times, and technology choice. All of these are important but definitely not crucial! It doesn’t matter if you have the easiest to use calendar interface that works like a breeze if people just don’t get your question and story.