Comments on: Should You Use “Bribes” To Get New Community Members? – with Seth Godin

By: Ethan Bauley

Ethan Bauley — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:09:54 +0000

A more intelligible phrasing of that first question might read “What is it that potential [or current] community members value?”

One way to hack this is: ask them. That’s the beauty of personal media (oops, i mean “social” media ;-)

By: Ethan Bauley

Ethan Bauley — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:33:11 +0000

Thanks, Andrew!

I know how you feel; because of the glut of poor community design and the “success” of some less-than-forward-thinking strategies, it’s hard not to be cynical ;-)

Concerning great non-adverse-selection-creating incentives, though, there are even more questions that have to be asked

(Some examples might be: interview with a C-level officer; photography lessons from NatGeo journalist; “expert” status within the community, etc):

The first, of course, is: what is it that people that I want to attract value?

The second is: do I have access to a scarce resource that addresses these needs/wants?

Another is: How do we scale demand for this incentive?

;-)

Thanks for a great discussion!

By: Andrew Warner

Andrew Warner — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Ethan, I used to use the word “bribe” because I thought it was an honest description of how communities bring in their early users and keep their communities growing.

This video changed my understanding of what’s happening. It’s not bribes, it’s recognition and reward.

I keep sharpening my understanding of how communities start and grow. YOU have been a big help in that understanding. Thanks for that comment.

By: Ethan Bauley

Ethan Bauley — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:45:08 +0000

Andrew,

Surely you’re not suggesting that I counseled in favor of using monetary bribes to jumpstart communities.

It’s an issue of semantics: if the word bribe *necessarily* means pecuniary compensation, it’s clear that a strategy predicated on bribery is destructive.

Check out this piece on MSFT Live Search Cashback for a great exploration of incentives and adverse selection: http://www.havasmedialab.com/?p=22

Thanks,

Ethan