http://blogs.technet.com/b2ix/archive/tags/participation/default.aspxTags: participationenCommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)http://blogs.technet.com/b2ix/archive/2007/05/01/broadening-the-base.aspxTue, 01 May 2007 20:55:00 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:860791b2ix1http://blogs.technet.com/b2ix/comments/860791.aspxhttp://blogs.technet.com/b2ix/commentrss.aspx?PostID=860791<P><A href="http://communitygrouptherapy.com/2007/04/29/reuters-missing-the-point-on-web-20-participation-rates/" mce_href="http://communitygrouptherapy.com/2007/04/29/reuters-missing-the-point-on-web-20-participation-rates/">Sean O'Driscoll</A> has a great post critiquing a recent <A href="http://news.com.com/Study+finds+weak+participation+on+Web+2.0+sites/2100-1032_3-6177059.html" mce_href="http://news.com.com/Study+finds+weak+participation+on+Web+2.0+sites/2100-1032_3-6177059.html">Reuters </A>article about allegedly low participation rates in Web 2.0 communities.&nbsp; </P> <P>Sean outlines what he refers to as the thick contributors (video contributors, for example) vs the thin contributors (taggers, voters, etc).&nbsp; I couldn't agree more with his assessment.&nbsp; </P> <P>Partly, we in this community space online are partly to blame.&nbsp; Not having the proper tools or consistent measurements in place all these years leads in part to the singular, and perhaps inflated, value of thick contributors.&nbsp; Don't get me wrong, the participation of these contributors is crucial to a healthy and vibrant community.&nbsp; However, I would also assert that the contributions of the so called thin contributor is just as important, if not more so.&nbsp; </P> <P>Thankfully, the technology and the measurements are catching up to the social norms.&nbsp; With tagging becoming an integral part of our new blog and forum solutions, in addition to the introduction of <A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/korbyp/archive/2007/04/19/tagspace-meet-claimspace.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/korbyp/archive/2007/04/19/tagspace-meet-claimspace.aspx">xClaims</A>, there will be even more ways for people to participate.&nbsp; Think of it as broadening the breadth of participation at all different levels of engagement and contribution.</P> <P>(originally xposted on my <A class="" href="http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/Blogs/post/c1c8fed3-1cc9-4a61-b7ce-c17ae8b0de9f/postview.aspx" mce_href="http://beta.communities.microsoft.com/Blogs/post/c1c8fed3-1cc9-4a61-b7ce-c17ae8b0de9f/postview.aspx">beta blog</A>)</P><img src="http://blogs.technet.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=860791" width="1" height="1">communitymetricsxClaimsmeasurementsparticipationtagging