90-9-1 Redux

I wrote about the 90-9-1 rule of social media in last week's blog post, and was rewarded with some enlightening feedback that warmed my heart and broadened my appreciation of a few fundamental truths:

• Truth #1: You don't need a megaphone to participate or contribute something important to a given community
• Truth #2: Active, engaged listening is often the better part of discourse – without listening, you might as well shout to the sky or pound sand
• Truth #3: In every community, everybody matters

The 90-9-1 rule asserts that in most online communities, 90% of users "never contribute," 9% of users "contribute a little," and 1% of users account for "almost all the action." Even before the contours of the rule are colored in (what crayon would you choose to personify a Lurker?), the basic premise was viewed as objectionable to several Synopsys colleagues.

Gail Gauvin remarked that, "This model seems to imply that anyone who has 'only' been reading the newspapers/magazines for their adult life – and not writing a letter to the editor, let alone submitting a freelance article of their own – are not contributing to society. And what does it say about all those book buyers, who have been merely– dare I say it? – reading, and not actually writing a novel of their own?"

Touché Gail, who went on to say, "In any social construct (commerce, politics, entertainment…) we need producers and consumers. Consumers are not lurkers or inactive; they contribute by absorbing, distilling, disseminating, promoting, acting on, or teaching for or against the 'product' that they are consuming. Not everyone at the party likes to wear a lampshade on their head, or even dance, but many like to hear the music, tap their foot and feel the pulse of the crowd."

I heard similar sentiments from others, including this excerpt from an email received directly from another colleague: "I actually prefer to stay behind the scenes. I'm not usually very talkative, I prefer to listen. And when I do communicate, I still like to talk/write to a specific person directly, not some large unknown group. Even though I don't contribute, I do like being part of an online community. I enjoy reading your blogs. I find the information useful. I just wanted to let you know this. And I look forward to reading your next blog."

Thank you.

I hear you, one and all, and here are my conclusions:

• To my fellow bloggers: Don't assume that the number of public comments you receive to your blog has any correlation to the value of what you write in the minds of others
• To my fellow bean counters: Don't be too quick to judge the effectiveness of blogs and forums based on the Sirens call of low-hanging metrics, such as "# of Comments"
• To my fellow colleagues: Whether you write, read, occasionally comment or simply pass through from time to time, you matter
• To everybody: Let's broaden our assumptions and definition of what it means to "contribute"