Last week, while at GTEC - the Government + Technology conference - in Ottawa, I was asked by a participant what percentage of people she could expect would contribute to her department’s wiki.

I quickly cited the 1% Rule, as outline in Citizen Marketers, the must-read book by Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell. In a post about the rule (May 2006), they wrote:

“For instance, in June 2005 Wikipedia had a total of 68,682 total contributors. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is reported to have told a library group that month:

    * 50% of all Wikipedia edits are done by 0.7% of users
    * 1.8% of users have written more than 72% of all articles

If we also add evidence from Bradley Horowitz that roughly 1% of Yahoo’s user population starts a Yahoo Group, we seem to have The 1% Rule: Roughly 1% of your site visitors will create content within a democratized community. (Horowitz also says that some 10% of the total audience “synthesizes” the content, or interacts with it.)”

Now, almost 2.5 years later, it seems that these statistics are still holding true. Today, an email titled, “The Fractured Web Community Impacts Marketing Focus” landed in my inbox (link to post). Sent by the Centre for New Media Research, it concluded that:

“The vast majority of online conversation is driven by a small group of web users ” less than ten percent of them. The rest of the web community sits back and watches the interactions as a mostly-passive audience that only occasionally injects a few comments. Community experts have been aware of this phenomenon for years, calling it “participation inequality.’”

But here’s the key:

” 90% of users are lurkers (i.e., read or observe, but don’t contribute).
” 9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time.
” 1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions: it can seem as if they don’t have lives because they often post just minutes after whatever event they’re commenting on occurs.

The 90-9-1, as it’s called, confirms the 1% Rule. Even over two years later, the same stats are holding true.

And that shouldn’t be a surprise. People have been talking about this in one form or another for quite some time.

In fact, if you’re looking for historical examples, check out the case of the 1 Percenters, as reported by Huba and McConnell. Or read about Participation Inequality here.

What’s the point? It’s two-fold.

1.    If you’re entering the social media waters, don’t expect to break this rule. It’s long established and it holds true in different contexts. Instead, go into your initiative thinking about what you can do to engage these key contributors and create tighter bonds to your brand. Make it easy to contribute. Reward participants. Promote your best contributors. Think of ways that validate these key brand supporters and keep them happy.

2.    Don’t discount the value of your 1%, and of the next 9%. These people care an awful lot about what they’re doing. They care a great deal about your brand. And wait, this is the key - the 90% crowd cares quite a bit about what their saying too. So communicate with your 1s + 9s. Feed them. Make them better at what they do. Think of them as the bridge from your brand to other consumers. If others trust “people like me” the most, then these are your most powerful ambassadors. So treat them as such.

So what is your experience with this rule? Do you consider yourself a lurker, a participant or a frequent contributor?

Discuss!

Tags: PlantingSeeds, Planting Seeds online, PlantingSeeds.ca, Mark Goren, Center for New Media Research, Fractured Web, Citizen Marketers, Jackie Huba, Ben McConnell, 1 Percenters, Participation Inequality, Lurkers, Contributors, Participants, Wikipedia, GTEC,

As you work to build your online presence and grow your brand, there’s one key thought that you always have to be thinking of:

“How do I add value to this community in general or this relationship in particular?”

If you’re not in it to work a little give + take, you’ll never reap the full potential of your seeding efforts.

Last week, while in Cleveland giving workshops to a new client, I was explaining this to about eight or so people, a group made up of creatives, account representatives, planners and project managers. Out of nowhere, the President of the agency slipped a fortune from a fortune cookie onto the conference table. It read:

“You cannot become rich except by enriching others.”

Timing is everything, isn’t it?

Tags: PlantingSeeds.ca, Planting Seeds Online, Planting Seeds, Workshops, Social Media, Social Networking, Adding Value, Creating Value, Creative, Online Presence, Web Presence, Community, Online Communities, Agencies, Traditional Agencies

So, in Quick Twitter Thoughts – 1, we discussed two things you should think about when updating on Twitter. Today, we’ll look at three tips to help you get more out of the microblogging platform.

1. Shorten your URLs

Because you only have 140 characters to work with and URLs take up so much of that space, there are a few services that allow you to shorten your URLs before you paste them into Twitter. Most people use snurl.com or is.gd. Remember, the shorter the better, that’s why I’ve been us the latter more than the former lately. More real estate for your tweet.

2. @(handleofthepersonyou’retalkingto)
If you’re replying to someone or sending someone a message (not a direct message, AKA: DM) and you want them to know for sure, put this symbol before their handle: @. For instance, if you want my attention, go with @MarkGoren and then write what it is you want to say. This will allow me to pick up your message in my “replies” tab, or on Twitter Search.

Because Twitter is a tool for conversations, this is the best way to ensure that you’re having one. Just hope the person you’re @ing will feel the same way.

3. Twitter Search
If you’re engaged in conversations, go to search.twitter.com and enter your handle (@yourhandlehere). Twitter Search will find every tweet that mentions your handle so you can keep better tabs on conversations, even picking up some tweets that Twitter won’t put into your replies tab.

Twitter Search is also great for keeping on eye on hot topics and even brands. Just for fun, do a search on “Sarah Palin”. (Here, I’ll do it for you.) You’ll see that she’s a big topic of discussion on Twitter.

Have any tips of your own? Add them in the comments below.

I was recently asked for some quick Twitter tips by a colleague. I came up with two lists, the first about what to think about when updating your Twitter stream, the second looks at three important tips to get more out of Twitter.

Let’s tackle the first list today and move onto the second tomorrow.

Feel free to add your own tips in the comments thread below!

• Two things to think about when you update on Twitter:

1. How can I add value?
Whether it is by pointing people to a specific link, answering someone’s question or just by being generally supportive or helpful, you always want to be thinking about how you’re adding value to your “followers”.

Though this may mean different things to different people, the powerful thing here is that you’ll get to know people on Twitter, so you’ll be in a position to know what kinds of things are important on a case-by-case basis.

2. Be conversational
The best approach about being on Twitter, and probably on any social network for that matter, is to be out there to develop relationships. The best way to do that is to be yourself, be funny, respond to people, join conversations and so forth. Be conversational, respond to others and give before you take.

This list, of course, can go on. But to my way of thinking, these are two big keys. Feel free to add to the list if you feel different!

Back tomorrow with more Quick Twitter Thoughts.