The Thursday Quote - Jakob Nielsen

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"In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action."

Participation Inequality: Encouraging More Users to Contribute by Jakob Nielsen, from Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox October 9, 2006

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That's the "executive summary" for Jakob Nielsen's fascinating article about the 90-9-1 rule; here's another snippet:

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User participation often more or less follows a 90-9-1 rule:

• 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.

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Does that sound like any online community you are familiar with?

Yes, it does... but maybe not this one:

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Next week: Tim Wu

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