Frequent Fascination With The Unknown
March 28th, 2007 | Categories: marketing, markets, networks, social media, strategy
As a consultant, I do a fair amount of work around web strategy and creating ’sticky’ web experiences. After all, this is key to creating loyal, repeat customers/users. Subsequently, every once in awhile I come across an idea or theory that boggles my mind to no avail. Having said that, one of the best ways to create a strong user base who return on a regular basis is by leveraging the power of the unknown.
Why do we check our e-mail everyday? Every hour? Even every 5 minutes sometimes? Because there just MIGHT be a new message waiting. We do not know for sure. But it is fair to say that we are internally motivated by what is unknown to us - we are a curious species, always looking to delve deeper and uncover the mystery.
RSS feeds work in much the same way. I, personally, open my reader numerous times a day as new blog posts are cropping up at all times. This movement toward ‘dynamic updates’ is what drives repeat visits to a given web property. Stale content is a thing of the past. Why is Digg so successful? Fresh, frequently-updated articles. It keeps the kids coming back for more.
Another great example of this phenomenon can be witnessed in the form of Facebook. Why has it vaulted into the top 25 sites (according to Alexa)? It is driving a tremendous amount of page views thanks to its ’social feeds’. These irregular, unscheduled tidbits provide a detailed picture of your social networking activities and behaviours, as well as those of your friends and colleagues. Those unfamiliar with Facebook note that these feeds provide information updates with respect to events, friend statuses, profile changes, groups, photos, etc… These snippets of information help provide a detailed map of users’ lives. Finally, due to our human nature to stay current and ahead of the curve, many users frequent the site 10+ times per day to be ‘in the know’ at all times.
Funny enough, as more people are able to add old friends and classmates, grad reunions may become less exciting as you can passively follow the life paths of your friends via a social network feed.
This concept just just makes sense. It leverages our psychologic habits and yearns. After all, who wants to log-in and see their own profile? Lame. That was sooooo web 1.0. It’s not sticky. It won’t work nowadays. Perhaps web 3.0 is what we believed it was all along… unknown.
March 28th, 2007 at 5:49 am
“Funny enough, as more people are able to add old friends and classmates, grad reunions may become less exciting as you can passively follow the life paths of your friends via a social network feed.”
Oddly enough I think it will actually make these types of events better. Rather than fumbling through an evening regurgitating the past 10 (20,30,+?) years of your life you instead get to hang out and be with people who have continued to be your friends. I’d take the continued friendship with people over trying to reestablish one it many years later for a brief evening.