My newest article, ‘Hey, such-and-such on the internet has suggested’: How to create content models that invite user participation, is currently available in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. In the article, Jack Labriola and I argue for an approach to building content models that balances technical know-how with efforts to build collaborative knowledge with users.
Why Should We Care About Content Models and User Participation?
User-generated content is becoming a valuable tool for everything from crowdsourcing how-to manuals to increasing the long-term viability of help documentation. Many consumers want to actively participate in the creation of knowledge around the products and services they love. If your organization isn’t inviting users into your content, then why should they engage with you?
What Do Content Models that Invite User Participation Look Like?
Content models that invite user participation should have the following attributes. They should:
- Enable Interactions Among Stakeholders, Types of Content, and Technologies Within a Given Content Network:To develop effective user-generated content strategies, organizations must learn how to enable interactions among administrators, moderators, users, types of content, and technologies within a given content network.
- Be Built Into Technologies So That All Interactions Flow Seamlessly: If organizations are to enable user-generated content in a way that meets user needs while remaining cost efficient, then technologies that facilitate user-generated content are key to this strategy.
- Use Different Levels of Authority to Reduce the Pressure on Content Moderators: To successfully integrate user-generated content into an existing content strategy, a move that almost all existing organizations will need to make, some of the burden of content moderation must be shifted from a dedicated workforce to the technology itself. Within this technology, however, there are additional considerations as to who has the permission to alter content and how user-generated content is maintained.
Get the Full Article
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8901442 (permanent) (subscription required)
Cite The Article (APA)
Getto, G. & Labriola, J. (2019). ‘Hey, such-and-such on the internet has suggested’: How to create content models that invite user participation. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 62(4), 385-397.
Check Out My Book On Content Strategy!
Content Strategy in Technical Communication is available for purchase via Amazon.
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