Text is not Dead

As I finish Shirky’s book, I am intrigued by the simplicity of one of his final explanations for a workable formula for success, specifically the success of certain social networking platforms, but the formula is useful enough to be applied to multiple companies.

In Chapter 11, he breaks it down into three basic elements: promise, tool, and bargain. In elaborating on his point, Shirky says,

The promise is the essential piece, the thing that convinces a potential user to become an actual user. Everyone already has enough to do, every day, and no matter what you think of those choices, those choices are theirs to make.

He goes on to compare “promise” to traditional marketing, which is why I find it so powerful. He cited Wikipedia as one successful example because people get to edit articles or create new ones. A platform for near limitless self-promotion is one of the most effective promises. This thought drew me think of another incredibly successful (and growing) platform- You Tube. Not only can a person watch and be freely entertained for hours with movie clips, show episodes, videos created by “amateurs,” etc, but also, if he or she is so inclined, a person can upload a video. I find that the ability for people to share pictures, videos, or their own words is a strong draw. Essentially, people love to talk about themselves- it’s in our nature. Sites that allow free, unlimited ease of use in self-promotion is going to be successful. That “promise” is an important one.

This site is really interesting. It shows a table of video sharing sites, their characteristic, and their reviews. No surprise- YouTube is #1.