I've been involved in two iterations of #creativeHE and both times I have been struck by the relatively small number of active participants compared to the number of people who registered their interest. Until I read Lisa Barone's blog(1) about lurkers which introduced me to the 1% rule. The 1% rule is a rule of thumb pertaining to participation in an internet community, stating that only 1% of the users of a website actively create new content, while the other 99% of the participants only lurk. Variants include the 1-9-90 rule (sometimes 90–9–1 principle or the 89:10:1 ratio),[1] which states that in a collaborative website such as a wiki, 90% of the participants of a community only view content, 9% of the participants edit content, and 1% of the participants actively create new content.
This tallies very well with my experiences of online discussion forums. There is nothing wrong with not participating, although it can make those who are participating feel uncomfortable, but the challenge for any discussion event to create the interest and conditions where more than 1% of non-moderator participants want to share their thoughts or experiences through a post.
Sources:
Barone L (2010) How Can I Push You From Lurker To Participant?
http://outspokenmedia.com/online-marketing/can-i-push-you-from-lurker-to-participant/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)
This tallies very well with my experiences of online discussion forums. There is nothing wrong with not participating, although it can make those who are participating feel uncomfortable, but the challenge for any discussion event to create the interest and conditions where more than 1% of non-moderator participants want to share their thoughts or experiences through a post.
Sources:
Barone L (2010) How Can I Push You From Lurker To Participant?
http://outspokenmedia.com/online-marketing/can-i-push-you-from-lurker-to-participant/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)
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