I’ve been thinking about what motivates people leave comments on blog posts or Internet articles.  Chris Lau commented on one of his own posts that comments only correspond to about 0.5% of page views.  In my comments I mentioned that a panelist in the referenced video noted that people who comment are non-representative of the internet reading population, more specifically, they are outliers by nature. There was a lot of discussion around the value of comments and if online journalists had the freedom to publicly respond or not.  When the “World Wide Web” first became popular to the average consumer, it was simply another broadcast mechanism for content producers and advertisers.  It became more valuable as the communication became more bidirectional. So why take the time and effort to become content creators instead of just content consumers; what are the motivations behind contributing to the global conversation on the Internet?  Here are some of my ideas:

  1. Sometimes we just need to vent somewhere.  This often takes the form of comments that are anonymous, short and not well written.  Sometimes people vent leaving their identity, but that’s not a very good idea and will bite them back some day.
  2. Sometimes we need to be heard, a subtle distinction from the first point as we leave our name and give some thought to our comments.  We all need to feel that what we have to say will be valuable to someone.
  3. Sometimes we need an outlet for our creativity.  Perhaps we like to write and the Internet has the lowest barrier to the largest audience, or perhaps we just like to post our photography on Flickr.  YouTube has become a phenomenon because people have lots of creative ideas they want to show the world.
  4. Sometimes we need to connect with someone.  This is the power of social media.  Discussion groups are an early Internet service that allowed people to write to on subjects of special interests, there are even social support groups for people who have lost a job or lost a loved one.  We put pictures on FaceBook to share with friends and family, both distant and near.  Dating sites have done very well on the Internet.
  5. We may be looking for financial gain.  Like winning this blogging idol prize! It may be a means for us to exhibit our skills in a tough job market, or gaining a large readership so that we can monetize our traffic in some way.
  6. We may be looking to make a name for ourselves.  Experts need to establish their expertise and their personal brand; a well written blog is the modern equivalent to “hanging out your shingle” on the professional market.
  7. And sometimes we believe we can make a difference. We want to leave our mark on the world and feel we have made a difference. If we wish to make a change in our society, it has never been easier to put your message out there.  Getting a good reputation and following  takes a lot of hard work, consistency, quality and relevance to what you are writing about. We all have subjects that we are passionate about, and it is built into the fibre of our being to improve our lot in life, and improve the lot of those around us that we care about.

Where we fit in the list above at any time will vary with the needs of the day.  Having been on the job market for a while, I could use the cash prize, but the exposure to quality readers in the IT industry is even more valuable.

While it is true that there is a high degree of junk out there with the exponentially growing amount of content being created by the masses, I’m hoping that some will use this new voice as an avenue to make a difference.  The global economy is beginning to recover, economic power in the world is shifting as old paradigms are replaced.  Will Canada adapt and grow? Or will we sit on our rich natural resources and whine about the loss of manufacturing jobs.  Industry Canada will soon publish a position paper on Canada’s Digital Economy Strategy and launch a public consultation.  If you look at ITAC‘s paper, it’s pretty disappointing; they’ve had their turn advising the GoC, now it’s our turn.  We can do better.  Let’s use the blogoshpere to send the GoC a message.  I’ve cited supercomputing as a huge hole in the government’s strategy.  There are more holes and there are strategies that are outdated.  It is well documented that Canada is slipping competitively and a major component of this loss of productivity is due to under investment in IT technologies by Canadian industry.  Creative and insightful people in the IT industry can make a difference in Canada’s future. Now is the time to act – Now is the time to BLOG for Canada.