I'm Tired of Creating Your Content

Jeff triggered this post in regards to his Check-in Fatigue on Foursquare. Surprisingly, I was thinking the same thing today about user-generated content, which basically check-in's are too. I myself am a bit tired of Qype (German version of Yelp) and Tripadvisor. These are probably the two sites where I've posted the most reviews. I'd say I posted far more reviews than the regular user: on Qype, 455 reviews & on Tripadvisor, 71 reviews. 

For a long time, my thought process went like this. I often check out Qype before going to a restaurant or Tripadvisor before picking a hotel. Hence, I derive value from the platform in the form of advice and am happy to give back by writing my own review afterwards. This drove my willingness to continue posting. All's good until now. Basically for the past couple of months, I've become really tired of writing anything for these platforms. I still do every now and again yet I find myself asking ever more "what's really in it for me"? 

Both Qype and Tripadvisor get a ton of value from my posts. Not individually from each post but in aggregate. People come and click on my review and both Qype and Tripadvisor sell ad space next to it. I have no idea about the numbers but I'm sure my more than 550 posts on the two platforms have generated some money for both of these businesses. My piece of the pie is spit in the bucket but it clearly shows how they can make a ton of money if they get enough people to write for them. 

On the other hand, the value of the reviews on these sites goes down the older they get. The more people write, the more reviews you get. It becomes quite difficult to sort through and find out what really is relevant feedback for you in determining whether to eat somewhere or sleep overnight. There is so much noise on both platforms that you actually have to work through the reviews to first find out which ones are valid. Qype's attempt at sorting the reviews and recommending some to me just doesn't really interest me....it's more often wrong than right. 

Qype also launched an iPhone app a while back and ended up adding check-in ability. Tried this for a while but quickly grew tired of that just as I (and Jeff) did of Foursquare. Again, I was adding value to their platform by checking in yet the value to me was basically zero. I didn't see any monetary gain nor did I receive anything more than the benefit of being "Champion" ("Mayor" on Foursquare) of a place.

I'm going to need a lot more to keep me writing. If you want my reviews because your business runs on user-generated-content, you are going to need to do better. Stroking my ego no longer works. I want direct benefits....free parking, a free night, coffee for free or dessert, discounts and so forth. Sure, Foursquare is trying to do this for their mayors but I want Qype and Tripadvisor (or any other site I create content for) giving me something more. Until they find creative ways to keep my reviewing juices flowing, I'll be writing a lot less in the future. 

Comments

[Stefan Wolpers]

Fits my favorite Dave McClure phrase:

"Assertion #1: Check-Ins are Coupons. Gimme $5 or go home, loser. (and i don't give a flying F*** about yr "awesome" LBS game mechanics... it's just meaningless early-adopter BULLshit unless/until u Show Me The Goddamn Money.)"

http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2010/04/checkins-are-coupons.html

[Paulgailey]

People's review/comment fatigue sets in at different levels. most people don't even bother. look, right now this post has according to backtweets:
http://backtweets.com/search?q=http://babblingvc.typepad.com/pjozefak/2010/11/im-tired-of-creating-your-content.html

been RTweeted 38 times and only 1 commentor did it here on your blog to engage on your blog.

Effective marketers are those that sufficiently identify and reward those willing to exchange personal data or arguably time and knowledge. It's happening with some big brands but it is a slow burn.

I suppose in some cases the personalisation that comes with your interaction of the site carries an implicit reward, so the more you contribute/interact with a say Amazon, the better your future experience of browsing their store, right?

[Nick]

I'd reply with a wonderful comment here that adds value to what you wrote, but I'm sick of writing content for blogs like yours. What's in it for me?

[Jan_lukacs]

A couple of people told us the same thing years ago. At some point people will get tiered to create content for free. It IS WORK. Why not drink a beer, play with your kid etc.. instead of creating content for free.
@Nick commenting on a blog gives you back something, and it takes only a couple of seconds vs creating a video on youtube that can take an hour, etc..

[Paul Amerigo Pajo]

I'd have to agree with your issue about relevance. Take a venue like Saguijo http://foursquare.com/venue/1405918 and compare it with their calendar http://www.saguijo.com/calendar.php - you'd need to delete time-relevant posts so that you're not flooded with irrelevant tips when you check-in

[Paul Jozefak]

Definitely a good post on Dave's part!

[Paul Jozefak]

Technically, right! But not happening.

[Paul Jozefak]

Instead you wrote something which added no value! Hence you get nothing!

[Paul Jozefak]

Don't get me wrong. I actually enjoy writing reviews, especially when it's feedback I want a restaurant or hotel to have. I don't do it to try and make money or anything like that. Yet, after a certain amount of time and a number of reviews, fatigue sets in. You kind of start asking why aren't I drinking a beer, doing sports, or whatever. Where does it all lead? Hence, my point about the next step of review sites needing to happen. Someone needs to figure out a way to incentivize the masses further to continue writing.

[Paul Jozefak]

Some hotels have reviews that are two, maybe three or even four years old already. So much can happen to a property in that time. Hence, especially for hotels, reviews older than a year don't even play a role for me in determining where I go

[Hiremebcimsmart]

The question is, why did you believe in user-generated content in the first place?

Given that people will stop interacting with a Web site due to deciseconds of annoyance, you've got to consider the premium they will put on the whole minute it takes to write a review.

Exceptions being if they're really pissed off at a place or loyal to the site for some reason (having a flash new gadget being an example).

Prospect Theory at work...

[Paul Jozefak]

I just happen to enjoy writing reviews. Never gave it much thought initially to be honest in regards to "what's in it for me". Just started writing reviews where I had both positive and negative experiences. Wanted to share with people that I found a place spectacular or horrible. After a while though, you kind of make a habit of it. Then, when it's a habit you ask yourself whether it's a habit you want to keep or not. The time you invest does add up over time. Once you then do a cost/benefit analysis, you quickly come to the same conclusion I did.

[asi]

Great post!

I had actually written something along those lines for our startup: http://blog.gawble.com/the-hidden-burden-of-crowdsourcing

The big question is whether or not average users will feel the same fatigue you're feeling. I know I'm pretty squarely in your camp now, especially in terms of the frustration of having to work to get to relevant / useful content.

I worked at Revver - the first video sharing company to pay creators and syndicators of video content - and one of the biggest lessons I took away from that experience was that users were (and still are) much more motivated to pursue fame over financial rewards.

We're building rewards into Gawble to satisfy both desires - the increasingly common hunger for fame and the urge to compete as well as more practical rewards.

[Nicole Simon]

When Qype started in Germany, I wrote a blog post on this comparing these sites to the indians: We get the glas pearls, they get the gold. Back then Qype argued that the authors would get exposure yada yada but actually when you use google and such, you never see the author but only qype - other sites are like that. There are even sites which give you bonus points and once you are reaching the right level, you are "allowed to do admin work" as well.

And as you mentioned, there needs to be more in it for me than just glas pearls - because I know that is what they are.

It is not necessary about money value, there can be other stuff for me to use it, but I understand the value of my content and my pages link value.

It will work longer for some time but then it will fail, as more people get educated.