UX for Beginners

Chapter 83. How to Motivate People to Share

It is possible to make exactly the same idea engaging or boring just by the way you present it. More important, you can motivate people to contribute, comment, and share by making their contribution a source of pride.

Imagine someone posts in a forum and asks, “How do I get laid?” At first glance, you’re not particularly interested in helping, unless you fancy yourself an artist with this sort of thing. This is the way a lot of corporations approach their social media activities; direct questions and factual posts, and self-centered content. It doesn’t create engagement.

Now imagine if it were phrased more like this: “What is the fastest you have ever had sex with someone after meeting them? How did it happen?” Suddenly the reader has been challenged to tell a story that makes them look good, or at least makes them interesting. There is no obvious benefit for the person asking the question, but that doesn’t mean there is no benefit for them.

It’s more fun to have a crappy or funny answer than not to answer, and that’s the whole objective here. It creates engagement!

This version of the question was on the real-life front page of Reddit, with more than 700 comments. (One person answered “17 years.” Clearly an artist.)

Another common example of this idea is when someone gets laughs for doing something embarrassing. They will, paradoxically, do it again and again to get more laughs and more attention. (Conditioning!) The same effect would be achieved ...