Robert Kittinger

I gave a presentation on this topic this morning. We all use some sort of Web 2.0 site, be it Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia, WordPress or another, but are we workers? These sites offer us opportunities and services, but they would collapse if we didn’t use their architecture to generate content. In this cycle, our content…draws other people to the site, who then…generate content (upload audio, video, photos, blog, tag, sing, dance, whatever).

But when do we feel like volunteer labor? Does this feeling change if I’m editing a wiki article vs. when I’m uploading photos on Facebook? And, as far as personality is concerned… are only altruistically motivated, pro-social types working for Wikipedia, but run of the mill everyone, working for Facebook and MySpace. What about quality vs quantity? If a user feels more like a source of volunteer labor will the site get a higher quality of work…but less content generated? On the flip side, if a person feels like they are just being entertained, will they create more content…but at a lesser quality?

I’m wrestling with these questions right now. I’m teasing the last nooks and crannies of my brain for all that I know regarding people and work forces. I’m sure a continuum exists and I’m interested in where sites should place themselves, to best maximize quality and quantity, with a dedicated and passionate user base.