Stimulate Me Please - June 16, 2008

Filling out your profile and posting a picture for your avatar may not be enough anymore, well, in the mind of the owner of the technology service you’re using.

I was reading an article on Matt Dickman's blog last week about how social technology applications are continually employing unique methods to encourage users to participate more frequently and meaningfully. So what exactly does that look like?

Think about your LinkedIn profile. Let’s take a quick look at mine:

“OMG, I’m only 90% complete, oh not, what have I done wrong. I must solve this immediately!!!” Right? That’s how LinkedIn wants you to think.

Or maybe the new service Plurk (aka Twitter rival) where you get awarded Karma points and new icons for using the service like it’s no one’s business:

Or perhaps it’s getting a special badge of honor next to your username like Yelp’s Elite:

All in all, I think that these technology services are utilizing interesting social stimulants to perplex the users and convince them to continue reviewing, micro-blogging, testing, etc. However, I think the best tidbit of all is actually inviting someone to an event where you can honor them for all their greatness. I know Yelp does this with their elite, but I recently was invited as a “Cake VIP” to go to the HQ of Cake Financial:

Needless to say I didn’t attend particularly because they asked me to dress to impress, but I still thought the gesture was a grand one. Another issue I have with the invite was the fact they sent it via Evite, which I particularly hate. Overall though, I think they did a decent job of encouraging local community participation, I hope to see more from them in the future.