software is the dog that caught the bus. we went from 'internet only for nerds' to everyone on a smartphone all day constantly. but is software helping us make better decisions, be better humans?
on writing forum software: the problems are not 'how do i make a post', but 'why would anyone come here?', 'why is this person trolling me?'
no elements rules - reactive rule. something was a problem, so they made a rule.
badges are a means of enforcing good behavior.
put an indicator on the rules in the expanded hamburger menu to drive people to look at the rules
backfire effect
backfire effect: people often rebel against rules to assert their autonomy, that they are "their own person". one example, diversity quotas.
case study: people forced to read diversity brochure end up being more biased than those who read it as a choice
case study: bicycle thiefs
case study: putting up a sign about cycle thiefs at bike paddocks reduced bike thefts by 60%
its not about consequence, its because they don't want to think of themselves as people who steal.
look for that sign opportunity in software, the ability for software to intercede and say "is this how you want to be?", a gentle remidner. the power of a gentle nudge.
examples:
a notification when you respond to the same person too many times asking you if you are adding something to the conversation -- suggesting you talk to someone else, maybe?
replying to the same topic, a lot?
posting a link that someone else already posted
you're replying with a single word?
case study: nextdoor
they were getting vague racism on their posts. to combat that, they enforce that you need to supply specific details, not just the skin color of the person.
case study: airbnb
lots of racism. not that airbnb is more racists than any other part of the internet, but the peer to peer connectivity allows for bias to flow in ways that traditional structures (e.g., hotels) do not.
discourse
great conversations need more listening than talking, but yet most forum software allows for post counts by user names?
are you here to carpet-bomb the place with talking points? are you really listening? or are you just waiting for your turn to speak. tell a story, tell your story.
case study: review
steam puts the # of time spent on a game next to the reviews of games, so that it gives more weight to the content, or less weight. this is a direct response to situations where commenters are not actually participating and are just blasting out their opinions.
reward positive behaviors you want
caveat: think about what behavior might arise if you gamify positive behavior and there are crazy people who will do anything to raise those numbers.
takeaways
build aspirational guidelines, and refer to them (but don't force it)
use just in time nudges
make the right thing easy to do and the wrong thing awkward to do
jeff atwood
software is the dog that caught the bus. we went from 'internet only for nerds' to everyone on a smartphone all day constantly. but is software helping us make better decisions, be better humans?
on writing forum software: the problems are not 'how do i make a post', but 'why would anyone come here?', 'why is this person trolling me?'
no elements rules - reactive rule. something was a problem, so they made a rule.
backfire effect
backfire effect: people often rebel against rules to assert their autonomy, that they are "their own person". one example, diversity quotas.
case study: people forced to read diversity brochure end up being more biased than those who read it as a choice
case study: bicycle thiefs
case study: putting up a sign about cycle thiefs at bike paddocks reduced bike thefts by 60%
its not about consequence, its because they don't want to think of themselves as people who steal.
look for that sign opportunity in software, the ability for software to intercede and say "is this how you want to be?", a gentle remidner. the power of a gentle nudge.
examples:
case study: nextdoor
they were getting vague racism on their posts. to combat that, they enforce that you need to supply specific details, not just the skin color of the person.
case study: airbnb
lots of racism. not that airbnb is more racists than any other part of the internet, but the peer to peer connectivity allows for bias to flow in ways that traditional structures (e.g., hotels) do not.
discourse
great conversations need more listening than talking, but yet most forum software allows for post counts by user names?
are you here to carpet-bomb the place with talking points? are you really listening? or are you just waiting for your turn to speak. tell a story, tell your story.
case study: review
steam puts the # of time spent on a game next to the reviews of games, so that it gives more weight to the content, or less weight. this is a direct response to situations where commenters are not actually participating and are just blasting out their opinions.
reward positive behaviors you want
caveat: think about what behavior might arise if you gamify positive behavior and there are crazy people who will do anything to raise those numbers.
takeaways
additional reading
the (honest) truth about dishonesty