/* ---- Google Analytics Code Below */

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Social Proof at the Wikipedia

Roger Dooley writes about the approach of the Wikipedia fundraising.  Many have seen their 'ads', as I have, when doing a Wikipedia search. The argument is  " ... Many people use our service, but few contribute ... "

From the Wikipedia: " ...  Social proof (also known as informational social influence) is a psychological and social phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior in a given situation.   ... "

So you can argue in a way that says:  'Join all the many people who have contributed".  Or,  "Very few people contribute, so please do,  you can make a difference ... "

Wikipedia does the latter.  But suggests the former works better.

I have admit that I contributed based on this effort, and I rarely contribute based on online appeals.  So am I particularly anti-susceptible to this argument?

As a suggestion in the comments says, they certainly have the data and traffic to figure out which approach works better.   ... "

No comments: