User-Generated Or Owner-Generated Content Website

As an aspiring website owner, you who might have thought of setting up a user-generated website like Facebook or Twitter. However, attracting people to contribute to one’s user-generated website or app is an impossibility for many. This is the reason why many settle for their own website where they create the content themselves.

How Reddit First Generated Its Own Content

Just like many user-generated content websites like Facebook and Twitter, people initially did not want to contribute to Reddit’s website.

So what did the founders of Reddit do to increase their presence online? They created thousands of fake accounts and generated their own content in their website. Could we consider this cheating?

I am not fully aware of how the founders of Reddit did this, but if they created fake accounts using fake account names and hid the fact that Reddit was actually generating its own content then it could be considered cheating.

This now publicly known fact is now one of the bad legacy Reddit is known for. This is also the reason why there are people who continue to doubt the authenticity of Reddit’s content. They fear that somehow Reddit is still manipulating the content on its own site.

Another reason why Reddit can’t bury this bad legacy is because they themselves banned fake accounts when they became popular. By banning fake accounts, Reddit seems to have developed the image that they are a hypocrite.

But are we sure that Reddit is alone in doing this? There are many user-generated content websites and they must have also done some form of content generation by themselves on their own websites.

Here is one old article from Venture Beat which talks about how Reddit cheated during the initial days of its operation:

Article: Cheating and deception are at Reddit’s core

The Biggest Problem of User-Generated Content Websites

This is the biggest problem of these websites and apps:

“How to generate enough user interest in your user-generated content website or app such that your users would contribute?”

Even I saw the magnitude of the problem. Many people just want to read content and not participate in one. The reasons for non-participation or the refusal to post comments, opinions, questions and answers can be very varied.

There are at least three possible reasons for this that I can think of:

- Too Lazy:

Reading and typing are two fundamentally different things. You can for example read while laying in bed but you cannot type comfortably while laying in bed. Reading a content just takes a small amount of your time. Meanwhile, thinking about what to write and actually typing it takes time.

Let us take into consideration that people are increasingly turning to media that is heard or seen and heard instead of media that is read. In the world of reading alone, printed books and e-book sales have stagnated while the sale of audiobooks have risen.

This is the proof that the practice of reading text is slowly deteriorating. If people can’t be bothered to read text anymore, then what does it say about the practice of writing which is a far more strenuous task?

- Not interested in Commenting:

If people are not lazy and can be motivated to comment on a post, then what would motivate them to comment on a post? Will they get rewarded or will their life become better if they comment on a post? Simply put, most people do not feel that it is worth their time commenting on anything.

- Too Scared of Backlash:

If people are motivated enough to write a comment about a post, then they will have to decide if they would have trouble if they do comment online. There are many people who are just so scared of being trolled or of facing a backlash when they comment on a post.

This is especially true today that there are many people who hide behind their anonymity online. These people are not only toxic but can be very vindictive of the people who oppose their views.

This is one of the negative impacts of user-generated content websites. Unless the moderators of these websites are able to control the users who are not civil in their online communication with other users, then there would be users who would simply not participate.

How A User-Generated Content Website Becomes Successful

Let us analyze how most of these sites became successful and continue to be successful:

- Write the Program:

When the concept of social media for example was still in its infancy, you would have to create the software program by yourself. But now, you can buy commercially made social media software programs online.

For example, if you type the Google search keywords “social media software for sale” you would be shown articles and websites that sell social media software. Some of these softwares are being promoted as free.

So, theoretically you could create your own social media platform in one day if you set up these softwares correctly. This proves that you do not need to be a software programmer to create your own social media website.

Of course if you want full control of your software then you would have to create it from scratch. Thanks however to learning channels for example in YouTube, you can program your own social media website by just following videos online.

I searched YouTube using the search keyword “programming a social media app” and sure enough, there were many instructional videos that show how to program a social media app. Some of them are so extensive that they take about several hours to view.

- Invite People to Contribute To Your User-Generated Content Website:

This as I have said is the greatest problem of the owners of these websites. There is nothing more depressing than seeing an empty comment section in your websites. It makes your website lifeless and people don’t like empty websites.

— Post Your Own Content and Be Honest About It
So what can you do? For one, you can follow the example of Reddit and post your own content but with a big difference. This time you need to be honest with your users. This means saying it clear to your users or just viewers that you are the ones creating the content.

For example I saw a short story submission website where the owner clearly stated that he also writes short stories for his website. He identified himself clearly. He stated his name, stated that he is the owner of the website and what his position in the company is.

This is unlike Reddit who created fake accounts to create the impression that there was huge activity in their website. If only the Reddit founders were as honest as this person, then there would be nothing for people to say against the founders of Reddit.

— Create a Point System Where The User Gains Recognition
There are sites like Quora and Reddit that have a point system which gives a semblance of prestige to users who post the most number and most famous ones. This works for users who want to become famous themselves or those who have an agenda to put across.

— Promise Exposure
This works for people who want to advance their careers. A good example would be the writers in Wattpad. They are promised to some extent of being able to gain exposure for their writing work that can be picked up possibly by publishing houses, movie companies and so on.

— Pay Money
This is when the website pays actual money to the user to generate content for them. For example, many short story websites pay authors a small amount of money if they accept a short story submission from one of their contributors.

Others websites work on an income sharing scheme. For example, there are sites that do not pay users outright for their content, but when a content makes money either thru ads or from some form of a paid user subscription they share the income with the content creator.

Another tactic would be to create a competition. Whenever some websites need content, they simply create a competition where the users submit their content to fulfill the requirements of the website. The website owners simply pay a small amount to the winner of the competition.

This by far is the most expensive and least sustainable of the strategies mentioned. For example, there are many short story websites that have to frequently ask for donations just to be able to keep their sites running.

— A Combination of Strategies
Still, there are websites that combine all the strategies to attract contributors to their site. For example we have again Wattpad. They have built a community out of writers and readers.

They combine community rewards, a promise of exposure for example from movie companies and now they are even featuring writers who can be paid using ad revenues. This must be the reason why Wattpad is so successful.

Monetize Your Website

This topic would be lightly discussed as it is assumed that the readers of this article are already familiar with the ways of how to monetize website content such as ad revenues, affiliate marketing, direct advertisement, merchandise and so on.

Control Negative Content

When your website becomes famous enough that you have users regularly contributing content, your next problem would be controlling negative content. Many user-generated content websites suffer this problem.

There are enough malicious people in the world to bring down your website thru negative content. They not only paint a negative image of your website but may also cause you to lose your existing users who do not want to be associated with the negative image of your website.

It is hoped that by this time you would have monetized your website successfully that you could control the sheer huge amount of negative posts that you would be receiving in your website.

In fact, websites like Facebook, Tweeter and others devote a large part of their resources including finances in controlling negative content in their website. So make sure that even before you create your website, you have a good plan to control negative content.

An Owner-Generated Website

If your plan is to create your own content in the first place, then you avoid the problem of negative content. Since your readers cannot contribute to your content, all the readers see are the content you willingly provide to them.

This means that as your website grows, you would not need to devote significant resources in monitoring negative content. Of course if your website has a comments section, your readers can still post negative remarks on your website.

This must be the reason why there are many websites who do not have comment sections in them. For example, Seth Godin’s website has no comments section in it. He explains that the reason why he does not have a comment section is because he cannot be bothered with it.

To be more precise, this does not mean that he doesn’t care about the opinions of his users, he just simply does not have the time to process his viewer’s opinions either good or bad. This has more to do with the lack of time rather than a lack of interest.

You can also accept reader submissions from time to time to add to your content. This is especially true if you have less time to generate content. However, you can still control negative content as the submission is still checked by you for approval.

Compared to a user-generated content website, your owner-generated content website would not grow as fast or would not achieve the same level of success. This is understandable as one or a few person cannot hope to beat the content that can be generated by thousands or even millions of users.

Should You Abandon An Owner-Generated Content Website?

The complete question is: Should you abandon an owner-generated content website in favor of a user-generated website because they have the potential for more profits from having more content?

The answer is: Not necessarily. In fact, you can begin with an owner-generated content website then slowly turn it into a user-generated content website. As shown by this article, the software or the platform is not as important as compared to the content.

As your content grows, you would definitely attract attention that could lead to comment posts if you allow it. These comment posts could be the backbone of your user-generated content site.

You could also directly start to solicit written contributions from your readers and have the process automated. For example e-commerce sites have the positive effects of user-generated content.

For example, user-generated content about product reviews on e-commerce sites have proven to not only positively affect the e-commerce site but the product themselves. For example, if a user buys a product and recommend it, chances are more people would buy the same product as well.

I am not asking you to start an e-commerce website but you can apply it to somewhere else. For example there are company and product review websites that use user contributions as content and make money from it. One example would be Trustpilot.

Conclusion

Content is king. A user-generated content website needs user contributions just like a plant needs water to grow. This is the most difficult problem of these websites: “How to motivate people to contribute?” You can motivate people by both monetary and non-monetary rewards.

An owner-generated content website could also transition one day into a user-generated content website. After these websites generate regular readerships, their comments could be the seed for a user-generated content website.

You might also like to read the article: Is Your Writing/Blogging Business Niche Too Small?.