I like this rule.  I like it because its intuitive, and makes sense of the way things really are.  It stops the generalisation which frequently kills internet ideas and models’ credibility.

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | What is the 1% rule?

It’s an emerging rule of thumb that suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online then one will create content, 10 will “interact” with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it.

Some examples quoted:

youtube – 65K uploads/ 100 million downloads
wikipedia – 1.8% write 70% of the articles
yahoo groups – 1% start a group/ 10% participate/ 100% (of group users) lurk

And the conclusion of the Guardian article is succint:

So what’s the conclusion? Only that you shouldn’t expect too much online. Certainly, to echo Field of Dreams, if you build it, they will come. The trouble,  as in real life, is finding the builders.

This is important to everyone, because the generalisation says that internet /peers will communicate seamlessly and inform/ educate each other, and in so doing will subvert brand opinion, and replace with consumer opinion.

Reality check .. the minority still influence the majority.  In this scenario, the minority is not the brand – the minority are online peers.  Now this is not bad news.  Its well documented for example that Wikipedia is more accurate than Briticannica for example.  So the key here is that the minority are those that are knowledgeable, and are willing to inform and educate.

Where this could have issues, is the extent of pollution by those that want to use the new tools to influence for their own benefit.  Spam springs to mind here.

This has important ramifications for marketing/ pinkomarketing. 

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