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Points & Rewards

dougw

I am always trying to think of ways to increase forum participation...

The points system is one of the reward systems on the forum.

For some members it doesn't mean much, but for some it is quite satisfying to reach the various point levels.

It is also a type of participation leaderboard, but to get to the top of the leaderboard currently requires amassing points at a significantly higher rate than the current leaders, and maintaining that pace for a long time. This is not really feasible for most, so it diminishes the incentive to try to top the leaderboard.

I think a useful way to increase the incentive provided by the points system would be to create a shorter term leaderboard - say points accumulated in the last 60 days. This would allow new members to have the possibility of making it onto the leaderboard. For those who find it to be an incentive to appear on the leaderboard, it would increase participation on the forum.

It is probably non-trivial to keep track of running totals for each member, but it may be similar to metrics already used to quantify forum momentum or it may have value along the lines of quantifying forum performance, in addition to providing more incentive to participate.

Are there other ways to leverage the points system to incentivize increased participation?

  • in reply to genebren

    Cool suggestions.

    Incentive - for the people who have to do the work.

    Extra rewards are always good incentive to participate.

    I'm sure they already track some metrics, maybe they could somehow be used without adding a lot more work.

  • in reply to neilk

    Amazingly, and some others including have amassed over 250,000 points and they seem to lead a normal (if busy) life!

  • Doug, I think the points needed to achieve levels above Tesla are unrealistic. 100,000, 250,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 imply a level of participation which is probably impossible for anyone leading a normal life!

     

    My first suggestion would be for these to be reduced to more sensible levels before making any other changes, or introducing new metrics.

     

    Neil

  • Doug,

     

    I like 'Movers and Shakers' in a nod to a recent project14 contest,  also 'Rising Stars' or "dP/dT".

     

    The incentive that you mentioned, is that for members or the site management team?  For members, making it to the top of the activities list could be rewarded with a badge (generating more points) or some low level prize (swag or small shopping cart).  For the site management, it would seem that any stats that measure the engagement of members would be valuable (like counting total members).  In thinking about metrics, I would think that quantifying the overall level of active membership (number of members logging in daily/weekly, number of posts in a given period or other such metrics) would be a valuable tool for generating data to present to vendors to increase the number of roadtest or design challenge opportunities.

     

    Gene

  • in reply to dougw

    Not wanting to make it sound too competitive, but what about something like 'SPRINTBOARD'?

  • in reply to genebren

    I agree - we don't want to jeopardize the things that make this the best forum on the  planet. If an idea has unforeseen negative side effects, it can always be terminated.

    I am also interested in seeing more stats on forum participation, but there needs to be an incentive for them to be collected.

    Incidentally, I am sure you would consistently be on any short term leaderboard. Your participation is outstanding.

    What would be a catchy name for a short term leaderboard?

  • Doug,

     

    I think that it is a good thing when member such as yourself are looking for ways to increase participation within the community.  I believe that it is this type of leadership ans commitment that makes this community such and active one (not many communities have achieved a 10 year milestone).

     

    Your idea is interesting.  I would think that a combination of metrics (total points, total points over a given period, number of likes, etc.) could allow for more members to see their names on the board.  Having said that, I worry that this could also lessen the quality and meaning of the community activities that generate the points, almost to the point of spamming the system (nonsense comments or worst yet negative comments).

     

    What has made my short time on this community interesting and compelling has been the friendly and helpful way that the mass majority of the members contribute to help and share ideas and knowledge.  I don't think that I have seen this level of harmony on other social sites.

     

    Keep up the good work!

     

    Gene