Discussion: Audience Participation

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Let's talk about audience participation.  Cyberfunded creativity lives or dies on interaction.  Audience participation is what distinguishes crowdfunding from a plain old store online.  It's part of the fuel that drives creators to produce more goodies.  It's part of the bait that attracts new viewers and donors. 

So how does it work?  How do you get people talking?  There are many types of interaction, including:
* Posting polls
* Calling for prompts
* Inviting viewer opinions or critiques
* Looping inspiration
* Asking the creator about the project
* Listing favorite projects for people to discuss
For more ideas on this topic, see "How to Boost Your Audience."

As a creator, what kind of audience participation do you find most useful in the creative process?  What things entice your audience to respond?  Have you tried anything that you really thought would work, but it just flopped?  Do you like audience cross-chat, or find it distracting?

As a viewer, what makes you lean forward and start typing?  Do you prefer polls, comments, Like/Favorite buttons, or some other particular option?  Do you have more fun talking to creators, or cross-chat with other audience members, or both?

Comments

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

As a viewer, nothing makes me want to interact more than a specific question. Like this! :P Polls are easy, and I'll fill them out about half the time. Like/favorites, less so. Direct questions that actually make me think my input will matter - that will hook me, if I've got time.

As a creator, I love it when people find bugs and give design input for my sites and projects, and they often have great ideas I don't think of. I probably like it best when I get someone asking for more of something creative I've done (asking to see more of a character or to see a finished version of a sketch), but who doesn't? I quite like audience cross-chat - it makes me feel like they are being entertained, even if I haven't got the time to be an immediate, active participant myself.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Like/favorites, less so.<<

I like these on art or similar projects where there are oodles of things to choose from.

>>Direct questions that actually make me think my input will matter<<

Yeah, it doesn't take much for someone to pull the lever on the Bard-O-Matic.

>>I probably like it best when I get someone asking for more of something creative I've done<<

This is always valuable information. When someone tips extra on an items already funded, I count it like this.

>>I quite like audience cross-chat<<

It's amusing when the audience entertains themselves, yes. They'll keep each other busy while I'm writing poems during a fishbowl. Also, it's not rare for me to see a good idea in one of those threads and use it as a prompt, or a refinement of something else.

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

As a patron, I'm much more inclined to get hooked on a project - and donate to it - if I know there's a chance the creator will talk to me about their work. (An atmosphere conducive to chatting with other audience members is enjoyable, too, because it's fun to bolster other people's ideas. :) I realize that busy creators don't have time to respond to every, "Wow, that was great!" or "I really liked this!" But if my comment has more substance, such as, "Your piece really spoke to me because of this memory I have which reflects what you wrote...and by the way, when are you going to publish something else?" then I have a greater expectation of a response. The more times my questions go unanswered, however, the more likely I am to move on to another project.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>But if my comment has more substance, such as, "Your piece really spoke to me because of this memory I have which reflects what you wrote...and by the way, when are you going to publish something else?" then I have a greater expectation of a response.<<

That's fair. When I have time, I may answer every comment; when I'm swamped, I'm more likely to ignore the "yay great" ones to make time for things that really need attention.

>>The more times my questions go unanswered, however, the more likely I am to move on to another project.<<

Ooo, good point! Creators need to know that.

Another participation killer is failed perks. More than once I've chipped in and not gotten what was promised. It happens sometimes; that's a risk you take as a donor. But it means I'm less likely to bother with that creator unless their output is so darn addictive that I let them get away with a lower level of professionalism.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Very much ditto this, especially if there's a possibility that discussion can become collaborative.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I love collaborative discussions too. They're a mainstay of the serial poetry, where people often comment with insightful questions or ideas for development.

Re: Yes...

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

It's so weird and wonderful where some of those conversations wander. :)

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It is. This happens with prompted fiction and art too. Look what happened with aldersprig and meeksp when the "Diapering Dragons" sketch sparked a discussion over dragon sizes.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Myself? I tend to gravitate towards the audience participation events where the audience really gets to participate, with both the creator and the rest of the audience to have an active hand in what's being produced. I'm more likely to invest funds into a project that I've also invested a bit of creative energy.

There's a lot of great projects out there, but there's too many for me to read, let alone put money into, so, yes, I'm selective towards those that I'm actually somehow involved in.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>I tend to gravitate towards the audience participation events where the audience really gets to participate, with both the creator and the rest of the audience to have an active hand in what's being produced. <<

Yeah, that's one of the easier ways to get my support, especially if I get something back, like an icon. The hard way is being irresistibly brilliant. That bar is high.

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

I like being able to talk with creators, but I also enjoy watching and occasionally participating in cross-chat with other audience members. I enjoy the community that often develops around creative types and their projects. But I'm generally very happy as a quiet observer, and I may forget how important my participation could be to others unless I'm reminded. I'm naturally pretty shy, and also frequently find my time and energy stretched pretty thin, so I often won't comment unless specifically invited to do so.

If a creator offers some form of incentive for prompts, comments, and other forms of participation, then I'm more likely to join in. Often, just seeing them acknowledge how much they appreciate audience participation is enough, but small perks are nice too.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

These two points particularly go together:

But I'm generally very happy as a quiet observer, and I may forget how important my participation could be to others unless I'm reminded.

If a creator offers some form of incentive for prompts, comments, and other forms of participation, then I'm more likely to join in.

It's important for the host to invite and reward audience participation.