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

[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.