David Shen has a terrific post on the motivators at work in social media design
Over the last few years, social media has really become a popular buzzword. . Rather than talk about social media as a strategy, I wanted to point out some actual detail level things … I have found the following techniques to be effective at creating and maintaining a vibrant social environment that produces results
The then goes on to list them out
- Voyeurism
- Communication
- Dating/Hooking Up
- Entertainment
- Fame
- Competition
- Expression
- Showing Off/Vanity
- Validation
- Masquerade
- Community
- Connecting with Context
As well as what applications the are most relevant to, and what they are. Go read it, I’ll be here when you get back.
Whats interesting looking at that list is how much traditional psychology is critical to motivating desired behavior. It makes me think that persuasion techniques and research is worth mining and applying.