We have two mental buckets; work and play.
The work bucket is where we place all the
activities we have to do. This bucket
is incredibly crowded. It’s tough to rank highly on any list of priorities
here.
The play bucket is where we place all the
activities we get to do. This bucket
is relatively empty. You might have TV, surfing the internet, spending time
with friend and family.
Many people work ferociously during the
day, complain about a lack of time, and then spend 3 hours watching TV in the
evening.
Most communities do everything they can to
get themselves placed within the ‘work’ bucket. They tell people to
participate, they talk about the tangible benefits from joining and
participating in the community, and they ignore all the potential ‘fun’ aspects
from the community.
As you’ve guessed, it’s far better to be
placed in the ‘play’ bucket. Reddit is clearly a community in the play bucket.
No-one would consider it something they have
to do.
The only way to get yourself in the play
bucket is to make your community fun. That means livening the mood at times and catering to an individuals social needs – not just their information
needs.