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.
