Is it smart to have high level barriers for submissions of user-generated content?
I want to ensure high quality content is being submitted and the best way I can think of to do so is by having high level barriers for uploading. I hope this would weed out bloggers that aren't serious about their work. However, I don't want the requirements to deter the great bloggers from sharing their posts through my site. How would you ensure high quality content? We are a very new startup and don't have much of a brand recognition yet, but we are heavily advertising and promoting at the moment.
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Jan 31, 2019
I agree with Mike on the supply and demand side. That would be the biggest factor in determining how to create barriers. If you have an overwhelming amount of submissions, I would add requirements.
Example: Photo Requirements, Video Length, Experience, etc.
Mar 17, 2018
It's really pretty smart idea to set high level barriers for submissions to get high quality content. I also encourage you to read this post with great rules on how to generate high-quality content - https://www.jcount.com/content-marketing-5-rules-generate-great-content/ . Remenber that "high quality content" is far more than just empty words marketers throw around just for fun. It's what gurus of marketing strive for, and what Google likes and folks look for.
Dec 8, 2015
You can never trust user generated content. That is one of the primary rules of any web application. Not only will you be subject to endless SPAM and poor quality content, but there will always be attempts to take over your server. Put every piece of user generated content in a queue to be moderated and of course sanitize any user input sent to the server. If the content is good by your standards, post it, else{"Request denied. Try again?"}.
Dec 8, 2015
You don't say what the purpose of your blog is, or what business you're in, but I wouldn't compromise on quality, if I were you. You will be known by the quality of your content, and if the content is poor, then you're going to be know for that. I'm guessing that is not something that you want. I think the suggestion that Amara Rose had is a good one. Encourage people to submit content, but reserve the right to edit that content or reject it if it doesn't meet your standards.
Dec 8, 2015
You can only answer that based your own Mission and Vision Statements.... AS the owner of the business you must set the tone for your own quality standards....
Dec 8, 2015
Hi Becca,
I suggest rethinking the word "barriers". How about if you simply seek high-level content and reserve the right to review/edit prior to publishing? I recently began submitting content to a new site focused on personal and planetary evolution (my area of expertise), and while I'm an experienced writer, the site founders still ask every contributor to upload and save their work in draft mode. The founders then review and publish. My work still goes up verbatim (I don't know if this is true for other contributors) and allows the site owners content control, so the site retains the high level of quality they intend.
Hope this helps! All the best.
Dec 8, 2015
You want to set quality standards on what is essentially somebody's journal/scrapbook? Are you paying them for the content they're providing? Because in that scenario, you're getting more value than they are. I mean, you're basically proposing that you be able to produce a magazine without paying any of the writers.
Maybe instead you could provide some kind of incentive for better content. Maybe set up a voting system and pay them in money or merchandise or made up "position" in your community for getting more upvotes. Maybe you could somehow make it so that content has to be upvoted to stay generally visible, after that it reverts to being visible only from the members' profiles. Maybe you can partner with trade shows/conferences that cover your industry and arrange to have more highly respected members be given more favorable treatment or speaking engagements at their events.
There are many ways to guide certain kinds of participation without having to be the bad guy yourself. Be creative.
Dec 8, 2015
Matthew advice is so great. I had to admit, I am working on a project in where I'm giving incentives for unique better content. I decided to ask writers directly what would motivate them, or do they expect to get in exchange of becoming part of our exceptional writers. Few answers are stunning.
Dec 10, 2015
A hybrid be your answer too -- pay/incent a select few to do featured quality content, allow everybody else to participate in a less featured way to build community and fill out the quantity.
Dec 8, 2015
This is basically a supply and demand question.
From your point of view, if you want high quality you can charge more (higher barriers to entry) but you also have to deliver more value. Alternately, if you want high volume (quantity) you can offer a lower barrier to entry (no barriers).
From the bloggers view point, what's their benefit for meeting your higher barriers when there are many low-barrier outlets available? You get better content for your community and they get ... what? More specifically, what do they get that they can't get from promoting somewhere with fewer barriers (i.e. lower cost)?
Dec 8, 2015
Certainly there is a trade-off between numbers and the barriers to post content. Higher barriers lower numbers, it's getting the right level that may need experimenting with. What is the topic area, what barriers are you considering?
I agree with Amara. In one of my works, my team and I reserve the rights to edit and publish. If not accepted, the article can be used in any other place, any day the writer decide. And as Rebeca said, accepting right content for a specific website or material is based on certain criteria which most writers are unaware. And that is ok, since writers main job is focusing on their creativity and let it flow as is their passion present. Don't put lots of 'barriers', work on quality, on expertise - and that requires time, dedication until you feel confident enough you have built an amazing team. With lots of automation you may ended up with lots of garbage too.