Volunteer work: The line between exploiting and inviting

March 3, 2008 by Kurt
Filed under: general 

Some events of the past 72 hours (more on this another time) have the Social Media Guy thinking about the line between inviting and accepting the work of volunteers and exploiting that work. Newspapers and other media companies are increasingly “inviting” readers to participate on their sites.

Rare is the site that doesn’t allow readers to upload their photographs, for example. The Palm Beach Post has partnered with Spotted to provide the backbone for its reader-submitted photo section, which rides under the “PostPix” banner, along with staff-produced photos.

You can hardly find a news site that doesn’t invite reader comments. Many sites provide a platform for their readers to blog regularly. And none of them are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re doing it because they think it will drive traffic on their web sites and, by extension, revenue. (That revenue may not be inconsequential, if forecasters are right. eMarketer says 4.3 billion by 2011).

I think about the work I do for my church. No pay. Lots of work. But I do it because I feel like I’m getting as much out of it as I’m putting in.

Think about what’s in it for the volunteer “content producer.” Are they getting as much out of the experience as they’re putting in — either in terms of recognition, notoriety, braggin’ rights…whatever. Certainly bears asking the volunteers what they want out of the deal if you’re not able to pay cash on the barrel head.

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