DISQUS Research: Pseudonyms Drive Communities (or do they?)

This is pretty debatable I think, but warrants some thinking.

Latest research by commenting platform Disqus compares three kinds of commenters: real names, pseudonyms, and anonymous commenters - and finds that pseudonyms lead to higher quality comments and are more engaged and active.

For me there are two things that come to mind:

1. Pseudonyms don’t drive communities, but rather is evidence of a thriving community, which by definition has better quality comments.

2. As showed by the success of @RBJacobs (FNB’s Customer Service persona on Twitter), perhaps the use of pseudonyms is a good idea in bridging the ‘trust-gap’ between corporate brands and their customers… ?

Thoughts?

Sohu.com - the ugliest, richest website in the world?

Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate for continues usability testing. Steve Krug's* book "Don't Make Me Think" is still one of my favourite usability reads. It's something we punt extensively as a digital agency.

Recently though, I was pointed in the direction of the 30 Top Earning Websites in the world - and ranked #20th is a site: www.sohu.com.

Here's the screenshot:

Sohu.com's annual revenue? $429,000,000pa.

Most likely I am showing a bit of ignorance here, but is there perhaps a cultural difference in perceptions of usability or at least the perceived relevance of needing a usable website?

Any other examples of anti-UX sites that do well financially? Craigslist.com?

*even Steve's personal site doesn't really shout user-friendliness when you visit it: http://www.sensible.com/ - right?

Sir Richard Branson’s 8 Ideas To ‘Screw Business As Usual’ #sbau

(*re-published from www.ideate.co.za)

Saturday night saw the South African launch of Sir Richard Branson’s new book ‘Screw Business As Usual’, in Randlords Johannesburg. I attended and managed to chat to the great man himself. He was his usual effervescent self, clearly loving the challenges of turning traditional business models on their head.

I chatted to Sir Rich about education, particularly with relevance to Ideate’s sister portal, the online education initiative Heavy Chef, and he had this to say “Schools are still based on curriculums that were set 50 to 100 years ago, and they need to be completely turned upside down. And they shouldn’t have teachers do it.” (Yep, that is me with Sir Rich in the pic. Suave, yes.)

Sir Rich outlined his eight lessons to ’screw business as usual’:

1. Capitalism 24902 is here – doing good is good for business
Businesses all over the world going the extra mile – all 24902 of them, to do what is right for people and the planet.

2. Power to the people
Every single one of us can – and must – do business differently.

3. Stop saving the world: start reinventing it
Shift the focus from ‘charity’: take risks, invest in social innovation – entrepreneurial ideas and energy can change the world for good.

4. Give it everything you’ve got
If you’ve got it, use it – products, services, people, suppliers, communications, investment funds, contacts and clout – use all your business assets to deliver social and environmental impact.

5. Break the silos
Embrace unlikely marriages – join forces with government and the social sector to deliver new business models for health, education and other ‘human services’.

6. Value Mother Nature
Work with nature – not against her. Valuing and harnessing her wonderful natural assets is the biggest entrepreneurial opportunity of our lifetime.

7. The global village is here
Technology is giving us the power to see – and solve – problems across the world. As global citizens, business leaders can and must help grow new leadership forces that know no boundaries and whose only agenda is that of humanity.

8. Community Power
The power of individuals is great – the power of communities is greater. Inspired wisely, your communities can exponentially increase the impact you have on the world.

In amongst the authors at Ideate, a bunch of us are busy reading the book. Keep posted, we’ll be publishing a review shortly.

Instagram Founder, Kevin Systrom on Marketing

The team at The Heavy Chef Project did an interview with Instagram Founder, Kevin Systrom.

I absolutely loved his take on marketing:

Q: You have stated you have not “spent a dime on marketing” how has Instagram grown so popular so quickly then?

"When you build great products, those products often resonate with people to the point where they’ll do the word of mouth marketing for you. Good products sell themselves, in many ways."

Check the full interview here: http://www.heavychef.com/instagram-founder-kevin-systrom-shares-insight-on-the-future-of-photo-sharing/

Parfums.cz: The Sweet, Sweet Smell of Success

Parfums.cz is the 3rd fastest growing tech company in Europe with a 3,995% revenue growth in the last five years.

Yep, and they sell perfume. Online. In the Czech Republic.

This intrigues me.

So, how does one sell perfume via the web? I mean, ultimately you sell something intangible - smell - not a commodity one would expect to easily carry-over to the virtual realm.

Does this mean people only buy perfume online based on brand? Or is there a segment, bigger than I give credit for, that buy to experiment?

Regardless, Parfums.cz seems to have found the sweet-spot. The company represents somethings that resonates with people which, clearly, has translated into some juicy profits.

I have a feeling this a space that still presents many an opportunity for Internet entrepreneurs to bring something innovative to the table in selling fragrance online.