Designing for the Social Web

How do you create and launch a vibrant social web application that people are motivated to use? Getting people to participate (and stay participating) is the key to any web-based strategy, but you have to do more than simply add features. This book teaches you how. By using real world examples and a bit of social psychology theory, this book provides a solid foundation for designing your next great web application. Packed full of information and best practices, this book will show you: How to distinguish between different types of social web applications and the design challenges of each The core reasons why people participate online, as individuals and as groups How to prevent the Cold Start Problem -- when you build it and they don t come. How viral sharing works on sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Flickr How to avoid PR nightmares that have plagued companies like Dell and Walmart How to design for first-time users How to grow your social web application from zero users to 1000, and beyondPorter, Joshua is the author of 'Designing for the Social Web', published 2008 under ISBN 9780321534927 and ISBN 0321534921.