1% Rule
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In Internet culture, the 1 percent rule reflects a theory that more people will lurk in a virtual community than will participate. This term is often used as a euphemism for Participation inequality.
The 1% Rule is a theoretical internet concept which states that the number of people who create content on the internet represent 1% (or less) of the people actually viewing that content (e.g., for every 1 person that posts on a forum, there are at least 99 other people viewing that forum, but not posting). The term was coined by authors and bloggers Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.
The actual percentage is likely to vary depending upon what the content is. For example; if the forum requires content submissions as a condition of entry, the 1% Rule may change to a higher percentage.
This can be compared with the similar rules known to information science, such as the 80/20 rule known as the Pareto principle, that 20% of a group will produce 80% of the activity, however the activity may be defined. This is also known as Zipf's law.
[edit] References
- "The 1% Rule: Charting citizen participation by Ben McConnell in Church of the Customer, May 3, 2006
- Participation Inequality: Lurkers vs. Contributors in Internet Communities by Jakob Nielsen, October 9, 2006.
- "What is the 1% rule?" by Charles Arthur in The Guardian, July 20, 2006.
- "The 1% Rule" by Heather Green in BusinessWeek, May 10, 2006
