Only 1% of people interact in online communities. For example, if 1,000 people are in an online forum about dogs named Lola, you’ll be lucky if 10 of them respond to a cute picture or story of your dog named Lola.
It’s way less than 1% when we’re talking about the big social media platforms.
That doesn’t mean people aren’t seeing your post about your dog named Lola, reading it and getting value out of it. It might make them grin and it might influence how they think about dogs named Lola, but you’re not going to hear about it or get any other signal that they care. They’re lurking.
This isn’t intuitive right? Why don’t more of those 1,000 people interact with you, with Lola, with the community? I first learned about this behavior when I was building tech communities at Microsoft. It may not be intuitive, but its human nature and it shapes a lot of what we hear nowadays and even how we consume news.
It’s also variable. If you’re an expert in a space - say you too have a dog - then you’re more apt to like and comment and maybe even write about your own dog named Lola. But say you’re new to learning about Lola and her ilk, maybe considering adopting a dog - you might spend some time taking it all in before engaging.
I used to sneak a peak at David’s freshman year zoom classes during covid. You can imagine all the factors at play in that scenario that inhibited interactions. But there was always one or two kids who would consistently speak out. They were a bit hated and the other students would spin off side chats to make fun of them.1
That’s an important aspect of the 1% dynamic - online conversations are often dominated by the comments of a few folks. While those opinionated few may have an outsize influence on the conversation; it may not reflect what everyone else is thinking.
1% behavior extends beyond the online world and into the real one.
Nixon coined the term ‘silent majority’ and it slots in here. Know that there are a lotta people out there with a point of view that they keep to themselves. Just because they’re not going on about it in the comments, that doesn’t make their point of view any less important.
Did you hear about the guy who made a bundle betting on Trump? Théo made millions betting on the election based on his discovery of what the majority was thinking. He commissioned polls based on the ‘neighbor effect’ which ask people how their neighbors are voting rather then who they are voting for. This gave Théo a glimpse into a silent majority.
Another interesting real world variant of the 1% rule is called the Pareto principle. Also known as the 80/20 rule, it cites recurring patterns where the majority of outcomes (80%) are attributed to a minority (20%) of the causes.
Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian polymath and his original observation was that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of the population. The 80/20 rule shows up all over the place:
Software: fix the top 20% of the bugs to get rid of 80% of the errors/crashes
Business: 80% of your sales frequently come from 20% of your customers
Wealth: like Pareto’s original observation, typically 80% of the wealth in a country is held by the top 20%
A lot of what we see in the world is driven by a minority, while a lot of what we believe is hidden in a majority.
TechTales is a 1% rule breaker. Do you have any stories to share about your online interactions or where you’ve seen the 80/20 rule in action? Lets talk! 👇
best, Andrew
As a student - for sure as a freshman - I kept my thoughts largely to myself and my circle of close friends. I was shy about speaking out in class or larger forums. But as I grew up - maybe my ego matured - I realized selectively saying what I was thinking was powerful.
For one I learned better - more of my brain was engaged when I opened my mouth. But I also realized if I was thinking or wondering something, likely a bunch of other people had the same idea and all of a sudden we were having a conversation that was often more interesting than the lecture.
Same with work. Life is more interesting when you talk about it.
100% of peeps think Lola is cute 🥰
This is an enlightening way to look at online interactions.
A somewhat similar revelation came to me several years ago after I became disheartened and complained to an older relative that, on average, only 250 people read my blog posts. Her reaction realigned my thinking: “That’s great!” she said. “Imagine that if this were in the real world, you’d have 250 people showing up at a lecture hall twice a week to hear what you have to say!”
Of course, getting more of those 250 to participate or even buy something is another discussion, but I’m sure the 1% or Pareto Principle factors in there, too.