The 20/80 Rule : Part II
Was thinking about things along this line as a I always do .. and .. my fingers found the keyboard. It's raining outside, the metal roof is singing to me, the wife is still in bed.. .so .. here I sit typing. Got to thinking .. 'wait .. haven't I already blogged on this subject?' .. Well .. yes I did .. Almost seven years ago! The 20/80 Rule ( part I )
But I was thinking about it in a more specific instance.... how .. the vast majority .. just don't .. care
Pick your topic ... the 20/80 (Pareto Principle) applies.
Few years ago, I really got into Motorcycle Forums on the 'net. Each of these forums have thousands and thousands of members. Yet, only a small percentage of folks actively visit and read the forums. Of that group, only a small percentage post and/or comment..... 20%?
Facebook. .. I know .. I know.. but ... I'm guessing less than 20% of those that log in.. actually .. post on their page. Less than 20% of those that read others posts, comment. I'm on FB Groups that have thousands of members. Some have over 50k members. But, most .. never ... post/comment. Are you starting to see a trend here?
I admin a few web pages out there ( Websites, Blogs, FB pages, etc) . Only a fraction of the people that visit them, ever comment. You guessed it ; less than 20%. On one of the pages out there that I put the most time in (Texas Indian Bikers, if you're curious. The FB page is here) has really given me a lesson in Human Psychology. I'm not even sure how to put a wrapper around it and explain it here. But one realizes quickly that less than 20% of the people that like the page, actually revisit it. Now the real problem here probably lies in how FB manipulates its algorithms. They want you to pay to advertise your page. So if you don't, any posts by the page go into a black hole of sorts. Now if the few seeing it, 'like' it or 'share' it, the traffic spikes since others now see it on their newsfeeds. But being a page I don't spend money to advertise on.... the traffic is somewhat dormant. An interesting piece I've learned off that site is the vast majority of people don't care about the new models coming out. They don't care about new performance options coming out. They don't care about the history of the bikes. But, show a pic of a dog next to a bike and the post views spike. Show a pic of a hot chick next to a bike .. or .. in some leather .. less the better.. and .. the post views spike. The next day... they fall off back to normal. That fact .. has .. modified my behaviour. I no longer actively push ridiculous amounts of "good, pertinent "data to the page. When I see something that grabs my attention and I believe it adds value to the page.. I push it out there. But, my effort has dropped off drastically. I do believe I'll productize' a couple of things this year and utilized the page as the medium for selling them. With 35,000 likes a few dollars of advertising will light it up.
Over the last decade since I began riding a specific brand of motorcycle, I've really gotten a snapshot of the human Psyche; human nature as a whole. One quickly realizes that less than 20% drive the masses for events and information. One realizes that less than 20% of the entire group really gives a damned about the brand. Less than 20% don't give a damned .... well.. about anything..period. And within that 20%, you can apply the 20/80 again. Less than 20% lead the pack. Wait.. what's that ..... less than 4% of the entire entitiy. I'll go out on a limb and say .. less than 1%. Less than 1% push an entire agenda. That 1% creates the riding groups. They create the events. They step up to positions within riding groups. They create forums and other social media options. That 1% steers the rest. The problem is when those in the 1% do it for their own personal reasons. They do it for their own personal gains. And the vast majority follow along. The beautiful part is when the folks putting things together, do it for the right reasons. Benefits all. But life ain't perfect and there are some folks that don't do it for the masses, they do it for themselves... but ...I digress.
The 20/80 rule. I never want to be part of that 80%. Life is too short to stumble along at the direction of others. Now.. there is a time and a place of course. I mean if you go on an IMRG ride, someone has to lead the pack. Following the leader isn't a bad thing. If one attends a National event of whatever group/association, you have to have those at the top making decisions. And the rest of us attend for what we believe are the right reasons. Problem is... every once in awhile... someone sneaks into a position of authority that should have never gotten there and eventually ... things may go sideway. Hey .. it's life. Life is full of these nightare stories throughout history... still .. 20/80. Once you realize it exists, the question is ... where do we fit in the formula? I don't know about you , but i'm a 20% kinda guy whenever possible. Life in that 20% has it's benefits. The view is better. The company around us can be better. Now, the 80% isn't necessarily a bad thing. What I think is a problem is when folks are in the 80% and have no grasp of the dynamics around them. That sometimes... is a problem. I've seen examples of that the last year, that boggles the mind (hint.. read my previous blog posts if you don't understand what I'm getting at)
The 20/80 rule . You get my drift... but ... in closing, here's an example. This Blog gets tens of thousands of hits. Yet... there are less than a dozen folks that normally comment .. good or bad. That's much less than 10% of the readers. Hell, it's less than 1% of the readers. Everyone has an opinion. Most won't share. They are in that 80%. No matter what the communication medium. Again .. I digress .. I just find it all ... interesting.
But I was thinking about it in a more specific instance.... how .. the vast majority .. just don't .. care
Pick your topic ... the 20/80 (Pareto Principle) applies.
 |
| The Pareto Principle claims that only a "vital few" peapods produce the majority of peas. |
Few years ago, I really got into Motorcycle Forums on the 'net. Each of these forums have thousands and thousands of members. Yet, only a small percentage of folks actively visit and read the forums. Of that group, only a small percentage post and/or comment..... 20%?
Facebook. .. I know .. I know.. but ... I'm guessing less than 20% of those that log in.. actually .. post on their page. Less than 20% of those that read others posts, comment. I'm on FB Groups that have thousands of members. Some have over 50k members. But, most .. never ... post/comment. Are you starting to see a trend here?
I admin a few web pages out there ( Websites, Blogs, FB pages, etc) . Only a fraction of the people that visit them, ever comment. You guessed it ; less than 20%. On one of the pages out there that I put the most time in (Texas Indian Bikers, if you're curious. The FB page is here) has really given me a lesson in Human Psychology. I'm not even sure how to put a wrapper around it and explain it here. But one realizes quickly that less than 20% of the people that like the page, actually revisit it. Now the real problem here probably lies in how FB manipulates its algorithms. They want you to pay to advertise your page. So if you don't, any posts by the page go into a black hole of sorts. Now if the few seeing it, 'like' it or 'share' it, the traffic spikes since others now see it on their newsfeeds. But being a page I don't spend money to advertise on.... the traffic is somewhat dormant. An interesting piece I've learned off that site is the vast majority of people don't care about the new models coming out. They don't care about new performance options coming out. They don't care about the history of the bikes. But, show a pic of a dog next to a bike and the post views spike. Show a pic of a hot chick next to a bike .. or .. in some leather .. less the better.. and .. the post views spike. The next day... they fall off back to normal. That fact .. has .. modified my behaviour. I no longer actively push ridiculous amounts of "good, pertinent "data to the page. When I see something that grabs my attention and I believe it adds value to the page.. I push it out there. But, my effort has dropped off drastically. I do believe I'll productize' a couple of things this year and utilized the page as the medium for selling them. With 35,000 likes a few dollars of advertising will light it up.
Over the last decade since I began riding a specific brand of motorcycle, I've really gotten a snapshot of the human Psyche; human nature as a whole. One quickly realizes that less than 20% drive the masses for events and information. One realizes that less than 20% of the entire group really gives a damned about the brand. Less than 20% don't give a damned .... well.. about anything..period. And within that 20%, you can apply the 20/80 again. Less than 20% lead the pack. Wait.. what's that ..... less than 4% of the entire entitiy. I'll go out on a limb and say .. less than 1%. Less than 1% push an entire agenda. That 1% creates the riding groups. They create the events. They step up to positions within riding groups. They create forums and other social media options. That 1% steers the rest. The problem is when those in the 1% do it for their own personal reasons. They do it for their own personal gains. And the vast majority follow along. The beautiful part is when the folks putting things together, do it for the right reasons. Benefits all. But life ain't perfect and there are some folks that don't do it for the masses, they do it for themselves... but ...I digress.
The 20/80 rule. I never want to be part of that 80%. Life is too short to stumble along at the direction of others. Now.. there is a time and a place of course. I mean if you go on an IMRG ride, someone has to lead the pack. Following the leader isn't a bad thing. If one attends a National event of whatever group/association, you have to have those at the top making decisions. And the rest of us attend for what we believe are the right reasons. Problem is... every once in awhile... someone sneaks into a position of authority that should have never gotten there and eventually ... things may go sideway. Hey .. it's life. Life is full of these nightare stories throughout history... still .. 20/80. Once you realize it exists, the question is ... where do we fit in the formula? I don't know about you , but i'm a 20% kinda guy whenever possible. Life in that 20% has it's benefits. The view is better. The company around us can be better. Now, the 80% isn't necessarily a bad thing. What I think is a problem is when folks are in the 80% and have no grasp of the dynamics around them. That sometimes... is a problem. I've seen examples of that the last year, that boggles the mind (hint.. read my previous blog posts if you don't understand what I'm getting at)
The 20/80 rule . You get my drift... but ... in closing, here's an example. This Blog gets tens of thousands of hits. Yet... there are less than a dozen folks that normally comment .. good or bad. That's much less than 10% of the readers. Hell, it's less than 1% of the readers. Everyone has an opinion. Most won't share. They are in that 80%. No matter what the communication medium. Again .. I digress .. I just find it all ... interesting.
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