I have really been digging the new website www.viewbug.com. As a (hobbyist) photographer it seems an easy way to share photographs and enter them into photo contests at the same time. It is social sharing geared for photographers.
As a (professional) website designer & developer, I am also marveling at the easy and intuitive user interface. It seems like a well thought out website from a usability standpoint. I really like the immediate engagement techniques and the “rewards” or “badges” type of system also is very clear & visible. I excitedly got started uploading my photos immediately.
Within the first 2 hours of uploading my first 8 images, I had already received 6 “awards”. WOW! I’m a fantastic photographer! ViewBug is immediately satisfying and validating my photography skills. I uploaded a few more of my favorite photos. I check my “stats” every day for a week, but received 0 awards after that first day. Something starts to smell fishy.
The photographer side of me understood that the “awards” really were just some “likes”; someone viewed the photo and simply clicked a button. No rocket science there. The cleverly used term of “award” appeals to the target audience of wanna-be photographers (like me) looking for validation of their photography skills. I even understand that the “contests” are concocted frequently, and the judging is done by a panel of “featured judges”. No disrespect is meant towards this group as I have not researched (yet) who they are… but I am guessing it doesn’t matter because the majority of the users are not going to do so.
While the excitement of my photographer side starts to wane, the web developer part of me starts to peak. I can clearly see there are algorithms built into the website to “hook” the targeted audience. Now I am thinking “if I were to build this website…” and realizing all the tactics I could use to get that immediate engagement, thus allowing the website traffic to build traction, or increase the retention rate and engagement of the users. Of course there is the obvious share buttons that awards major points when you share on social media. You get points also when you enter contests. The more you engage, the more points you receive. I like that, it works. Thinking about my “awards” I received the first day… I thought these people liking my photos may be paid employees of ViewBug, in much the same fashion marketing companies pay content writers to generate text and articles. It would be a very effective way to implement that immediate engagement of the newly-signed-up user.
I continue to monitor ViewBug as both a photographer and a web developer. My most awarded photograph has 4 awards. I click on my “Horses in Fog” photograph to yet again marvel at my own photograph (LOL). As I analyze the website I realize that the people clicking on these awards may not even be people at all, but instead, a developer has fashioned an algorithm to assign awards program-matically. It really wouldn’t be that hard to do, just create a few fake accounts to tie the awards back to.
If there are real people giving these awards, these people are not even opening the photo to view it; I know this because the views on the photograph are 3, yet there are 4 awards (and 6 likes). At first I thought this was a sham, but I think the “views” count is only counted if the photo is opened; therefore the likes and the awards are given based on the view of only a thumbnail. Humbug.
As a web developer I still like ViewBug as a great example of immediate engagement, clear rewards & point system, and harnessing the power of social media. I think it’s an excellent business model targeted towards a specific target audience, knowing that target audience well, and catering to that target audience. Applause.
As a photographer… they honeymoon is over.
