The Positives and Negatives of User-Generated Content

As the Internet continues to grow and seemingly affect all aspects of our lives, there is a growing debate about the positive and negatives of using “user-generated content” versus “traditional” content.

User-generated content (UGC) has been a staple of the peer-to-peer experience since the dawn of the digital revolution. The concept is simple: user-generated content includes any site where the user can write and/or publish content.  That content can be video content, blog posts, etc.

Traditional content includes pages run by local and national media, businesses, and any website where the content was professionally written, edited and published.

What are some of the Positives and what are some of the Negatives of User-generated Content?

Positives of User-generated content:

• Voice: User-generated content has given people around the world a voice, whereas traditional content in too many cases is controlled by news media or governments.
• Upcoming: The current teenage generation grew up with the Internet. (According to a Pew study, 94% of American teenagers use the Internet.) As a result, teens are watching less TV (traditional content). UGC seems to be the way to go if trying to hook the future generation.
• Simpler: Content is written for you rather than by you so it can be argued that UGC is easier from a site owner’s perspective.
• Self-policing: Not only is it possible to not have to write much content, there are ways to get the community to actually police themselves. Using moderators can help reduce and even eliminate abuse.

Sounds good, so why isn’t every website using user-generated content? Here are some reasons:

Negatives of User-generated content:

• Credibility: Ask a simple question on an advice site and you’ll be amazed at the myriad of different answers you’ll receive. Who are these people answering your question and what makes them experts? It’s impossible to determine how much wrong (or even dangerous) information is being disseminating through their blogging and incorrect advice?
• Bias: Unless the site is a specifically-stated as a political website, the bias of the poster isn’t always clear. The reader must determine if there is bias or not. And many visitors to your website may not be capable of making this determination.
• Moderation: Unless using self-policing options, there is an issue of moderating UGC sites. A great deal of work could be involved in making sure illegal or abusive activity isn’t published on your site. And is that effort worth it?
• Ownership: With traditional content, ownership is pretty easy to determine. But who owns the content on user-generated sites? The host? The user who wrote it? Both? Intellectual property laws regarding the Internet have come a long way but there are still many areas of gray.
• Additional Risks: Since much of UGC emanates from largely unknown sources and can vary greatly in quality, advertisers who buy on user-generated pages can’t be guaranteed their brand will appear next to content with which they want to be associated. For example, a family-film advertiser doesn’t want to risk having its G-rated movie trailer appear beside a poorly shot video of a college kids going wild on a beach in Cancun.