My readers may have noticed the Chinese character on the bottom-right of each of my posts. The character is a link to the recommendation procedure of the Hao Hao Report, a copy of Digg with a Chinese focus. Like Digg, the site allows users to recommend interesting online material to other users. I began using the link after seeing it on the posts of Danwei.
Unfortunately, no one has utilised the link and recommended one of my posts on the Hao Hao Report. This is not surprising because it seems that the Hao Hao Report is struggling to attract a dedicated following. As a site similar to Youtube or Digg that relies on content generated by users, the Hao Hao Report lives and dies through its readers. A lack of readers means a lack of varied and interesting content.
There are some improvements that can be made to the Hao Hao Report. It desperately needs to attract more users to boost its content. The cheapest way for this to happen is through recommendations from its users. Personally, I think the Hao Hao Report has potential and is a good service, so I recommend my readers to register and use the service.
Once someone recommends an article, it will be listed in the 'upcoming stories' section. Readers can then 'hao it', effectively voting for an article that they like. Once an article gathers three votes, it is then transferred to the ‘popular stories’ section. This is good in theory because it gives readers an idea of what people are most interested in when it comes to China. There is a snag though – people can vote anonymously for their own article!
The Hao Hao Report attracts a lot of people (like me) who recommend their own blog posts because they want to increase their readership. These people will then vote anonymously for their own articles to ensure that they are listed in the 'most popular' section. This occurs because non-registered readers can vote for articles. Since registered readers can only vote once, I recommend that only registered users vote for articles. This ensures that the most popular articles are really the most popular. It also encourages more people to register.
Finally, I recommend that the Hao Hao Report form a dedicated committee of around five people. The committee would be instructed to recommend and vote for articles everyday, ensuring that the Hao Hao Report has a constant supply of fresh content. Committee members would not be allowed to recommend posts from their own blog.
Don't forget to register at the Hao Hao Report and recommend posts from my blog!
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