Tutorial 3 Group Post Activity: Go to WordPress.org and spend some time looking at its main features, promotional information and tutorials. What features can you identify in WordPress that define it as a Web 2.0 application? (refer to lecture notes and pages 109 and 110 of the Reader – Web 2.0 Design Patterns). How does it manage to be a sustainable model while also empowering “produsers” (refer to page 87 of the Reader – Harnessing the Hive)? Discuss as a group

1.     Users Add Value
– Download WordPress 3.1 button: Lets users obtain wordpress software
– Software is created by hundreds of users, thus allowing users to participate

2.     Software Above the Level of a Single Device: WordPress can be accessed from mobile devices allowing for greater accessibility

3.     The Perpetual Beta:
– Widgets: Allow users to use other websites such as Twitter or Flickr as ongoing services

4.     Cooperate, Don’t Control
– The Facebook ‘Like’ button is available on WordPress to connect the two websites and integrate WordPress into users’ daily web browsing activities
– Users are encouraged to use other date services which are displayed prominently on WordPress’s main page

WordPress’s monetary sustainability models

WordPress utilises the GNU license, which gives away personal rights so long as the usage for these programs are for personal use. However, for commercial use, a charge is levied, and that in turn derives part of its revenue.

For example, WordPress blogs for personal users are free, but for big companies, they charge those companies for usage of the services and for hosting of their content. Sites include CNN’s political ticker.

Furthermore, for casuals readers of WordPress, they are shown ads from Google Adsense, providing that they meet a set of criteria, and revenue is derived from the amount of users who view these ads.

‘Paid Plugins:’ WordPress understands that blogs are frequent targets of spam. For this purpose, they have a plug-in that is free for personal users, but have a fee for corporate customers, and also for professional bloggers who derive revenue from their blogs. Examples of these paid plug-ins include on known as ‘automattic Kismet that has the purpose of filtering out spam comments.

Web hosting: WordPress also provides webhosting services for it’s users. They charge for media storage space for photos or videos that are to be posted on blogs.

Technical support: Lastly, WordPress also derives revenue from support provided to customers experiencing technical diffiiculties with their blogs from the wordpress system, so that downtime for these corporate customers is minimised.

Most of what these examples link back to the GNU license, which means that wordpress is relatively cost-free for personal consumers, but for corporate/commericial entities, they require a fee to keep their blogs up and running.

(Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/blogging/how-wordpress-makes-money/7576/)

(Credit to Ayu and Joyce)