GovLoop is all about the users and nothing really emphasizes that point more than the fact that roughly 90 percent of our content is user generated. GovLoop has tons of resources (shameless plug) from guides to infographics to trainings, mentoring and the list goes on and on BUT the user generated content in blogs and forums is certainly the life-blood of the community.
With all that good stuff above in mind I set out to find the best content producers of 2011. We took a list of our most common bloggers and ran it through vigorous mathematical formula (explained below) and came out with our top 5 most awesome super duper content creators of 2011 on GovLoop.
1.) James E. Evans– James doesn’t post a ton but when he does he definitely gets bang for his buck. James splits his time evenly between blogs and forums and always tries to pose an interesting question that gets the community talking… obviously it usually works. James averaged over 16 comments per post, which is pretty amazing. Below are my picks for James top 3 pieces of content.
- 360 Feedback. Blessing or Curse?
- Would You Miss Your Saturday Mail Delivery?
- Blogger: Please Be Awesome Yet Considerate
2.) Dannielle Blumenthal– If you are reading this post I am absolutely 100 percent sure you know who Dannielle is and have read one of her 300 plus posts and counting this year. The crazy thing is even with that amount of post Dannielle still illicits responses on a regular basis. When I ran the numbers I can say that Dannielle’s probably dropped my jaw more than any other content producer on the site. Lastly if you are looking for branding advice Dannielle is definitely your girl. Below are my picks for Dannielle’s top 3 pieces of content.
- Cultural No-Nos in the Government?
- How To Kill A Brad Without Even Trying
- 20 Ways To Be More Likable
3.) David Dejewski – Like James above, David isn’t posting every day but man do his questions get people buzzing. It’s also interesting to note that if we were running the numbers for all time on GovLoop David would probably be number one hands down with the popularity of his “In 7 Words Or Less Explain What You Do” discussion. But alas these rankings are only for 2011, even though David’s clip of 10 comments per post is nothing to scoff at. Below are my picks for David’s top 3 pieces of content.
- What Would A Super Committee Deadlock Mean To You?
- Awesomest Employee Rewards
- What Is The Role Of A Leader In Government?
4.) Candace Riddle– If we had made this list last year this would be Candace second year on it. Candace definitely derives most her blogs off personal experience and really captures the essence of GovLoop by asking questions that go hand in hand with her job. Below are my picks for Candace’s top 3 pieces of content.
- What’s Your definition Of “Business Casual”?
- Your Thoughts On the Federal Discretionary & Pay Freeze
- Bad Media or Bad Government? The Problem With Recruiting and Retaining
5.) Jeffrey Levy– Jeffrey is our resident social media expert… and I do mean expert, just read one of the blogs. Jeffrey is another content producer that cracked our ratings by generating a lot of comments, 8 per post to be exact. Below are my picks for Jeffrey’s top 3 pieces of content.
- How To Help A Hiring Manager Pick You From A Stack Of Resumes
- When The Tin Standard Is Enough: Social Media Engagement vs. Broadcast
- Skills Needed To Lead Social Media
Honorable Mentions AKA Other People You Should Be Reading
About The Formula
We took the number of total comments and divided by the number of total posts. Then we multiplied the number of total posts by .04. After we had but the post to comment ratio and the recency number we added the two to get the final composite.
Here was our rationale: Posting is great but great posts are the ones that generate conversations, hence comments should be heavily weighted. But effort is still being put forward on a post that has no comments, perhaps the the post just generate a response even though it’s being avidly read, which is why we then decided to add in the second number that tied to recency. Think about it in terms of fantasy football. Touchdowns are worth more points that yardage and attempts but you can’t have touchdowns with out yardage and attempts. It’s by no means a fool-proof system but we wanted to try to have a concrete way of determining our top 5 with some objectivity.
Where GovLoop Staff Would Rank
I didn’t have time to run our whole staff through the ringer but here’s where Andy, Mr. GovLoop and myself would fit into the equation.
Andy K – Would have barely missed 1st place coming in a faction behind James Evans
Mr. GovLoop– Would have fit in at number 3 a point behind Andy K and a point in front of Dannielle Blumenthal.
Stephen Peteritas– Would have slide into 6th place behind James, Andy, Steve Dannielle and David.
Is there a graphic with this post? I have no idea why I used to get graphics and now there are no pictures, just spaces, not even a red”x”. Is there anyway to be able to see these-fix a program in my computer- since so many posts refer to the graphic? Also, even if I click on “stop following” I still get the emails. That is why I rarely make a response! I wonder how many other Govloopers have this problem? That may affect your results for next years lists…I have all my emails turned off in my settings so even if you post, make it a short one, my employer may not like all that stuff when it gets automatically archived here-even if deleted…
Thank you to GovLoop and to the folks who took the time to read and comment on my postings. I greatly appreciate the insights I gain from this great community.
Well, this is a nice surprise. 🙂
I have to chuckle, though, at your calling me an expert. One of my favorite posts is one of my most recent: Why I Squirm at Being Called a Social Media Expert