If you are looking for a great elearning strategy for this year, you might want to focus more on user-generated content or UGC. This is a type of content that comes from the users themselves. According to a survey, millennials have grown to trust UGC more than the information coming from traditional media. They believe it is less likely to be manipulated and will be bound to contain more honest and reliable data.
Without a doubt, user-generated content seems to portray authenticity and that is what makes it a winner in the eyes of consumers. When made to choose between expertise and authenticity, the latter is shown to be preferable when it comes to making consumer-related decisions.
But how can this relate to elearning? Will it bring the same trust and respect?
2 reasons to trust user-generated content
There are two important reasons why you should put your trust in UGC.
More authentic
We all value the opinion of experts and celebrities – but sometimes, they revolve around different circles. We need to get the opinion of people who can relate to the little things that we go through. These little and seemingly insignificant things are still influential enough to affect our decisions. Even if you give them elearning content that is filled with expert opinions, they have to be able to relate to that content. When it comes to people they can relate to, the content becomes more authentic and thus more valuable.
Cost-effective
Another reason to use UGC is for cost purposes. It is usually easier to gather content from users instead of creating one type of content. You will rely on the reaction that people will have on the content of the course. This makes your job easier as you just look at the ripple effect that is caused by the course.
As you can see, user-generated content can really bring a whole new level of trust into your elearning course. However, it does not necessarily mean that you need to belittle what the experts say.
User-generated content VS expert opinions
Obviously, if you want to learn something new, you would prefer to get the opinion and ideas from the experts. But what exactly does it mean to be an expert at something? It is not just about what you know but also about the experiences that you have about that particular subject. If you follow this line of thinking, you will realize that users can become experts if they have enough experience.
For instance, you are looking for a recipe to roast chicken. You would naturally look for blogs, articles, or videos from known chefs. But even if you find these, you will naturally look at the comments section to see the feedback from people who have tried the recipe from a particular chef. Some would tell you about the results of their own cooking experiments like ingredients they replaced or any mistakes they made. Both sources of information would serve the learner well. They can decide to trust the expert opinion based on what other people have experienced when they followed the expert’s advice. If they see negative feedback, it is more likely that they will look for another expert opinion.
The truth is, user-generated content and expert opinions go hand in hand when it comes to elearning courses. You need to take advantage of both and make sure they are both used as a strategy in the course.