Will Wright has created some of the best video games in history including SimCity, The Sims, and (slightly less successfully),  Spore. Will Wright’s keynote speech during the Web 2.0 2009 Conference was billed as “A Conversation”.  It was by far and away the most talked about keynote of the entire convention that had implications far beyond video games.

So why was everyone interested in what Will Wright had to say about Web 2.0?  Well, the man can see the future and his insights were invaluable.  Here’s how what Will Wright had to say and how it impacts Social Media Strategy:

Don’t Educate Me; Motivate Me

• “Education is not the filling of the pail, but the spark of the fire.  I’m interested in how to get kids motivated.  Once they are motivated, get out of the way, and they will learn themselves.”

• Impact: Let wikipedia provide the facts, give your users frameworks or a set of tools.  I see many Social Media Strategies along the lines of “Our site will educate customers on how to improve their daily lives.”  Facts are a commodity on the internet right now.  What matters to your users is how they can APPLY THE FACTS to their specific needs.

Keep (The Content) About Me

• “My central premise in game design is that people are narcissistic.  The more you make it about them, the more they like it.”
  
• Impact - Study the deep detail behind what your users or customers want or need, and then, with laser-like focus, give them what they need.  Companies have many great ideas about what they THINK people want, but so rarely do they understand the customer enough to give them what they want.
• So rarely does our content truly match up with what our customers want.  Talk to your market research department, study what the blogs are saying, or RUN A TWITTER SEARCH!  Just make sure you aren’t guessing.

Revolve the Universe Around Me

• “The Web allows us to make games asynchronously.  Spore was a Massively Single Player Online Game; you are God in your own universe, but you are affected by others.”
• IMPACT: Give users the ability to access your content on their own terms.  Many companies have to measure Social Media Strategy with metrics like page views or unique visitors, but forcing measurements like that do not easy ways for users to see your content.