Unpaid Contributors Provide Corporate Tech Support

Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times writes about Justin McMurry of Keller, TX, who spends up to 20 unpaid hours per week helping Verizon customers with high-speed fiber optic Internet, television and telephone service. McMurry is part of an emerging corps of Web-savvy helpers that large corporations, start-up companies, and venture capitalists are betting will transform the field of customer service. Such enthusiasts are known as lead users, or super-users, and their role in contributing innovations to product development and improvement — often selflessly — has been closely researched in recent years. These unpaid contributors, it seems, are motivated mainly by a payoff in enjoyment and respect among their peers. 'You have to make an environment that attracts the Justin McMurrys of the world, because that's where the magic happens,' says Mark Studness, director of e-commerce at Verizon. The mentality of super-users in online customer-service communities is similar to that of devout gamers, according to Lyle Fong, co-founder of Lithium Technologies whose web site advertises that a vibrant community can easily save a company millions of dollars per year in deflected support calls' and whose current roster of 125 clients includes AT&T, BT, iRobot, Linksys, Best Buy, and Nintendo. Lithium's customer service sites for companies offer elaborate rating systems for contributors, with ranks, badges and kudos counts. 'That alone is addictive,' says Fong. 'They are revered by their peers.' Meanwhile McMurry, who is 68 and a retired software engineer, continues supplying answers by the bushel, all at no pay. 'People seem to like most of what I say online, and I like doing it.'"

Comments

why not get paid for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this guys time worth nothing?
Yeah we've all been there as the angel tech support person. Problem is what when you get burned out of answering the same stupid question again and again, you'll quit doing it unless there's some incentive. I answered 20 or so tech questions on yahoo answers because I was bored, but that was short lived... I probably won't go back for another 6 months. Now, pay me something reasonable and I would go back every night.

Re:why not get paid for this?

[D Ninja]

Is this guys time worth nothing?

No. It's definitely worth something. Look at the guy we're talking about though - he's 68. This means he's retired, maybe unmarried/widowed, and he's probably bored out of his mind. Maybe he doesn't need the money, so he wants to have SOMETHING to do to the point he'll do it for free. (In fact, having something to do probably is his pay/reward in his eyes.)

There was a gentleman I knew when I used to work in retail quite some time ago. He was 65 and was working a minimum wage job in retail. He had been a VP at some company and had received a very good salary. I once asked him why he bothered with the job he was in now, and his response: "It's better than sitting around in front of the TV and letting my brain and body rot away."

Some things are more important than money...

Re:why not get paid for this?

[MadUndergrad]

"Brooks ain't no bug. He's just... he's just institutionalized."

        "The man's been in here fifty years, Haywood. Fifty years. This is all he knows. In here, he's an important man. He's an educated man. Outside, he's nothin'. Just a used up con with arthritis in both hands. He probably can't even get a Library Card if he tried. You know what I'm trying to say."

        "I'm telling ya, these walls are funny. First, ya hate 'em. Then ya get used to 'em. Enough time passes, ya get so you depend on 'em. That's institutionalized."

The next step

[PFI_Optix]

If a company wants to become serious about this, they could make unofficial certifications and hand out prizes to the top x posters for the month. Peer respect is great and all, but being well-liked on the internet doesn't get much.

Re:Exploited by ego

[cdrudge]

Sounds like these guys are just being exploited by their own egos.

Says the person with a +5 Informative comment. Why did you post something that might be so informative to others? I bet it was your ego that made you post.

A few years ago I was made a MVM (Much Valued Member) over a DSLReports.com/BroadbandReports.com for my contributions to several of the forums I frequented. I'm approaching close to 9k posts there, a high majority of them in response to other peoples technical questions. I never have received any compensation for my time spend on the site other then a little tag that shows up next to my name and the occasional kudos someone might send. It did give me a big of a "warm fuzzy" when I learned that I became a MVM, and it is appreciated when someone says "Thanks, you helped me out" or "Thanks for the explanation".

I guess you can call it ego, but I'd say it's just people that want to help others and have the time to do so. If that help turns into a power trip though, then it become egotistical.

Re:Not for money - and Verison depending on it

[iJusten]

tech support script readers

I'm not American, but why not just put the scripts online? I mean, you can have problems without your net being totally unusable. The customers can read themselves, they don't need people in India to do so for them. Heck, Verizon might put the scripts online EVEN FOR PROBLEMS WHEN THEY CAN'T GET ONLINE. That would be great and really Kafka. I love it already.