Today many Web-based businesses depend on content created by their audience and yet they do not know what motivates the people who provide the crucial photos and videos, and how they are different from the more common viewers.
 
 User-generated Visual Content: - Understanding The Supply-Side Motivations surveys hundreds of popular content creators and analyzes their reasons, compared and contrasted against a control group of average Web users. The findings show what motivates the primary producers of user-generated content on popular websites, and how these people differ from the majority of Web viewers.
 
 Future Image surveys almost 2,000 members of one of the top photo- and video-sharing websites. The answers to more than 20 questions are compared and contrasted in charts and graphs that show the differences between a control group of random users and a selection of the most productive, most popular content creators.
 
 The full report questions content creators on:
 
 * their levels of sharing activity
 * their motivations and subject choices
 * the need for attention and community
 * the desire for making sales.
 
 The report also includes extensive interviews with executives from Webshots, Simple Star, Corel, iStock, muvee, Filmloop, and Pure Digital, as well as a chronological compendium of two years of news articles on user-generated visual content from The Future Image Weekly Briefing information service.

I. The Importance of Sharing
 Executive Summary
 Who Shares and Why
 Definitions and Methodology
 A Framework for Sharing
 
 II. Survey Answers and graphs
 Sharing Activity
 Photographic Motivations and Subject Choice
 Photographic Artistry
 The Need for Attention and Community
 Making Sales
 
 III. Summary and Outlook
 Appendix: Interviews and Articles on User Generated Content
 Webshot’s VP Martin Green’s Presentation at the
 6Sight Future of Imaging Conference, October 2006
 Webshot’s Martin Green Interview
 Simple Star CEO Chad Richards Interview
 6Sight Panel discussion: User Video Revolution
 Mainstream Video: units sold
 iStock sells user content; interview with VP Kelly Johnson
 muvee automatic video; interview with founder Pete Kellock
 Filmloop photos; interview with founder Kyle Mashima
 Pure Digital: easy video; interview with Simon Fleming-Wood
 News articles 2006-2007
 
 SURVEY QUESTIONS AND GRAPHS
 Sharing Activity:
 1. How many albums have you uploaded?
 2. How often do you upload an album?
 3. How many albums do you think you’ll upload in the next 12 months?
 
 Photographic Motivations and Subject Choice:
 4. What are the reasons you might take a photo?
 5. How frequently do you take pictures of the following subject matter?
 6. How often do you upload photos of these subjects?
 7. Roughly what percentage of your good photos do you upload or share with others? Photographic Artistry:
 8. My photos express things that are important to me or that I am proud of.
 9. It’s very important to me that others see the photos I uploaded.
 10. I feel photos can powerfully convey emotions.
 11. I think of my photos as art
 12. What is your skill level as a photographer?
 
 The Need for Attention and Community:
 13. After posting pictures, how long do you wait before checking for viewers?
 14. How many people saw the photos you uploaded?
 15. How important to you is it that a large number of people view your new pictures?
 16. How often do you read guestbook comments made by viewers of your photos?
 17. How often do you look at the number of times other people’s album’s were viewed?
 18. How often do you add comments to other guestbooks?
 19. With Whom you are most likely to share your photos?
 20. How important to you are the other photographers in your Webshots community?
 21. How frequently do you visit any area of Webshots?
 Making Sales:
 22. Do you currently sell any photos (downloads or prints) either through Webshots or another web site?
 23. If yes, How many have you sold in the last 12 months?