Docstoc enters the Adoption Phase of its New Media Life Cycle

In terms of execution, there’s not much to separate Scribd and Docstoc. Both channels offer robust catalogs of freely shareable professional documents as well as a pay structure that allows users to profit from their documents. However, Scribd is currently enjoying more than 4 times the traffic of Docstoc.

At a glance, if I’m a first-time user looking for a document-sharing site, I actually like Docstoc more. They make a great first impression by promoting the channel’s most valuable content and categories — front and center. Not buried beneath a few intro clicks. So already the channel is offering a bit more value to new users interested in browsing shared documents or uploading their own.

A side-by-side comparison of the Docstoc and Scribd homepages. Docstock puts valuable content above the fold instead of using valuable real estate to explain the channel.

The channel also goes beyond simple document sharing, encouraging its users to store large documents in their account (these can remain private) and to use the site to email large attachments with Docstoc OneClick.

Docstoc’s functionality is very attractive as more and more content creation occurs in the cloud (Docstoc offers 14 Google Docs templates), as netbook sales grow, and as the browser becomes the central hub of user activity. But functionality is just one key element that makes a quality channel. What of the overall quality of the content?

Docstoc enters the Adoption Phase

Robust functionality and good self-promotion have gotten Docstoc out of the initial Experimentation Phase and into Adoption in its New Media Life Cycle. The ability to extend the value of one’s documents is drawing in bigger crowds as users find greater value in their creations.

But a well-designed homepage will only get you so far. While Docstoc is building a highly functional channel, once the first layer of content is penetrated, there exists a darker side to the channel. Particularly in the entertainment category, the site is permeated with links to illegal content. And it gets worse.

For any content distribution channel that hopes to attract high-value content, it is absolutely essential to eliminate any illegally distributed materials or links to same. Professional document sharing sites like Docstoc and Scribd are great places for small and medium-sized companies to promote their skills and services. But those companies won’t participate if their content is presented alongside invitations to illegal activity.

But still, there’s reason to be optimistic about the future growth of quality content.

Who’s using it right?

Quantcast data indicates that Docstoc’s users trend towards scientifically literate people, as evidenced by traffic coming from and going to organizations like NASA or the American Chemical Society. Celsias is a New Zealand-based organization that promotes practical activities to combat climate change. Their Docstoc channel is an aggregation of documents on a variety of topics relevant to climate change, published by green organizations around the world.

I particularly liked this article, reprinted from Greenpeace, about harmful electronic waste in Ghana:
Poisoning the Poor: Electronic Waste in Ghana

While they’re not necessarily producing content themselves, Celsias has found a good channel to distribute content relevant to their cause and organization. In doing so, they increase the value of the channel and extend the reach of valuable content beyond its initial medium (print, in the case above).

Docstoc is going to need more “stars” in order to reach Gestation. There is valuable content but not yet enough of it for frequent document consumers to keep coming back.

The takeaway

Docstoc is earning a solid A in terms of channel functionality. However, it’s kind of disturbing to see ads for adult services on a channel designed to promote valuable documents. Docstoc will need to be much more vigilant for that kind of content if they want to be taken seriously.

My question to you

Are you looking for a platform where you can share documents you’ve created? Are you finding value in the content available on Docstoc? Scribd?

About the author

Andrew Davis -

In 2002, Andrew founded Tippingpoint Labs with journalist James Cosco. Since then, he's spent countless hours exploring the online universe and building a methodological approach to developing digital strategies that drive revenue or reduce costs.

Andrew's always asking big questions and analyzing data to understand markets, online forces and even business models. Andrew's research has resulted in the creation of innovative online metrics including Online Brand Value and Category Brand Value, eye-opening graphical representations of website evolution through the New Media Life Cycle and even using online data to predict offline revenue.

When he's not surfing the web, Andrew's traveling the globe speaking to a wide-variety of audiences about everything from social media to the future of print. Andrew is a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint Labs website and has been creating valuable content since the early 1990s for The Jim Henson Company, CNN, The Today Show and MTV.

He's contributed to a book of short stories, called The Way Things Were and produced and co-wrote Roadside Ambition a documentary film about one small town with two huge balls.

"In a world where content is consumed as rapidly as it's created, companies need to develop a sound strategy to creating valuable online experiences that can, and should, be leveraged enterprise-wide. There is a content solution to every business challenge."