Remuneration ChapteR 4 61 to post more messages just so they could find ways to use the dif- ferent emoticons. We kept getting recommendations for different emoticons that our users asked us to add to the library, different figuRe 4.8 emotional states, different kinds of animations--all with increasingly humor- Pokey-stick and crossing ous names. Our users would vie with one another to become the first to be sword-animated GIFs. able to use, for example, the "crossing swords" emoticon when we added it to the library. So even though we were initially afraid the emoticons were demeaning, members of the network really took them seriously, driving up participation on the site. 2. uSe a SuBSCRiption appliCation foRM One of the major decisions that community designers and social network design- ers need to make is whether to have open subscriptions to their system or invi- tation-only subscriptions. Whether the site is by invitation only or open, I still recommend that community managers require that users complete a subscrip- tion application form. Further, I also recommend to new community managers that their subscription application form have questions that let users know that they are expected to give back to the community and that lurking in the com- Many people regard "lurkers" as a pejorative term. I use it here because it has become commonplace in the field. However, Chapter 5