We all like to be the center of attention sometimes.  Admit it.  No, really, admit it.

This sense of self-promotion should be considered when you think about how to advertise your userbase.  They’re out there posting, chatting and contributing to your network.  Reward them!

For example, when I’m posting photos on Flickr, I get just a slight jump of excitement in knowing for the split second my face might appear in the “Recent Photos from Everyone” area of the homepage that I might make a new friend.

Furthermore, if I’m an artist that really takes my photography seriously (which, unfortunately I’m not — hooray iPhone pics), the ability to actually market my work on the network is definitely a major plus.  It’s really what separates putting your photography work on Flickr vs. just your own site.  On your own site you’re essentially living in a vacuum where every view is a result of an action you made on another site.

The best part is, you’re rewarding your users for doing what you want them to do: use your site to solve their problems — something that, presumably, they’re doing anyway.

Over at BlogCatalog, almost every element of the site lets you know who has been there recently.  Not only does this give you a real sense of community in an otherwise lonely internet, it also provides many opportunities for discovering new people to further interact with.

In BlogCatalog’s case, this means potential views to the user’s blog.  Generally that’s why they’re using the site to begin with.

For FatJam, we joyfully list some of our most active users on the footer of every inner-page.  The middle area of the site is reserved for content which pertains to that specific user, while the footer gives the users a glimpse or snapshot into what the overall network at FatJam is up to.

They may explore some new artists they hadn’t seen before, remember to check up someone they liked before, or simply take note that their recent jam is being advertised to all of their colleagues.  Without these elements, it’s sometimes easy to feel like you’re working in a void even though you may be sharing a server with 50,000 other users.  That’s just not cool.

Make your users feel loved and give them some free play in exchange for being an active, contributing member of your hipster internet society.