Is the online One Percent Rule outdated? The BBC thinks so.

Senior research executive with the BBC, Holly Goodier, has suggested that the traditional "One Percent Rule" applied to online communities is outdated. Instead, she suggests, 77% are now engaged online.

"This has been driven by the rise of 'easy participation': activities which may have once required great effort but now are relatively easy, expected and every day. 60% of the UK online population now participates in this way, from sharing photos to starting a discussion," writes Goodier on the BBC's Internet blog.

At first the figures look impressive but, as others have pointed out, the 1% is attributed to content creators, not sharers and Likers. Today's tools and networks make it incredibly easy for people to interact with content.

Plus, as Bobbie Johnson over at GigaOm points out, the "One Percent Rule was never intended to dictate a single pattern across the entire web: it was a rough guideline for expectations inside any given online community or service".

What do you think? Should the One Percent Rule be revisited and revised?

Tags: one percent rule, online community, online participation, social media, user engagement