Excerpted from Designing for the Social Web by Joshua Porter. Copyright © 2008. Used with permission of Pearson Education, Inc. and New Riders.

An important key to the success of many kinds of Web sites is the social interaction between the site users. With the right design strategy, you can use this social interaction to get people signing up, coming back, and bringing others into the fold.

But what many Web designers (and their clients) overlook is the need for the people behind the site to be part of that interaction in a real, meaningful way. Having those authentic conversations is the most important thing you can do for your social Web site. The benefits are huge: Awareness, interest, connection, and more.

In this excerpt from Designing for the Social Web, real-world examples help you understand the right and wrong ways to interact with site users. To read the article as a PDF file, click "Authentic Conversations."

For best results, view the PDF excerpt in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, version 7.0 or above. Download the latest free Adobe Reader here.