Though we have been hearing over and over that markets are conversations and that humans want to hear stories, "the web is not really conducive to story- telling as we know it. Which is a shame. Because good story telling is transforming and it conveys meaning." Still, "the web can offer a meaningful experience" — as long as you are willing to questions the reasons why users come to your site and to explore new ways of delivering rich and relevant information to your readers.

To do so, this interesting research points to five basic goals people have while on the Web, along with five core online activities/tools one can offer to effectively engage users in a fuller experience.

The five basic goals that drive users activities on the Web are:

1. Sharing

2. Informing

3. Creating

4. Entertaining

5. Transacting

"Now you may be thinking, I'm an editor, so I'm in the business of fulfilling goal #2, inform.

Think again though.

...if you are going to create a meaningful experience, you need to consider all your visitors' goals."

The five activities/tools to enable positive Web experiences that satisfy the five basic user goals are:

1. Networking

2. Time and place

3. Interactivity

4. Data (information)

5. Personality - "This is something people tend to forget about on the web. As we're all try to figure out the new rules, everyone ends up looking like everyone else. But when you consider the immensity of the web, the billions of pages out there and the ubiquity of information, perhaps the only thing that's going to set you apart is creating a personality: a tone, a voice that mirrors who you are."

"Amazon is a site that has mastered the vocabulary of the web. It engages all 5 goals — share, entertain, create, inform and transact — and it uses all the tools: network, time, interactivity, data/information and personality.

It has a network of readers who offer reviews, and you always know what's timely and how old information is.

Users offer not just reviews but their own Top 10 lists, that is, they interact.

Amazon mines its deep well of data to tell you what's selling, what's not, how items are ranked.

And as for personality, you always know when you're on an Amazon page."

Recommended reading for all.