Community
Voice
Building strong
communities one person at a
time.
A successful community is dependent upon many key individuals
from the site owner to the user, community manager and/or
moderator. Each person plays a role in ensuring a viable and enriching
community experience. We
have compiled some tips that we hope will be helpful and maybe even
validate what you are already doing in your own communities. It is
our philosophy that communities really are built one person at a
time.
Users
Users are crucial
to the communities they participate in. If you are a community user we offer
the following tips to gain the most
from your online community
experiences:
1) Exercise caution in giving out information
- use e-mail aliases if
possible.
It is critical that you never give out personal information
(phone number, address, credit card information or passwords) in a
chat, on a message board or in e-mail. Sadly sometimes even posting on a message
board can mean repercussions in the form of spam to your e-mail
account. Use separate e-mail accounts for the communities you are
involved in, thus reducing the possibility of one mailbox being
overrun should it be added to a spam list.
2) Always be sure to
review site guidelines or Terms of Service (TOS) before
participating.
It is very important before you participate in any community
that you acquaint yourself with the guidelines/TOS so that you
have a clear understanding of what is considered acceptable exchange
within a community. It is also a good idea to refer back to these
from time-to-time as reminder. Mistakes happen, but if you keep
yourself informed of site expectations you are less likely to find
yourself in a difficult situation.
3) Try to take "arguements" to e-mail - concentrate on issues not
personalities.
People do disagree, and sometimes those disagreements lead to
arguments. If you find yourself in one that is caustic or causing
upset, as a courtesy to yourself and the other members in the
community, try and take it to e-mail. This will enable you and the
other person to "hash out" your differences in private without
detracting from the other conversations taking place in the
community. If you can't take it
private, try to move the argument away from personalities and
towards issues. Remember: you can't always win an argument,
but you can win people over because of the way you
argue.
4) Words can make or break you - be sure to
review what you've said before you say
it.
Message boards keep
track of a thread of conversations or chat rooms publish
transcripts, so your
words are out there for everyone to see and re-read and make judgments about you many months
into the future. So be sure that you are comfortable with
that prospect before you hit "send"! Treat others as you
would like to be treated -
remembering always that words in black and white have a great impact
and are very difficult to
retract.
5) Have
fun!
This is the most important element to participating within a
community. Enjoy your time and use it to connect with others that
hold similar interests to you. Online communities are a fantastic way to gain information,
support and camaraderie with people from all over the
world.
Community Managers
Your role is vital to the success of your
community. We hope that
the following tips learned over our years as community managers add value and support to your
job:
1) Be approachable and
available - be
human.
It is important that your moderation staff and/or community
members feel that they can come to you at anytime with any issue.
Open
lines of communication are key to building team and community
cohesiveness and trust. If your moderation team and community
members feel that you are available to them they are more
likely to communicate what is on their minds. This is very helpful,
especially if turmoil arises – rather than it festering, an
individual is more likely to approach you so that you can
assist in finding an agreeable resolution. Consider developing "open office"
hours of chat or a dedicated message board folder for both
your community staff
and users to communicate with you and ask
questions.
2) Keep your finger on
the pulse - be
seen.
It is important that a community manager be seen in their community as regularly as possible - not only will it
give your staff and users confidence that you are keeping up to date on what is going on,
but it will also help you to see how the members
are interacting with one another and with your moderation staff. Being present in your community
will most certainly help to make your job
easier.
3) Try to answers issues and queries within 24
hours - be
responsive.
It is also extremely important to try and
respond to member or moderator e-mails within a reasonable time - preferably a 24
hour period. Even if you are unable to provide an answer to a query,
letting an individual know within 24 hours time that you are looking
into their issue will go a long way to maintaining and managing
community.
4) Develop a solid
staff/volunteer policy for moderators
- be consistent.
Just as your members will have guidelines or policies for
participation that they must follow, your community staff should
have some as well. It is important that your staff know what the
expectations are for being a part of the community as valued
contributors. This will also provide support and clarification in
the event that disciplinary actions must be taken or team problems
resolved.
5) Give yourself some
time to "cool off" during a heated moment - be calm and
collected.
We are all human, so it is not uncommon for certain issues to
raise our hackles a bit. Should this occur, step away from your
computer and give yourself some time to process the issue(s) so that
you may respond in a calm manner than rather from an emotional
place.
6) Have
fun!
Community users and staff
appreciate your involvement, especially if you show a humorous, fun
side. Fun is contagious, so if you are having some,
chances are others will catch on and have fun too.
Think of ways you can have fun in the community - it could make your
job a lot more rewarding
too!
Moderator
Being in the trenches you are the eyes, ears...heck, you are
the face of the community, representing the site and all within.
Your job, while sometimes difficult can be one of the most
rewarding, and we would like to share the following to hopefully
assist in making that the case:
1) Smile - make it a
permanent part of your moderator
"uniform".
Have you heard the phrase "Smile from the wrists down"?
People may not be able to see you, but if you words are
cheerful and your disposition upbeat, your smile will radiate
through your words and
interaction.
2) Try and remain
neutral during member
disputes.
You wear many hats as a moderator, one being the hat of the
mediator. It is important when you are moderating a community that
you try to never take sides in a member dispute, but rather help
members find an acceptable resolution. By being the neutral party
you will most likely be able to see potential solutions that others
may not be able to see. Remember to remain calm and to see both
sides of the issue.
3) Be
present.
Aside from your smile, this is probably one of the most
important things you can do to add value to your community. If you
are seen as a present and participating member of the community,
rather than the "thought police", you will find that your membership
will look to you for assistance, insight, and friendship. With a
constructive presence, members will be less likely to see you as
just someone who is there to hit the delete or kick key, but rather
someone who is there to add to the conversation and
assist.
4) Lead by
example.
How many times have you heard this one during your lifetime?
As cliche as it may be, it is true. If you are leading by example,
maintaining the site guidelines/TOS with every post you make or
comment shared in chat,
or prompting and participating with constructive and
entertaining comments it is most likely that your members
will do the same.
5) Have
fun!
Yep, you got it! As we mentioned before, fun is contagious,
and since you are on the frontline, it is important that you feel
you can and do have fun. The members will appreciate it, and you
will find your role as moderator to be much more rewarding for
it.
Site
Owners
Your ideas and efforts helped
to bring the community and site to life. To assist with maintaining
the growth and development and to support your hard work, we have
compiled the following
tips:
1) Ensure you
know how your community is doing - quantitatively and
qualitatively.
Whether your community is
meeting your expectations or not, you need to be able to measure how
your community is performing. Both quantitative and
qualitative reporting measures are most likely required so that you
have both the numerical and subjective data you need. It is
especially important to be able to identify specific areas of your
community in your reporting, so that you can remedy any
underachieving elements or expand on the successful ones. Over
time, this qualitative and quantitative reporting will feed into
your overall planning and strategizing for your community's growth
and needs.
2) New ideas can be generated from within the community
- listen to them.
Community managers, moderators
and users are your eyes and ears if you let them
be. A common pitfall which can
befall a site owner is keeping community too close to
themselves. Once a site has been built, community fostered and
it has gained some stability, the very ideas which have given it
stability should be opened up to the participants and users of that
community. Don't be afraid to relinquish some
ownership to your participants, empowering them to share what
they feel works and does not work on the site. Listen to them, they
are an incredible resource for ensuring
success.
3) Ensure that there
is a reason for users to
return to your community.
The most common myth in the community development industry is
to think "if you build
it, they will come". In order for people to come to your site, and
participate in your community, you must continually provide them
with reason to do so.
Fresh content, thought-provoking topics, vibrant and safe
exchange, as well as encouragement and rewards for
participation are some, but
not all, of the ways in which
you can help to foster recurring visits from your users.
4) Ensure that
site functionality works and that users and staff are informed of
changes.
Check your site regularly to ensure that all its components are in proper working
order. If something is not working, let your users and staff know what is not
working and that it is being rectified. Keep them informed of
progress. This is also important when it comes to making significant
changes to your site and the features it offers. If you are going to
add or take away a service, let your staff and users know in a timely fashion and
be consistent in the messages you
present. Consistency and
trust go hand in hand. With
the trust of your participants you have a key ingredient in
building a successful
community/site.
5) Have
fun!
You have probably got
the message by now all participants within a site need to
have fun. You, as the site owner, are no different. You deserve to
have fun too, and if you are not doing so, it may be time to ask
yourself why
not.
Whatever role you perform in
online communities, we wish you the best of success and enjoyment
for 2002, and we look forward to your questions throughout the
year.
You can contribute to
communityanswers.com and gain valuable insights by asking a question
right now:
