harnessing community - presentation at mypublicservices november 2009

All about community

A presentation and discussion with Holly Seddon

All about community

What do we mean by ‘community’?

What is an online community?

Getting started

How do we keep our community safe?

Activity

What do we mean by community?

• We mean people• We mean connections• We mean support • We mean similarity• We mean social group• We mean peers • We mean a group being ‘led’

Community confusion

• People rarely consider themselves part of communities

• People are rarely members of just one community

• Communities can be physical and conceptual • They can be permanent or temporary

All about community

What do we mean by ‘community’?

What is an online community?

Getting started

How do we keep our community safe?

Activity

What is an online community?

• It used to mean ‘message boards’ and not much more

• For a while, people meant ‘facebook’, although that’s a social network of people you already know

• Really, it’s up for grabs: it means people on a platform

What Twitter isn’t...

Twitter isn’t a message board, or a social network of people you already know...

...So is it a community?

What Twitter is...

• Twitter is a platform• It’s about connections• It’s the direction we’re heading in• It’s a micro-community that is different for

every individual

What Twitter gives us

• Freedom• It has blown away old rules• A boost to existing communities

One word to describe a good online community experience?

All about community

What do we mean by ‘community’?

What is an online community?

Getting started

How do we keep our community safe?

Activity

Identify a community

• Who are you providing a platform for? • “Build it and they will come” doesn’t work • Do these people want or need a space to

communicate?• Who are they?

What are the concerns of the community?

• Do they need to speak anonymously?• Do they need to share images?• Do they need to be protected?• Do they have barriers to understanding

technology?• Do they have fractured interests? • Are there opposing viewpoints and needs?

Sexy or quick?

• EASY• SAFE• SECURE• STICKY

• Sexy can wait...

Vibrant, ugly.

• It’s okay if it’s not perfect to look at• Between timely and perfect, choose timely

"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late."

- Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn

Vibrant, ugly.

Where will you host your community?

• Do you have an online presence that can be enhanced?

• Do you need to build community elements into your next iteration?

• Do you have the budget and resource to build from scratch – and manage?

• Should you set up a space where your audience already is?

• Don’t automatically reject free tools like Ning.

All about community

What do we mean by ‘community’?

What is an online community?

Getting started

How do we keep our community safe?

Activity

What do you mean by safe?

• Safe from offensive material• Safe from ‘trolls’ and trouble-makers• Safe to chat without fear of personal attacks• Safe from ‘real-life’ crossover • Safe from spam attacks

Control – and lack of it

• You cannot control people – but you can steer, guide and react

• You must establish ground rules, and update them regularly

Control – and lack of it

• No-one is solely interested in one topic – nor should they be

• Single-issue parties don’t win elections; single-issue communities, don’t thrive

• Connections are what’s important, give people the freedom to connect

• Tools like CAPTCHA

Keeping your organisation safe

• If someone writes a lie about a celebrity on a community that you host – when are you liable?

Who will keep your community safe... and vibrant?

• Moderation• Welcoming members• Stimulating discussion• Removing spam and offensive content• Who is liable?

“Can the receptionist do it?”

Activity

1. List 10 communities that you are a part of.2. Of those offline communities, which ones

lend themselves to an online space?3. How could you go about creating a

community online – who would it help, how would it work and why would anyone use it?